Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Business Income Tracker
This dog walking and pet sitting income tracker works out what each booking actually left you after the platform’s commission, mileage and supplies.
The app’s payout screen shows what the client paid and what the platform took, then stops. The drive to the house and the supplies you got through never appear, so a rate that looks fine on the booking page is not the rate you keep. This file subtracts everything, one booking at a time.
What is in it
- Five tabs and 887 formulas: Start Here, Setup, Jobs, Expenses and Dashboard.
- Setup — three numbers: the booking platform’s commission, your real cost per mile driven, and the average supplies cost per job. Change any of them and every job recalculates.
- Jobs — one row per booking: client, pet, service and miles driven typed in; platform fee, mileage cost, net payout and net job income worked out on the row.
- Expenses — insurance, certifications, software, supplies and marketing, all subtracted from the net number on the Dashboard.
- Dashboard — jobs, miles driven, gross earnings, platform fees, mileage costs, supplies, overhead, and what you actually netted.
- Jobs and net income month by month, plus every job ranked by net income rather than by the rate charged.
Who it is for
Dog walkers, pet sitters and boarders working through a booking platform, directly with clients, or both — anyone taking short walks and overnight stays at flat rates who has never checked which of them actually pays.
The worked example
The filled-in workbook is six months for one pet care business: 78 jobs. Gross earnings came to $4,682, operating expenses over the six months came to $1,327, and what was actually kept was $2,106 — a 45% net margin.
One booking shows why. A 30-minute dog walk charged at $20 loses a 20% platform commission, then the real cost of driving there, then supplies — and none of that reaches the app’s payout screen. Ranked by net income rather than by the rate charged, a busier month of short walks does not always beat a quieter one with a few boarding stays.
How it works
Compatible with Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install.
The download has two workbooks: one with the example above already filled in, so you can see what every column expects, and the same file completely blank for your own figures. A plain-English guide comes as a PDF. Buy it on Etsy — $9
Sold through my Etsy shop, ThePlainLedger, so the download, the payment and the buyer protection are all handled by Etsy.
A look inside the file
Questions people actually ask
What does a dog walking income tracker calculate?
It calculates net income per booking — the rate charged minus the platform's commission, the mileage to get there and supplies — and totals it over the period. In the worked example, 78 jobs earning $4,682 gross carried $1,327 of operating expenses over six months and left $2,106 kept, a 45% net margin.
Does it work if I book clients directly instead of through an app?
Yes — set the platform commission on the Setup tab to zero and every other calculation works unchanged. Mileage and supplies are still subtracted per job, which is usually where direct bookings lose more than owners expect. The same sheet handles walks, drop-ins, sitting and boarding.
I am just starting out and have almost no bookings. Is it worth it?
Yes — at the start the value is seeing what a rate leaves you before you set your prices, and the Setup tab gives you that from three numbers. Enter a handful of trial bookings and the Dashboard shows the margin those prices would produce. The filled-in workbook shows a full six months so you can see where it goes.
Can I open it in Google Sheets?
Yes — it is built as .xlsx and imports into Google Sheets through File, Import, Upload, with the formulas intact. It also runs in Excel 2016 or newer on Windows and Mac, and in LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create.
Does it store client or pet details anywhere online?
No — nothing is uploaded anywhere and the file never connects to your booking platform or your bank. Whatever you type into the client and pet columns stays in the workbook on your own computer or Drive. It is an income tracker, not a client record system or a tax return.
Need it built around your business?
This file assumes flat per-job rates and a simple cost per mile. If your business works differently — tiered pricing by pet or by length of stay, a team of sitters splitting the take, boarding priced per night with add-ons, clients invoiced directly alongside platform bookings — I can rebuild the same arithmetic around how you actually charge and get paid.
All other templates are listed on the Excel & Google Sheets Templates page.