Gig Log: Admin for Musicians Who Hate Admin

Hey, I’m Tom. I’m a musician… and I hate admin.

For the last five years I’ve been slowly building a system that makes the boring stuff (income, expenses, receipts, travel, invoices) feel way less painful. I wanted one place where everything lives, and a way to log things in the moment so it never turns into a dreaded “admin day”.

That system is Gig Log.

It’s built on Google Forms + Google Sheets, which means:

• it works on your phone,

• your data stays in your Google account,

• and it’s simple enough that you’ll actually use it.

There are two versions:

• Gig Log (completely free): simple logging + receipts + dashboard

• Gig Log Pro: everything above, plus fully automated invoices, GST tools, and more business insights to save you time.

The core idea: log it once, forget it

Gig Log is designed around one habit:

When something happens (a gig, an expense, a drive), log it right then.
It takes 10–20 seconds, and then it’s done.

Instead of receipts in your glovebox and scattered notes in your phone, you end up with:

• organised records,

• receipts stored in the cloud,

• and a clear view of what you earned, spent, and what you’re still owed.

• no need for an 'Admin Day'.

What Gig Log (Free) helps you do

The free version is for musicians who just want the essentials running smoothly:

✅ Log income (gigs, royalties, teaching, sessions)

You can categorise gigs (public gigs, weddings, busking, teaching, session work, etc.) so your spreadsheet stays organised automatically.

✅ Log expenses (and store receipts)

You can upload a receipt photo straight from your phone and it gets stored in your Google Drive, with a link right in your expense log.

✅ Track travel (car logbook)

If you want to track business vs personal travel, the car logbook makes it easy — and your sheet can even show you a simple breakdown graph once you’ve got data in there.

✅ See a simple dashboard

At a glance you can see totals for the year (income, expenses, outstanding invoices, etc.) without digging through rows.

What makes Gig Log Pro different

Gig Log Pro is the version I built for my own work — because I wanted invoicing to be basically effortless.

The headline feature is simple:

Log your gig → it generates a PDF invoice → emails it automatically

You do an income entry, select invoice options, and Pro takes your info and:

• creates a professional PDF invoice,

• assigns an invoice number,

• includes GST if you’re registered,

• and emails the invoice to you (or to the client, if you want).

It’s the closest thing I’ve found to doing invoices “on autopilot”.

A few Pro features I personally use all the time:

1) Client List that actually saves you time

You can add clients once (venue name, billing email, address, ABN, contact person like “Derek, event manager”), and then when you log a gig you can choose them from a dropdown.

Those client details can automatically populate into invoices, so you’re not retyping the same stuff forever.

2) Invoice workflow that suits real gigs

A small thing, but it matters: I often generate the invoice while I’m at the gig (on a break), but I don’t always want to send it immediately.

So I’ll usually send invoices to my own email, then forward + schedule-send from Gmail for the next morning.

That way:

• the admin is still “done” while it’s fresh,

• but the email goes out at a normal time.

(And if you’re new to it, sending to yourself first is also safer — you don’t want to accidentally send a wrong amount to a client.)

3) Optional extras that cover real-world scenarios

Pro includes extra fields that come up all the time, like:

• additional notes (purchase orders, references)

• bulk invoicing (multiple gig dates on one invoice)

• parking fees (and even parking receipt tracking)

4) Hourly rate insight (so you don’t get stitched up)

If you enter gig duration + travel time, Pro can calculate a simple “effective hourly rate”.

It sounds small, but it’s genuinely useful — especially for weddings and out-of-town gigs where travel quietly eats your profit.

Sometimes you don’t realise a gig is basically paying $50/hr until you see it laid out.

5) Dashboard that updates as you work

You can view the year you want, and it’ll start showing:

• totals by month

• top clients

• top earning gig types

• and a clear “outstanding invoices / owed to you” section

Then when you get paid, you simply enter a Date Paid in the income log and it marks the invoice as paid (and your dashboard updates).

GST Summary (for Australians, and anyone who needs tax visibility)

If you’re GST-registered, Pro can also help you stay on top of BAS periods.

It can track:

• GST collected on sales

• GST paid on expenses

• a quarterly summary (based on cash accounting)

Important note if you use cash accounting:
Your GST reporting is based on when you’re paid, not when you invoice, which is why the “Date Paid” field matters. If dates paid aren’t filled, your BAS summary won’t reflect reality.

An annual summary you can export

Pro also includes an annual tax statement view, basically a simple year summary you can export as a PDF if you want a clean snapshot for records.

Why I built it this way

Most musician finance stress comes from the same thing:

You log nothing… then months later you’re trying to remember everything.

Gig Log flips that:

• log the moment you earn/spend,

• store receipts immediately,

• keep a simple “who owes me money” view,

• and (with Pro) turn invoicing into a 30–60 second process.

If you’re choosing between them

Get Gig Log (Free) if you want:

• simple logging,

• receipts stored properly,

• an easy way to stay organised without overthinking it.

Get Gig Log Pro if you want:

• invoices generated automatically as PDFs,

• GST summaries (cash method),

• better dashboards and insights,

• and a workflow that lets you invoice basically anywhere.

Also, Pro helps support me as an independent musician, so thank you if you choose to go that route.

If you want, I can also rewrite this blog post in:

• a shorter “sales page” style for your website

• a more SEO-optimised version (keywords, headings, snippets)

• a “friendly newsletter” version you can email to new downloads