Aspire Budgeting

Exporting data for tax season

Published on June 11, 2026

When tax season arrives, having a full year of categorized transactions in Aspire makes preparation significantly easier. Here’s how to pull the data you need.

What data is useful for taxes?

Depending on your situation, you may need to provide your accountant (or enter into tax software):

  • Business expenses — if self-employed or tracking deductible work expenses
  • Charitable donations — contributions to qualified organizations
  • Medical expenses — if they exceed the deductible threshold
  • Home office expenses — utilities, internet, supplies (if working from home)
  • Education expenses — tuition, books, qualifying supplies
  • Investment transactions — (tracked outside Aspire, typically via brokerage)
  • Income totals — gross income received across all sources

Exporting from Google Sheets

Option 1: Export the entire Transactions tab

  1. Click on the Transactions tab
  2. Go to File → Download → Comma-separated values (.csv)
  3. This downloads the entire tab as a CSV

You’ll get every transaction for the year — then filter in a spreadsheet or hand to your accountant.

Option 2: Filter first, then copy

  1. On the Transactions tab, use Data → Create a filter
  2. Filter by date range (Jan 1 – Dec 31 of the tax year)
  3. Optionally filter by category (e.g., only “Business” categories)
  4. Select the filtered data, copy it, and paste into a new sheet
  5. Download that sheet as CSV or share directly with your accountant

Option 3: Use Spending Reports

The Spending Reports tab shows totals by category for any time period. Set the date range to the tax year and you’ll get a summary of how much you spent in each category — useful for a quick overview without row-level detail.

Organizing data for your accountant

Most accountants want:

  1. Category-level summaries — total spent per deductible category
  2. Transaction detail (if audited) — date, amount, description, category
  3. Income summary — total income received and from which sources

If you’ve kept categories clean (dedicated categories for business, medical, charitable, etc.), pulling this data is straightforward — just filter and export.

Tips for easier tax prep year-round

Create tax-relevant categories upfront:

  • “Charitable Giving”
  • “Medical” (deductible medical expenses only)
  • “Business — [subcategory]” for self-employment expenses
  • “Home Office” if you deduct it

When tax time comes, you just filter by these categories and the totals are ready.

Use clear memos:

  • “Donation — Red Cross” is better than just “Red Cross”
  • “Client dinner — Project X” is better than “Restaurant”
  • Your accountant (and future you) will appreciate the context

Keep receipts:

  • Aspire tracks amounts but isn’t a receipt archive
  • Photograph receipts for business expenses and store them in Google Drive alongside your spreadsheet
  • The IRS may ask for receipts — Aspire transaction records alone may not be sufficient

Self-employed / freelancer specifics

If you’re self-employed and tracking business in Aspire:

  1. Create a “Business” Category Group with sub-categories for each expense type (supplies, software, travel, contractors, etc.)
  2. At year-end, filter transactions to just the Business group
  3. Export and provide to your accountant or enter into Schedule C

Also export your income transactions (categorized as business income) to calculate gross revenue.

Important disclaimers

  • Aspire is a budgeting tool, not accounting software. It tracks spending for personal awareness — not for official bookkeeping.
  • Always verify tax-related numbers against bank statements and official receipts.
  • Consult a tax professional for advice on what qualifies as deductible.