Years ago, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System published an Alabama Farm Book. This annual publication was a series of legal and ledger-sized paper worksheets for farmers to write down different types of farm income and expense, separated into 12 x 18 columns. By completing this Alabama Farm Book, the farmer had all the information they needed to manage the farm and prepare their tax return. Today, most paper and pencil worksheets have been replaced by an electronic spreadsheet, such as an Excel spreadsheet from Microsoft, or a farm management software.

Electronic spreadsheets are designed to easily enter farm income and expenses. Farm management software are more comprehensive and can aid in bookkeeping, record keeping, and financial management. Spreadsheets and farm management software provide data that can be used to improve financial management through the analysis of the farm’s financial situation. Spreadsheets can be set up in many different ways for many different agricultural purposes. Spreadsheets for livestock producers may look different from traditional spreadsheets for row crop farmers as they track information unique to their farm operations. The same is going to be true for farm management software that may be more relevant for specific types of enterprises, depending on the software.

However, at the end of the year, the vast majority of producers’ data is used to prepare their Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Schedule F (Form 1040) for profit or loss from farming. Therefore, in order to design a spreadsheet that almost any farmer can use to enter farm deposits and expenses, the Alabama Extension Farm and Agribusiness Management team has developed an Excel spreadsheet that follows the Schedule F (Form 1040).

Details
This spreadsheet is part of the Farm and Agribusiness Management team’s Farm Accounting 101 series to train Alabama producers on improved farm financial record keeping. There are three sheets in this resource:

— Part 1 – Income
— Part 2 – Expense
— Profit Summary
The first sheet is designed to enter your farm’s bank deposits and record all types of farm income. The second sheet is designed to enter your farm’s expenses of all types. The third sheet summarizes the first two pages and calculates your farm’s profit or loss for the year. Once downloaded, you can use the spreadsheet with or without modification for your farm’s unique operations. Hopefully, this spreadsheet is helpful in tracking your farm’s profit or loss for the year.

More Information
If you have any questions about the Alabama Extension Schedule F Farm Income and Expense Spreadsheet, contact your local farm and agribusiness Extension agent or visit the Alabama Extension website at aces.edu. To learn more about various farm management software options, see the Extension publication ANR-3145, “Choosing the Right Farm Business Management Software.”

For more information about a farm tax return and the information required to be used for the return, visit the IRS website at irs.gov and request Publication 225, Farmer’s Tax Guide to read all the details and instructions on Schedule F (Form 1040).