How to use a google sheet template to easily & effectively track and manage your expenses!

Tracking personal or business expenses usually seems like a daunting task, but that's mainly because most tools out there over complicate things. I like to keep it simple because I know if something is too difficult or complicated to use I probably won't use it, and I think most people are as lazy as me :)

I created this expenses google sheet template to make it very easy and fast for you to add, track and manage your expenses.

Check out the following video to learn how to use it:

The google sheet template is made up of 6 main worksheets:

1 ) Transactions

Here's how to use the Transactions sheet:

• Month: displays the number of a month in a calendar year
• Date: double click the cell to select a date from the calendar
• Description: enter any description for your income or expense
• Income Category: this is linked to the Income Categories sheet and allows you to select the categories from a drop down menu list
• Expenses Category: this is linked to the Expenses Categories sheet and allows you to select the categories from a drop down menu list
• Income: enter the value of an income transaction
• Expenses: enter the value of an expense transaction
• Balance: cell H2 which is highlighted in yellow is where you would enter your current bank account balance, the subsequent balances are calculated automatically after that point

For your convenience, all income values are highlighted in green while expenses values are highlighted in red.

2) Income Vs Expenses

This is a tabular representation of your transactions showing you the total of income or expenses incurred each month for a specific income or expense category. It basically adds values belonging to the same transaction categories and displays them in the relevant cell of the relevant table.

For instance, if you spend $30 on Food on 10 Apr 2022 and another $45 also on Food on 14 Apr 2022, you will see in the Expenses table a total of $75 next to the Food category for the month of Apr 2022. If you then buy groceries on 17 Apr 2022 for $200, the figure in that cell will automatically update to $275, since groceries would also belong to the same Food category in this example.

You can also see the variance between income and expenses for any given month. If the value is negative, it will be colored in red and if positive in green. The same applies to the Income and Expenses tables. However, I made it easier for you to spot larger values by showing the font of the relevant cell in bold while others would use the regular font.

For example, if you incur expenses over $1,000 for Food in a given month, the font will display in bold to make the value stand out. The same applies for the Income table. You can change which range of values you want to display using regular or bold font by updating the corresponding conditional formatting rules in the worksheet.

3) Income Vs Expenses (Chart)

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! This is a quick visual representation of your monthly total income and expenses which is very important from a tracking and management viewpoints. You can use it to quickly get a snapshot of your current financial position or to plan for potential/future transactions.

4) Income Categories

You have full flexibility to change, add or remove any number of income categories to meet your wants and needs. You can also sort the categories items in any way you like. Any change you make here will be instantly and automatically reflected in the Income Categories drop down menu list on the Transactions worksheet.

5) Expenses Categories

You have full flexibility to change, add or remove any number of expenses categories to meet your wants and needs. You can also sort the categories items in any way you like. Any change you make here will be instantly and automatically reflected in the Expenses Categories drop down menu list on the Transactions worksheet.

6) Totals

This is a simple table that is necessary to create the chart and avoid any errors while you make updates to the Income Vs Expenses sheet. It simply shows you the total income and expenses per month.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Please subscribe to my profile to get notified when I create new google sheets templates.

Many more cool templates coming soon :)

P.S. If you have an idea or special request for a google sheet template, let me know please and I will create it.

Best wishes,

zedbrc