I am a pretty good programmer, and I’ve designed, developed, and customized tons of spreadsheets before. But I do value my time, and I believe that creating an expense tracker would take up a big chunk of my day. That’s why I love this free expense tracker template for Microsoft Excel.
Why I Chose This Excel Expense TrackerÂ
This pre-designed Excel simple expense tracker sheet has the basic items I need to monitor my expenses. I don’t have to read small-print file names, as the title of this spreadsheet is marked in a large font right at the top.Â
The fields I have to enter my data into are:Â
- Name (what the expense is)
- Category (Essential/Non-essential)
- Amount (how much I paid for it)
- Date (when did I pay that amount)
- Notes (general field; whatever else I need to add)
I also have to enter my budget, and the rest is calculated by the spreadsheet. Simplicity is key here.Â
Once I entered my expenses and my budget, the template shows:Â
- Total spentÂ
- Money left
There aren’t any more frills in this simple template, but it’s customizable. So you can add graphics, or scripts that import data from other files.Â
The template styling is one of my favorites, which alternates pale blue and white rows. This keeps mis-entries at a minimum, and I find it pretty easy to read. Â
The Perks of Using an Expense Tracker Template
It’s just so easy to download any one of Speadsheetpoint’s templates’, but knowing that easy isn’t always good, I started exploring what this template can really do for me. Here’s what I liked best: Â
It Works on Google Sheets and Excel: You can easily make a copy of the template, then, you can use it as a Google Sheet, or download it as an Excel Sheet. Either way, you would get all the perks of the data, formulas, and visuals.Â
The Template Is Realistic: The company employs business experts, writers, programmers, and data analysts to create realistic, user-friendly templates that you can fully benefit from.Â
Not Too Much, Not Too Little: IÂ like that these spreadsheets, and in particular, the expense tracker, have exactly what I need. And the presentation is just right.Â
It’s an Adaptable Template: You can make changes in the titles, headers, fields, and many other parts of the spreadsheet to suit your specific usage.Â
Safety and Confidentiality: Unlike many expense tracking apps, my data isn’t available for a third party that I don’t know, or cloud hackers who crack their servers. I can also protect my Excel sheets by using a password, which is a higher level of data security. Â
Importing Data Is a Breeze: You probably have existing spreadsheets with relevant data sets. Linking to these sheets, and importing their content into the expense tracker can’t be easier.Â
Everything at a Glance: The spreadsheet is organized so you can see all the tables and infographics on the same page. This is also what you’ll get if you print out your expenses.Â
Do I Need Another Tracker?
Yes! I definitely do need a couple of other trackers.Â
I travel a lot, and that incurs a bunch of expenses that could go unnoticed. But not when I use a travel expense tracker. Similarly, I delegate several business tasks to other employees, and using a business expense tracker keeps my work finances in good order.Â
Travel Expense TrackerÂ
The travel expense tracker is designed to track specific categories unique to traveling, like mileage and hotel expenses. The expense fields are color-coded to make data entry and tracking much easier.Â
Here’s the travel tracker.
These spreadsheets also take into consideration that different employees go on business trips, so the sheet also reserves an area to specify who incurred these expenses. Â
At the top, there’s the title of the spreadsheet, then right below it, at the top left corner, there’s an employee identification box, with the following data fields:Â
- NameÂ
- Position
- DepartmentÂ
- Manager
Next to that, there’s another box requiring more specifics about the trip:Â
- Purpose
- Start date
- End date
- Mileage rate/mile
A little further right, there’s a presentation box showing the total expenses in each category:Â
- HotelÂ
- Transport
- MealsÂ
- OtherÂ
At the top right corner, there’s a large box displaying:Â
- Expense report total
The main fields of the travel expense tracker are as follows:Â
- ExpenseÂ
- DateÂ
- AccountÂ
- HotelÂ
- MealsÂ
- OtherÂ
- Start (Mi)
- End (Mi)
- Mileage (automatically calculated)Â
- Total (automatically calculated)Â
The columns are spaced nicely to fit all the data, and the color-coded expenses of the hotel, meals, other, and mileage is a clever touch.Â
You can copy as many of these sheets as needed for employee travels.Â
Business Expense TrackerÂ
The business expense tracker is another great spreadsheet. It’s similar to the travel expense tracker, but it has a more generic approach, and the overall design is different. Both were designed with simplicity and practicality in mind.Â
Here’s my business expense tracker for Microsoft Excel.
The top segment of the sheet has the type of the spreadsheet in big bold letters. Below it, is a field to write the company name. Personal identification boxes are laid out in the segment underneath.Â
The required fields are:Â
Box1 (top left)
- ID
- Employee nameÂ
- DepartmentÂ
Box 2 (left)
- PurposeÂ
Box 3 (right)
- FromÂ
- ToÂ
The expenses are tabulated below these identification boxes, with the following headings:Â
- DateÂ
- DescriptionÂ
- Transport
- FuelÂ
- MealÂ
- LodgingÂ
- OthersÂ
- Total (calculated automatically)Â
The sum of each expense category is presented at the lower part of each column. There’s also a large separate box presenting the total expenses in a large font.Â
The bottom segment of the spreadsheet has two more boxes, containing:Â
Box 1 (left)Â
- Authorized byÂ
And box 2 (right)Â
- DateÂ
You can replicate the sheet as many times as you need to keep track of each employee’s expenses during a specific duration.
Related Templates
You can also use the business and finance templates to monitor your startup’s business expenses and purchase orders, generate an expense report, or keep an eye on how you spend your money through an expense tracker. This latter template is what I really needed today. That’s why I have this one for Microsoft Excel. As a reminder, you can get that for free right here.
Access TemplateA Few More Things
I’ve already mentioned that I’m well-versed in tech stuff, but does that mean that using these spreadsheets needs an expert? Absolutely not!Â
In fact, they’re made with ease-of-use in mind. You can download any template in 30 seconds, convert it into an Excel sheet just as swiftly, and then make any further changes in under an hour. Et voila! You now have a perfectly functional expense tracker.  Â
Additionally, you have a wide selection of spreadsheets and free templates, so if you need to track any activity, Spreadsheet Point has a solution for you! Â