As a business owner, it’s essential for you to keep track of your accounting records. This lets you know whether you are still earning profits or suffering from losses while making your budgeting more efficient. One of the best ways to do this is by using a cloud-based spreadsheet like Google Sheets.
One Google Sheet accounting template might not be enough. That’s why we’re introducing five that can be downloaded and customized to suit your business needs. Follow along as we explore the benefits of bookkeeping in spreadsheets and how these free accounting Google Sheets can help.
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Benefits of Using a Google Sheet Accounting Template
There are many tools to manage your business’s financial matters, but one of the best is a spreadsheet. Among the greatest benefits include:
Price
This cost-effective solution only requires you to have a free account on Google Sheets to access a basic — but effective — set of features. Many other apps ask you for a small fee (like Microsoft Word).
Simple Automation
You can automate the most tedious tasks (like tabulating inventory). These include built-in functions and formulas that automatically sum up your payments and debts, as well as create charts that provide insights into your finances.
Accessibility
The simple and intuitive Sheets interface also allows for greater usability. They can also be accessed anywhere with an internet connection. This enables you to manage your finances on the go — and collaborate with others in real-time.
5 Google Sheets Templates for Business
“Accounting” is a fairly broad term and there’s a multitude of balance sheet templates for Google Sheets that can fall under that umbrella. Here, we cover the basics, from invoice tracking spreadsheets to inventory templates for Google Sheets.
1. Invoice Tracking Template
Sales are among the most integral parts of your business, and one relevant document that you usually work with is an invoice. An invoice tracking template lets you keep your invoices in one place, which makes them easier to manage and organize.
Several functions have been set up for you, which automatically add the total outstanding amount (depending on the status of your bills). We’ve also provided a metric that lets you see how many days have passed since your set payment deadlines.
Get your free invoice tracking template below.
2. Google Sheets Ledger Template
Using a Google Sheets ledger template can help you keep track of your financial transactions, from wages paid to sales you earned. We’ve kept this template fairly simple for you, so feel free to customize and tailor it to your specific needs.
Our ledger spreadsheet comes with automated features to reduce human error (e.g., calculations of your balances). It’s also equipped with dropdown lists so you can easily select a specific account category, depending on the type of transaction.
Get the free Google Sheets ledger template below.
3. Profit and Loss Bookkeeping Template for Google Sheets
If you’re looking to track the metrics that indicate whether you’re earning or losing capital, you might need a P&L bookkeeping template. Divided into four categories, it’s easy to see your sales, the costs of what you’ve sold, operating expenses, and add-backs.
A P&L sheet is usually necessary for businesses doing their taxes. It also might come in handy for those who are required to file Schedule C forms.
Get the template Google Sheets profit and loss template below.
4. Payroll Spreadsheet for Small Businesses
Employees are the backbones of any business, so ensuring that they’re well-compensated is a must. One way to do this is to accurately track employee hours with a payroll spreadsheet.
This template not only does that but also uses automatic calculations with built-in formulas. We also made sure to include fields for sick leaves and holidays (in case you have a different payment scheme for these events).
You might find the last five columns of our template particularly handy when calculating deductions from your employees’ total salaries. After all, employers are required to withhold some of the wages and pay their share of Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Get our free Payroll Template below.
5. Google Sheets Inventory Template
If you’re in the retail industry, you must know that a healthy inventory is a must. One way to accurately and easily track your stocks is with Google Sheets templates for businesses that focus primarily on inventory.
Our inventory spreadsheet handles automated calculations with high accuracy, reducing the risk of human error.
We’ve also included conditional formatting and statements that help increase visibility in your spreadsheet. For example, a certain cell turns red if you’ve stocked more than the maximum capacity of your storage.
Get the free Google Sheets inventory template below.
How to Use Our 5 Bookkeeping Templates for Google Sheets
Our spreadsheet templates have been created to be highly intuitive: It only takes you a few minutes to explore how to use them. However, to ensure that you maximize their built-in features, here are a few guides to follow:
1. Track Pending Payments With Our Invoice Template
When you download our invoice tracking template, head over first to the Client Base tab. This lets you update the details of your customers (note: you’ll need to enter their invoice information in the Tracker tab).
Client Base Tab
You’ll see several column headers for your customers’ data. The first three columns are fields for their primary information: Name, Client ID, and Affiliation. The latter three columns are meant for their contact details: Billing Address, Phone, and Fax.
Tracker Tab
Once the Client Base tab is set, you can go back to this sheet to dive into the details of their invoices. Here’s a quick list of the fields you’ll find in this tab.
- Invoice Number
- Date Issued
- Client
- Purchase Details
- Payment Deadline
- Amount Due
- Amount Paid
- Outstanding
- Age
- Payment Status
Invoice Number and Client Columns
When entering your invoice numbers, you want to ensure that each of them has no duplicates throughout the entire column dedicated to them. In turn, this lets you avoid errors when it comes to billing.
Another section you want to pay attention to is the Client column. You might notice that the cells under this header have drop-down lists, and the choices you see in them are exactly what you put inside the Client Base tab.
Outstanding, Age, and Payment Status
We recommend not editing the cells under the Outstanding and Age columns. These are preloaded with formulas that automatically sum up the amount that hasn’t been paid yet — as well as the amount of time that’s passed since the due date. As for the Payment Status, you can select To Send, Partially Paid, Fully Paid, or Closed from the drop-down lists we’ve prepared.
Summary Section
Our template also features a summary section at the top. On the left side, you can quickly call the information (from the Client Base tab) of a certain client through a drop-down list. The Per-Client Outstanding would also be updated depending on which client you selected to view.
2. Using Our Google Sheets Ledger Template
When first opening this template, decide whether you want to use it as a general ledger or a sales ledger (note: Sales ledgers require a few more steps for you to accomplish, such as including categories for your gross sales and net sales after taxes). After that, start customizing the template for your needs and preferences, from the fonts to colors.
Primary Ledger Information
Fill out the necessary details of your ledger. You’ll generally start with the following fields: Ledger Date Range, Opening Balance, Date, and Reference. These will help give context to the details of your ledger.
Transaction Details
Proceed to categorize your transactions under Account and provide their details under Explanation and Credit (or Debit, depending on the type of entry). You can refer to the table at the rightmost part of the sheet if you’re unsure which column the transaction amount should be written under.
Other Features
The cells under the headers of the main table, as well as those under the Balance column, are pre-loaded with formulas. As such, you want to refrain from editing them to preserve their automatic calculation function.
Another feature in our template that you might find handy is the filter buttons under each header. They are particularly helpful when coursing through your transactions.
3. Tracking Profits and Losses
To use our P&L statement spreadsheet, all you’ll really need to do is feed it with your financial data. First is the Income/Sales category which comes with preloaded row headers like Website Income and Direct Phone Sales.
Put the amounts under the appropriate months and they’d automatically be summed up under the “Total” column (at the right-most part of the table). A summation should also be provided under each column for the months, which is particularly handy for understanding monthly revenues and costs.
After filling out the Income/Sales section, simply do the same for the other categories, including Cost of Goods Sold, Operating Expenses, and Addbacks. The amounts you put here would also be automatically summed up.
Gross & Net Profit
We’ve also included a section for the Gross Profit and Net Profit of your business. The first one will be automatically summed up, based on the rows Gross Revenue and Total Cost. Meanwhile, Total Cost is calculated by deducting the sum of Total Expenses and Total Add-backs from the Gross Revenue.
4. Checking Your Employees’ Payroll
The first two columns in this template are Payment Date and Pay Period. This is where your spreadsheet will indicate when the wage is due and how often you need to pay a certain individual.
Tracking Total Hours Worked
Next, you will come to the fields where all hours rendered by your employees — and their gross pay equivalent — are tracked. Almost all columns in this section require manual input, but we recommend you modify the formula under the Total O.T. Pay column, based on your rates. You can do this by changing the integer in the MULTIPLY() function. These will be summed under Gross Pay.
Calculation of Net Pay
Next comes calculating your employees’ net pay. Here, you can indicate the tax rates and salary deductions which would be withheld from employees’ gross pay. The cells under the Net Pay column are automatically summed up based on your input.
5. Using Our Google Sheets Inventory Template
It’s very easy to use our inventory template for Google Sheets. It features two main categories:
- Yellow cells let you manually indicate the data of your stock.
- Purple cells are loaded with functions/formulae that provide inventory insight.
Stock Status
Let’s focus on the purple-colored categories so that you understand what metrics would automatically appear here. Under “In Store + On Order,” you will see the tally of your current stocks, which are automatically summed up for you. Aside from that, you also have the “Stock Status” and “Overstocked?” categories that are set with conditional formatting (so they change color, depending on the value).
Inventory Cost
Lastly, your costs (as well as the total) are calculated by the formulas as you input the number of the stocks currently on order and the price per unit. If you’re looking for a more advanced and insightful template for inventory management, consider the inventory and sales tracking spreadsheet template below.
Are Spreadsheets Better Than Bookkeeping Software?
Most business owners are in a dilemma on whether to use bookkeeping software or stick with spreadsheets. Both of them have unique pros and cons, so it ultimately depends on your accounting needs.
If you’re dealing with simple, small-scale data, Google Sheets might be better. It’s also a great choice if you’re not yet ready to pay for advanced software.
When it comes to managing larger amounts of financial data, it might be time to switch to specialized bookkeeping software. Xero is a major player in this regard, offering features like automated data entry and real-time reporting. Since you’ll be investing potentially large amounts in the long-term, take the time to consider this switch.
Wrapping Up
For managing and organizing the financial aspects of your business, the right Google Sheets accounting template saves time, reduces errors, and provides valuable insights into your business’s financial health.
For more advanced spreadsheet knowledge, however, we recommend enrolling in a Udemy course for Google Sheets.
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