Most small businesses track expenses in a spreadsheet, and most of those spreadsheets are a list of amounts with no structure, which means the month cannot be read from them. The spreadsheet is a fine tool for the job at a small size, provided it has the right columns and computes the right totals. This page is for the owner setting up or fixing the expense tracking spreadsheet: the columns, the totals, the flags for receipts and reimbursements, and the point at which the spreadsheet stops being enough. The business expense spreadsheet on this site is a working version of what this page describes, free and computing on the page.
The columns an expense tracker spreadsheet needs
Date. Category, from the business's list, chosen from a dropdown rather than typed so the totals do not fragment. Amount. Vendor or payee. Business purpose. Who paid: the business directly, or a team member to be reimbursed. Receipt: yes or no, with a flag when the amount is at or above the threshold and the answer is no. Reimbursed: date paid, for the lines a team member paid. Notes. An expense tracker spreadsheet with those columns can answer every question the owner or the accountant asks about a month.
The totals an expense tracking template must compute
Per category per month, so the month is readable. Per category for the year to date, so the trend is. Fixed against variable, if the categories are tagged. Reimbursable lines outstanding, so the owner knows what is owed to the team. Meals separately, because of the deduction limit. A tracking expenses template that only totals the amount column is a list, not a tracker; the spreadsheet on this site computes these on the page.
What a free expense tracker template usually lacks
The receipt flag against a threshold. The reimbursement columns. The category dropdown. Monthly and year-to-date totals per category. Most free templates are a formatted list. Before using one, add those four things; or start from the free spreadsheet here, which has them.
Feeding the tracking expenses template from approved claims
Team members' expense reports arrive with the same categories, so approved claims are copied into the tracker line by line under who paid and reimbursed on the cycle. The expense report template on this site uses the same category list as the spreadsheet for that reason. If claims arrive in a different structure, the spreadsheet fills with retyping and errors.
Where the spreadsheet stops being enough
When several people spend and claim every month, when receipts have to be found for a query, when the owner needs to know what is unpaid without scrolling, when the accountant wants an export by category with the receipts attached. That is the point of a system rather than a sheet: PerDiemDesk Pro, at $4 per month for the whole team, keeps every claim against the person, the period and the category with its receipt. Until then, the spreadsheet with the right columns does the job.
Questions people ask about expense tracking spreadsheet
What columns does an expense tracking spreadsheet need?
Date, category from a list, amount, payee, purpose, who paid, receipt flag, reimbursed date, notes. Totals per category per month and year to date.
Can I use an expenses tracker template for personal spending too?
Keep business and personal apart; a mixed sheet is a mixed record and the accountant will have to unpick it.
When should a small business move off the spreadsheet?
When claims from several people every month make the unpaid list, the receipts and the category export more work than the spending itself.