Bookkeeping can feel like a complex task if you don’t have the right system to make it easy and accessible. However, you can not avoid maintaining books because they keep your finances accurate and help you run your business smoothly.
The good thing is that bookkeeping tasks don’t have to be stressful; you can have a simpler system to keep track of your finances. A simple bookkeeping template can help you stay organized, track income and expenses, and get a clear snapshot of your business’s financial standing.
This guide teaches you how to use simple spreadsheet templates to streamline your finances, avoid unnecessary complexity, and stay in control of your business money.
If you’re overwhelmed by numbers or struggling to dig through messy records, contact AccountsBalance for full-service bookkeeping. With us, you get expert bookkeepers, timely reports, and a trusted partner who can help you manage your finances.
Why Every Business Needs a Simple Bookkeeping Format
Many entrepreneurs think bookkeeping is a time-consuming and complex task that only a professional bookkeeper can do. However, a simple bookkeeping format can help manage your finances without unnecessary complexity.
Here’s why keeping it simple is the best approach:
- A straightforward system is simple to use, even if you have limited accounting knowledge.
- You won’t waste hours trying to understand complex software or complicated spreadsheets.
- A simplified format reduces the risk of errors, which can be costly or lead to tax issues.
- With a simple system in place, there’s no need to invest in expensive accounting software.
How to Choose the Right Bookkeeping Template for Your Business
Not all bookkeeping templates on the internet will have the exact features you need. Choosing the correct one can greatly affect how effectively you manage your finances.
Here’s what to look for when picking one that fits your business:
- Match Your Business Size: If you’re a freelancer or solo entrepreneur, you might only need a basic income and expense tracker, as adding multiple sections might confuse you. On the other hand, a growing business may require multiple sections, such as inventory, payroll, or accounts receivable.
- Choose Based on Your Workflow: Do you prefer writing things down? Go for a printable template. Need flexibility and auto-calculations? You can use a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Look for Clear Categories: The best templates always have clearly labeled sections, like sales, expenses, taxes, and totals, to make bookkeeping tasks easier and save time.
- Keep It Scalable: Even if your business is small now, choose a format you can build on as it grows. A good template should adapt as your finances become more complex.
- Stick to What You’ll Use: A simple format you can maintain consistently is always better than a complex one you forget to update.
What Should Be Included in a Bookkeeping Excel Format
A simple Excel bookkeeping template can make it easier to keep your finances structured and accurate.
To make it work for you and for ease of use, your files should include the following essential components, along with core transactional details:
Chart of Accounts
This sheet lets you list all the categories you’ll use to organize your transactions. These categories usually fall under five main groups:
- Income
- Expenses
- Asset
- Liabilities
- Equity
You can think of it as the backbone of your system. Having all the things listed helps you categorize transactions consistently across your records.
Transactions Sheet
This sheet is why your finances will stay in check. The transaction sheet records even the smallest transactions you make throughout the day. They can be anything like sales, expenses, or revenue.
Each row should capture the following:
- Date: When the transaction occurred
- Description: A short note on what the transaction was for
- Category: Pick from your charts of accounts
- Income/Expense: Separate columns for money in and money out
- Payment Method: Cash, card, bank, etc.
- Running Balance: To track how much money you have
Keeping this account up-to-date will give you a real-time picture of your business finances.
Income Statement Sheet
This sheet pulls data from your transaction sheet and summarizes your earnings and spending over a specific period.
It highlights:
- Total Revenue
- Total Cost Of Goods Sold
- Total Operating Expenses
- Operating Profit or Loss
- Total Income, Expenses & Taxes
- Gross Profit or Loss
- Net Income or Loss
It helps you understand how profitable your business is and whether you’re meeting your financial goals.
Where to Find the Best Free Bookkeeping Template Online
Are you looking for a bookkeeping template so you don’t have to build one from scratch? Good news!
Here are some of the best places where you can find well-designed, free templates to manage your small business finances easily:
AccountsBalance
AccountsBalance offers a simple yet effective bookkeeping template designed specifically for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs.
The templates are easy to use, well-organized, and built to simplify daily financial tracking that covers income, expenses, invoices, and financial statements.
You can get started right away without any technical setup, making it a perfect choice if you want a reliable and user-friendly bookkeeping system.
However, if you want more hands-off bookkeeping for your business, you can opt for our monthly bookkeeping service, which provides all financial reports by the 15th of each month.
Google Sheets
The built-in template gallery in Google Sheets lets you access multiple templates ranging from calendars and CRMs to bookkeeping-specific templates like:
- Monthly and annual budget trackers
- Expense reports
- Invoice generators
These templates are simple and easy to modify for small-scale bookkeeping.
SmartSheet
SmartSheet is a platform that requires no heavy coding. It blends powerful project management with the simplicity of spreadsheets. For business owners without deep financial or spreadsheet experience, it offers free downloadable bookkeeping templates that are dynamic and easy to use.
You can access templates such as cash books, income statements, and expense trackers. While helpful, some users may find the platform more suitable for project tracking than pure bookkeeping.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks, primarily known for its accounting software, also provides a collection of free downloadable bookkeeping templates in Excel and Google Sheets formats.
These templates are designed specifically for small business owners and freelancers and include:
- Expense trackers
- Income statements
- Invoice logs
- Profit and loss worksheets
They are a great starting point if you want to test different layouts before creating your customized system.
Sheetify Bookkeeping
Sheetify Bookkeeping is a Google Sheets-based bookkeeping solution offering features like:
- Expense and income trackers
- Invoicing tools
- Tax calculators
- Monthly, annual, and custom dashboards
While it offers impressive automation, it’s better suited for very small operations or freelancers rather than larger businesses with more complex needs.
How to Use Accounting Templates for Small Business Operations
Now that you have found the right bookkeeping template, the next step is to learn how to use it effectively. If your idea of maintaining an accounting template is just entering numbers, it’s not.
Here’s how to make the most of them:
Start with Setup
Before using a template, tailor it to reflect your business operations. This setup phase ensures the template works for your needs and makes ongoing tracking easier and more meaningful.
- Rename categories to match your income and expense types.
- Input your chart of accounts so every transaction has a clear home.
- Set your reporting period (monthly, quarterly, etc.) to stay consistent.
Taking the time to customize your template upfront saves confusion and clean-up later.
Record Every Transaction
Accurate bookkeeping starts with consistent data entry. Log each transaction as soon as it occurs so nothing slips through the cracks.
- Add every payment received, bill paid, or purchase made.
- Include the date, amount, description, and appropriate category.
- Use templates with built-in formulas to avoid manual calculation errors.
Even if a transaction seems small, it must be added to paint the full picture of your financial health.
Track Income and Expenses Separately
Separating income and expenses keeps your finances organized and helps you understand where your money is going and coming from.
- Income comes from sales, services, subscriptions, or interest earned.
- Expenses cover everything from rent and supplies to marketing and payroll.
Having these clearly divided lets you manage cash flow and identify potential cost-cutting opportunities.
Reconcile Monthly
Reconciling means aligning your bookkeeping records with your bank statements. It’s one of the most important steps for maintaining accurate books.
It helps you:
- Spot missing entries, duplicate charges, or errors.
- Confirm that recorded payments and deposits actually cleared the bank.
- Address discrepancies before they become bigger issues.
Doing this monthly keeps your finances clean and audit-ready.
Review Reports
With organized templates, you can make reports based on the data they contain to summarize your financial activity. These reports give you a clear overview of how your business is performing.
You can create a profit and loss statement to see if you’re making or losing money. You can also use expense summaries to find where you’re overspending.
Reviewing monthly income trends can help you forecast cash flow, enabling you to make informed, confident business decisions.
Keep a Backup
Even with cloud-based tools, keeping an extra copy of your records is smart. Backups protect you from accidental deletions, file corruption, or technical issues.
Export or save a version to an external drive or USB, and keep a copy on a second cloud storage platform for extra security. You can even set a reminder to update your backup weekly or monthly.
How to Customize an Accounting Spreadsheet Template for Your Industry
A spreadsheet straight out of software might not work efficiently for you. You need to tailor your template to suit your specific industry, giving you better clarity, insights, and control over your finances.
Here’s how you can personalize your template:
- Identify Industry-Specific Needs: Define what matters most for your business. If you’re doing bookkeeping for independent contractors, you might want to focus on client invoices, project-based payments, and maybe time tracking. A generalized approach won’t give you the clarity you’re looking for, so define what you need to track first.
- Modify Categories in the Chart of Accounts: Most templates come with a standard chart of accounts. But technically, these are just placeholders. You’ll want to rename, add, or remove categories to reflect your income and expense types.
- Automate Calculations Where Possible: Don’t get stuck doing repetitive math, which can also be very complex. Use built-in formulas to handle basics, such as totals, tax estimates, or monthly profit breakdowns.
- Design Dashboards Based on Key Metrics: A customized dashboard gives you a quick snapshot of your business without having to dig through dozens of rows. Your spreadsheet should be built around the insights that matter to you.
- Adjust the Reporting Period and Tax Fields: If your business needs to charge or pay taxes, such as VAT or GST, ensure your template reflects this. Adding these details makes tax time less stressful and ensures you’re always audit-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some answers to help you further expand your knowledge about bookkeeping templates:
What Is the Difference Between a Bookkeeping Spreadsheet and Accounting Software?
A bookkeeping spreadsheet is a manual or semi-automated tool built using Excel or Google Sheets that you can customize and update yourself. It’s a simple and easy way to control your finances, and it’s free.
Accounting software, on the other hand, often comes with automation, integration, and advanced features like invoice generation, bank syncing, and tax reporting. While it’s more powerful, it usually involves a learning curve, subscriptions, and sometimes features you might not even need.
How Often Should I Update My Bookkeeping Spreadsheet Template?
Updating bookkeeping spreadsheets depends on the number of transactions your business processes. Ideally, it should be done daily or weekly.
The important thing is to stay consistent. Regular updates help you manage your cash flow, catch errors early, and avoid the year-end panic. For businesses with fewer transactions, even a bi-weekly update can work as long as you stay consistent and accurate.
Is It Safe to Use a Free Bookkeeping Template for My Business?
Using a free bookkeeping template is very safe if you get it from a trusted source and take a few precautions. Ensure you always back up your files, especially if you make significant changes to them.
Also, storing your templates in a secure cloud location like Google Drive or OneDrive adds an extra layer of protection, keeping your records safe and accessible even if your device crashes.
Conclusion
Bookkeeping doesn’t have to be complicated to be accurate and effective. With the right template and a little customization to align with your industry type, you can take control of your finances, spot growth opportunities, and make better business decisions.
From setting up a simple chart of accounts to tracking your income and expenses consistently, every small step adds up to a clearer financial picture. And with free, ready-to-use templates from trusted platforms like Google and Microsoft, there’s no reason to delay.
If you need some help even after all these, you can always outsource your bookkeeping to AccountsBalance. We have a team of dedicated bookkeepers who can keep your finances in check and provide timely reports to help you stay compliant.
