Tracking your expenses is an essential accounting technique to keep your business's finances in order. Almost all businesses will need to have a good record of their expenses for their tax records. Creating a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel for this purpose will help you organize your receipts and bank statements into a single location.

Adding formulas to your spreadsheet lets you automate certain types of calculations that would otherwise not be possible with pen and paper.

How to Make a Spreadsheet that Keeps Track of Expenses | Your Business

Create headings for your spreadsheet's columns by entering "Date" in cell A1, "Group" in B1, "Description" in C1, "Income" in D1, "Expense" in E1 and "Total" in F1. Click cell B2, in the "Group" column.

Hold down the "Shift" key, press the "End" key and press the down arrow key. This selects the entire B column except for B1.

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Click the "Data" tab on the Excel ribbon. Click the "Data Validation" icon and select "Data Validation Click the "Settings" tab on the "Data Validation" window. Click cell D2 in the "Income" column. Hold down the "Shift" key, press the "End" key, press the down arrow key and press the right arrow key twice. This selects the entire D, E and F columns, except for the headings.

Select the "Currency" option from the drop-down menu in the "Number" group. Click cell F2, in the "Total" column.

Creating an Income and Expense Tracking Document - FamilyEducation

Click cell F4, hold down the "Shift" key, press the "End" key, press the down arrow key and press "Ctrl-V" to paste the formula. Enter the types of expenses you will use, in the column A cells. For example, enter "Labor" in A1, "Utilities" in A2 and "Advertising" in A3. These categories will be available to choose from in the "Group" column on Sheet1.

Create a new expense entry by clicking cell A2. Enter the date of the expense. Click cell B2 and select a group from the drop-down menu.

For example, select "Utilities. Click cell C2 and enter a more detailed description of the expense. For example, enter "Water bill. Click cell E2 and enter the amount of the expense. For example, enter " Sean Mann has been a freelance writer since With thorough knowledge and experience in technological fields such as computer software, hardware, the internet and programming, he creates online content for various websites. Mann has a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Ohio State University.

How to Track your Bills in Microsoft Excel: 13 Steps

Skip to main content. Open your spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel Select "List" from the "Allow: Click the "Home" tab on the Excel ribbon. Click cell F3 and press "Ctrl-C" to copy the formula. Click the "Sheet2" tab. Click the "Sheet1" tab. About the Author Sean Mann has been a freelance writer since Suggest an Article Correction.

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