Expense Tracker Template for Excel
Last updated June 2026
Where did the money actually go? Log each purchase — date, merchant, category, amount — on the Expenses sheet of this free three-sheet .xlsx workbook, and the Summary tab rolls everything up by category and month with SUMIFS. A Categories sheet powers the drop-down. It works equally well for personal spending or small-business expenses.
Expense Tracker Template for Excel
expense-tracker.xlsx · free · no signup
Works in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, and Google Sheets (File → Import).
SHA-256: 6a99167fff6bb39be701a9ca1326840aca8ff14f906bf39cab3ee445b64788d9
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| Housing | $1,350.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Utilities | $174.30 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Food | $356.47 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Transport | $80.95 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Entertainment | $27.48 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
What's inside
Sheets
ExpensesYour transaction log: one row per purchase with Date, Merchant, Category, Amount, and Notes. Rows 2–200 are ready for entry, with the top row frozen so headers stay visible as you scroll.SummaryA category-by-month grid. Columns are the twelve months of 2026 plus a Year total column that sums each category across the year; rows are the 13 categories. Every cell is a SUMIFS that pulls from the Expenses sheet, plus a Total row at the bottom.CategoriesThe 13-category list (Housing, Utilities, Food, Transport, and more) that powers the Category drop-down. Edit it and both the drop-down and the Summary rows follow.
Columns
- DateWhen the purchase happened. The Summary sheet uses this to bucket each row into the right month.
- MerchantWhere you spent — the store, vendor, or payee. Free text, not totaled.
- CategoryA drop-down fed by the
Categoriessheet, so spelling stays consistent and the SUMIFS totals match exactly. - AmountWhat you paid, formatted as currency. This is the only number the Summary sheet adds up.
- NotesOptional context — a reference number, who you were with, or what it was for.
Formulas that do the work
Each Summary cell adds every Amount whose Category matches the row label and whose Date falls inside that month. The EDATE(B$3,1) is the first of the next month, so the range is everything from the month-start up to but not including it. It's copied across B4:M16.
The Total row at B17 adds the 13 category totals for one month, then copies across to M17 — your full spend for each month at a glance.
Returns the first day of the month after the one in B3. SUMIFS uses it as the upper bound so a January total never accidentally catches a February transaction.
The Year column at N4 adds one category across all twelve months (January in B4 through December in M4), then copies down to N16 for an at-a-glance annual total per category.
How to use it
Log each purchase on the Expenses sheet
Add one row per transaction: the Date, the Merchant, and the Amount. Replace the sample January rows with your own. The header row stays frozen, so you never lose track of the columns.
Pick a category from the drop-down
In the Category column, click the cell and choose from the drop-down. Using the list rather than typing keeps every entry spelled the same, which is what makes the SUMIFS totals line up.
Read your spending on the Summary sheet
Switch to the
Summarysheet. It already totals every category by month — nothing to refresh. The Total row shows what you spent each month across all categories.Adjust the categories to fit you
Open the
Categoriessheet and rename, add, or remove categories. The Category drop-down and the Summary row labels both reference this list, so update it there once.Keep it current
Once or twice a week, add your latest transactions to the bottom of the
Expenseslog. Because the SUMIFS formulas point at whole columns, every new row flows into the Summary automatically.
Compatibility
- Microsoft Excel. Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2016 and later (Windows and Mac).
- LibreOffice Calc. Opens directly — formulas, validation lists, and formatting carry over.
- Google Sheets. Upload via File → Import → Upload, or drag the file into Drive and open with Sheets.
Both formulas work in every release since Excel 2007, including Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, and Excel for Mac — SUMIFS and EDATE are native, with no add-in required. The SUMIFS totals and the Category drop-down also survive a Google Sheets import. After importing, click any Category cell to confirm the drop-down arrow appears; if a total reads zero, check that the category spelling matches the Categories list.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this expense tracker template really free?
- Yes. Download it once and it is yours to keep — track household spending or run small-business bookkeeping in it without ever creating an account. Nothing inside expires, nags, or asks you to upgrade.
- How does the Summary sheet know which expenses to count?
- Each Summary cell is a SUMIFS that matches the category in column A and the month in row 3, summing only the Amount rows on the
Expensessheet that meet both conditions. It updates the moment you add a row. - Why does a category show zero when I know I spent money?
- SUMIFS matches the category text exactly, so a typo like
Fooddor a trailing space won't add up. Always pick the category from the drop-down rather than typing it, and the total will land in the right row. - Can I track more than the 200 rows provided?
- Yes. Right-click a row number near the bottom of the
Expensessheet and choose Insert to add more. The SUMIFS formulas reference entire columns, so new rows are counted with no edits. - Will the SUMIFS summary survive a Google Sheets import?
- It survives intact — Sheets supports SUMIFS natively, so the category-by-month roll-up keeps calculating after File → Import → Upload. Click one Category cell once the import finishes to confirm the drop-down list made the trip too.