On this page, you will find a variety of budget and expense tracking templates for Google Sheets. Each of these templates serves a different purpose so that you can find exactly what you need to track your expenses and budget. Whether you want to track on a monthly or yearly basis, you will find the template that suits your needs.
At the bottom of this page, you will find expense tracking templates that allow you to break down your expenses by category. These tracking tools also include additional charts that help you visualize your totals for each month and overall.
By choosing from the templates explained below, you can opt for the following options:
- Month vs. Year
- Expenses vs. Expenses + Budget
- Monthly Budget vs. Budget per Expense (for budgeting templates)
- Single sheet vs. One tab per month (for year-long templates)
- New: You can now choose a version that allows category selection.
Each template comes with a chart that visually displays your expenses! This way, you can see the totals for each expense type, for each different month, and you can also see your overall total.
Here is a complete list of budget and expense templates:
- One-Month Expense Tracker (Tracking expenses for one month on a single sheet)
- One-Month Expense and Budget Tracker (Monthly budget and expense tracking on a single sheet, where you can set an overall monthly budget)
- One-Month Expense and Budget Tracker (Budget per expense) (Monthly budget and expense tracking on a single sheet, where you can set a budget for each expense)
- One-Year Expense Tracker (Expense tracking for one year, with each month having its own tab)
- One-Year Expense and Budget Tracker (Monthly budget and expense tracking for one year on a single sheet, where you can set a budget for each month)
- One-Year Expense and Budget Tracker (Budget per expense) (Expense and budget tracking for one year on a single sheet, where you can set a budget for each expense)
- One-Year Expense Tracker (One tab per month) (Expense tracking for one year, with each month having its own tab)
- One-Month Expense Tracker with Category Selection on a Single Sheet (Expense tracking for one month on a single sheet, where you can set a category for each expense and see how much you’ve spent in each category)
- One-Year Expense Tracker with Category Selection (One tab per month) (Expense tracking for one year, with each month having its own tab, where you can set a category for each expense and see how much you’ve spent in each category)
See below for images and a description of each budget and expense tracking template. But first, let’s talk about how to make a copy of the templates.
How to Make a Copy of the Templates
The links to these templates should allow you to click a button that will automatically create your own copy, especially if you are using a desktop or laptop computer. You need to be signed in to Google for this to work.
The normal method to make a copy of a Google Sheets spreadsheet is to click on “File” in the top toolbar, then “Make a copy.”
The sheets are “read-only,” so you need to make your own copy to use them, so do not request editing access.
How to Use the Budget/Expense Templates
Below, in each section, you will find instructions for each individual template, but here are some general instructions that apply to all the templates:
- Only the light blue cells should be edited, as well as the cells below the frozen rows, where you can enter your expenses, dollar amounts, and budget.
- Cells that should not be modified will display a warning if you try to edit them.
- Enter your monthly income.
- Enter the expense types/titles.
- Enter how much you spent for each expense.
- Enter your budget (if necessary).
Automatic Color Coding
The expense tracking templates have automatic color coding features that are good to note:
- When your expenses exceed your budget, the cells turn orange.
- When your total monthly budget exceeds your monthly income, the cells turn red.
- When your total expenses exceed your income, the cells turn red.
One-Month Expense and Budget Tracking Templates
First, I’ll show you the templates that allow you to track your expenses and budget for a single month, or simply track your expenses/budget on a single sheet.
One-Month Expense Tracker
This first expense tracker is the simplest of them all! It allows you to track your expenses for a single month.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell B1.
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 5 (cells A5, A6, A7, etc.).
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense in column B.
One-Month Expense and Budget Tracker (Monthly Budget)
This template allows you to track your expenses and budget. In this version, the budget is set for the entire month.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell B1.
- Enter your monthly budget in cell B2.
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 7 (cells A7, A8, A9, etc.).
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense in column B.
One-Month Expense and Budget Tracker (Budget per Expense)
This template allows you to track your expenses and budget. In this version, you can budget for each expense individually.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell B1.
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 5 (cells A5, A6, A7, etc.).
- Enter your budget for each expense in column B.
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense in column C.
One-Year Expense and Budget Tracking Templates
Here are the yearly versions of the expense and budget tracking templates, which allow you to track expenses/budget for each month of the year. Some versions let you track the entire year on a single sheet, while others allow you to track expenses/budget for each month on an individual tab. (See below for a version with additional category selection.)
In the image below, you will see a preview of the main tab where you can actually track your expenses, but note that the year-long templates with a single sheet also have an additional tab that contains the two charts shown below.
In the year-long templates with a single sheet, starting from the second tab, you can select a month of the year to display your individual expenses for that month on a bar chart, and you can also see your total monthly expenses for the entire year on a line chart.
The versions that have one tab per month are slightly different and are described in their own sections.
Example of charts present in the yearly trackers:
These templates/content were originally created and written by SpreadsheetClass.com.
One-Year Expense Tracker
This template is the simplest of the year-long trackers! It allows you to track your expenses for 12 months on a single sheet.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell A2.
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 9 (cells A9, A10, A11, etc.).
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, for each month, starting from column B (January).
One-Year Expense and Budget Tracker (Monthly Budget)
This template allows you to track your expenses and budget for one year on a single sheet, but this version lets you set a total monthly budget for each month.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell A2.
- Enter your monthly budget for each month in row 3, starting from column B (January).
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 12 (cells A12, A13, A14, etc.). Row 11 is already set for “Savings.”
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, for each month, starting from column B (January).
One-Year Expense and Budget Tracker (Budget per Expense)
This template allows you to track your expenses and budget for one year… and with this version, you can budget for each expense.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell A2.
- Enter the expense types in column A, starting from row 10 (cells A10, A11, A12, etc.). Row 9 is already set for “Savings.”
- Enter your budget for each expense in column B, starting from row 9.
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, for each month, starting from column C (January).
One-Year Expense Tracker (One Tab per Month)
In this version, you can track your expenses for one year, with each month being tracked on an individual tab. (See below for a version with additional category selection.)
Each monthly tab has a column chart that shows the amount of each expense type, and the main tab has a line chart that shows your monthly totals. You can also use the “Graph” tab for the same year-long trackers.
On the main tab of the tracker (“Dashboard”), simply enter your expense types once, and they will appear on each individual monthly tab. You can also enter your monthly income for each month on the main tab.
On the “Dashboard” tab, only edit the light blue cells.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income for each month in column D of the “Dashboard” tab, starting from row 4 (January).
- Enter your expense types in column A of the “Dashboard” tab, starting from row 4 (cells A4, A5, A6, etc.).
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, for each month, on each individual monthly tab, in column B, starting from row 5.
Example of “Dashboard” tab:
Example of “January” tab:
Expense Tracking with Category Selection
Here are two new versions of the expense tracking templates, which allow you to select a category for each expense. There is a version with a single sheet, as well as a yearly version with one tab per month. In these templates, in addition to seeing the totals/charts for each expense, you can also see the totals/charts for each category.
There are also charts that show the total expenses compared to the money left. In the one-year version, the “Dashboard” tab shows the overall totals and trends for the entire year.
Please note that cell B3 (Money After Expenses) will turn red if the spent amount exceeds the set monthly income.
One-Month Expense Tracker with Category Selection on a Single Sheet
In this version, you can track your expenses and categories for each expense on a single sheet.
Instructions:
- Enter your monthly income in cell A3.
- Enter the names of your expenses in column A, starting from row 5 (cells A5, A6, A7, etc.).
- Type a list of categories in column E, starting from row 5 (this will populate the drop-down menus in column B).
- Click on the drop-down menus in column B to select the category for each expense.
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, in column C, starting from row 5.
One-Year Expense Tracker with Category Selection (One Tab per Month)
This is my favorite expense tracking template! In this version, you can track your monthly expenses and categories for each expense on individual tabs (one per month), and see the totals/trends for the entire year on the “Dashboard” tab.
In addition to the monthly tabs described/shown above, the template also contains the following features on the “Dashboard” tab.
Instructions:
- On the “Dashboard” tab, starting from cell A19, enter a list of categories that you want to use (These categories will populate the drop-down menus in column B of the individual monthly tabs).
- Enter your monthly income in cell A3 of each monthly tab (January, February, etc.).
- Enter the names of your expenses in column A, starting from row 5 (Do this on each of the monthly tabs).
- Click on the drop-down menus in column B to select the category for each expense (Repeat this step for each of the monthly tabs).
- Enter the dollar amounts you paid for each expense, in column C, starting from row 5 (Repeat this step for each of the monthly tabs).
- Click on the “Dashboard” tab to view the overall totals and trends for the year.
Example of the “Dashboard” tab in the yearly expense tracker with category selection:
You can see that a scorecard chart displays the total for the whole year, and the totals for each month and the whole year are listed on the left, and a line chart shows the spending trend for each month of the year. Below, you will see additional totals/charts for the “Categories.”
On the “Dashboard” tab of the one-year version, you can also see the total for each category, for the whole year, displayed in cells to the left of the sheet, as well as in a column chart on the right.
I hope you enjoy these expense/budget templates! Get the template
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