Accountants utilize a variety of spreadsheets to facilitate their tasks, perform calculations, and organize financial information. There are quite of bit of backend calculations and tracking that go into being able to generate proper financial statements. Here are some of the most helpful spreadsheets for accountants:
Here is a list of templates I've personally built for accountants.
Note, not all of these spreadsheets are meant to flow together with one another automatically. Often times there will be workbooks that calculate things a certain way and are used to go and fill in higher level reports.
- General Ledger: This tracks all the transactions for a business, categorized by account type (e.g., assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses) and debt vs credit. I have not built a template for this yet, but have had some requests. I may jump into it sooner than later.
- Balance Sheet: Provides a snapshot of a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.
- Income Statement (Profit & Loss Statement): Details revenues, costs, and expenses to show how much profit or loss was made during a specific period.
- Cash Flow Statement: Chronicles the flow of cash in and out of a business over a specified period, separated into operations, investing, and financing activities.
- Trial Balance: Lists all accounts and their balances, ensuring total debits equal total credits.
- Accounts Receivable Ledger: Monitors the amounts due from customers, their due dates, and any overdue amounts.
- Accounts Payable Ledger: Keeps track of amounts the business owes to suppliers and other creditors, with due dates and payment statuses.
- Expense Report: Used for tracking and categorizing expenses.
- Fixed Assets Register: Lists all the long-term assets owned by a business, their purchase date, cost, depreciation rates, and net book values.
- Payroll Spreadsheet: Details employee salaries, wage rates, deductions, and net pay.
- Budgeting & Forecasting: Predicts future revenues and expenses based on historical data, trends, and other relevant factors.
- Tax Preparation Worksheets: Helps in organizing income, deductions, and credits for tax filings.
- Inventory Management: Tracks products, their quantities, purchase prices, selling prices, and other related data.
- Bank Reconciliation: Compares the business's book balance with the bank statement balance, noting any discrepancies.
- Financial Ratios & Analysis: Computes important ratios such as liquidity ratios, profitability ratios, and solvency ratios to assess the financial health of a business.
- Job Costing Sheet: Tracks expenses and revenues for specific jobs or projects to determine profitability.
- Amortization & Depreciation Schedules: These spreadsheets detail the periodic reduction in value of assets, whether it's a loan or a tangible/intangible asset.
- Break-even Analysis: Helps determine the point at which total revenues equal total costs.
- Cash Budget: A forecast of future cash receipts and disbursements.
- Sales Commission Tracker: Used by businesses that pay sales commissions, to monitor and calculate amounts owed to sales personnel.
- Debt Reduction Planner: Assists individuals or businesses in creating a strategy for paying down debts.
Most of these spreadsheets can be developed using software like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or other specialized accounting software. Many templates are available online, but it's crucial for accountants to ensure that any template used is tailored to the specific needs and nuances of their business or client.
Article found in Accounting and Finance.
