Building a finance tracker from scratch takes time, but Google Sheets makes it possible to create something genuinely useful. This guide walks through the process of setting up a tracker that handles income, expenses, savings, and investments - all in one place.
Why Google Sheets Works Well for This
Google Sheets is free, accessible from any device, and flexible enough to build exactly what you need. You can share it with a partner or family member, and everything syncs automatically.
That said, building a tracker from scratch requires time and some spreadsheet knowledge. If you’d rather skip the setup, FinancialAha’s spreadsheet templates come ready to use with these features built in. The Financial Planning Template in particular covers income, expenses, savings, and investments in a single spreadsheet.
Set Up Your Spreadsheet Structure
Start by creating a new spreadsheet and renaming it to something like “Personal Finance Tracker.”
Create separate tabs for each area you want to track:
- Dashboard - A visual summary of your finances
- Income - Track earnings from various sources
- Expenses - Categorize and track spending
- Savings - Monitor progress towards savings goals
- Investments - Keep track of your investment portfolio
- Budget Planning - Set monthly or yearly budgets
- Debt Tracker - Monitor outstanding debts and repayments
Build Your Income Tracking Tab
In the “Income” tab, set up these columns:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Date |
| B | Source (e.g., Salary, Freelance, Investments) |
| C | Description |
| D | Amount |
| E | Category (e.g., Fixed, Variable) |
Some useful formulas for this tab:
Total income:
=SUM(D2:D)Income by source (e.g., total from Freelance):
=SUMIF(B2:B, "Freelance", D2:D)Monthly breakdown using QUERY - this is one of Google Sheets’ most useful features:
=QUERY(A2:D, "SELECT MONTH(A)+1, SUM(D) GROUP BY MONTH(A)+1 LABEL MONTH(A)+1 'Month', SUM(D) 'Total'")Pivot tables also work well here for breaking down income by source or month.
Create the Expense Tracker
The “Expenses” tab needs more detail. Include these columns:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Date |
| B | Category (e.g., Housing, Food, Entertainment) |
| C | Subcategory (e.g., Rent, Groceries, Dining Out) |
| D | Description |
| E | Payment Method (e.g., Credit Card, Cash) |
| F | Amount |
| G | Recurring? (Yes/No) |
Tip: Use Data Validation to create dropdown menus for Category and Payment Method. Select the column, go to Data → Data validation, and add your list of options. This keeps entries consistent and makes filtering easier.
If setting up categories from scratch feels tedious, the Monthly Expense Tracker from FinancialAha comes with pre-built categories that work for most situations.
Some useful formulas:
Total expenses:
=SUM(F2:F)Expenses by category:
=SUMIF(B2:B, "Housing", F2:F)Expenses by category AND payment method (using SUMIFS for multiple conditions):
=SUMIFS(F2:F, B2:B, "Housing", E2:E, "Credit Card")Monthly expenses using QUERY:
=QUERY(A2:F, "SELECT MONTH(A)+1, SUM(F) GROUP BY MONTH(A)+1 LABEL MONTH(A)+1 'Month', SUM(F) 'Total'")Conditional formatting can highlight high spending - select the Amount column, go to Format → Conditional formatting, and set rules like “greater than 500” to flag larger expenses.
Add Budget Targets
Once you’re tracking expenses, the next step is comparing them against targets. Create a “Budget” tab with:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Category |
| B | Monthly Budget |
| C | Actual (pulled from Expenses tab) |
| D | Difference (=B-C) |
Pull actual spending using SUMIF:
=SUMIF(Expenses!B:B, A2, Expenses!F:F)This shows at a glance which categories are over or under budget. The Monthly Budget Template handles this automatically with visual indicators for budget status.
Track Savings and Investments
For the “Savings” tab, use these columns:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Date |
| B | Account Name |
| C | Amount Deposited |
| D | Total Balance |
| E | Interest Rate (as decimal, e.g., 0.05 for 5%) |
Calculate projected balance with compound interest:
If you want to see what your savings could grow to over time:
=D2*(1+E2)^12This calculates your balance (D2) with interest rate (E2) compounded over 12 periods. Adjust the number based on your timeframe.
Running total of deposits:
=SUM($C$2:C2)The “Investments” tab works well with these columns:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A | Date Purchased |
| B | Investment Type (e.g., Stocks, ETFs, Bonds) |
| C | Name/Ticker |
| D | Quantity |
| E | Buy Price |
| F | Current Price |
| G | Current Value (=D*F) |
| H | Gain/Loss (=G-(D*E)) |
Total portfolio value:
=SUM(G2:G)Total gain/loss:
=SUM(H2:H)For a more complete financial picture that includes net worth tracking, the Financial Planning Template combines all of these elements in one place.
Build a Dashboard
A dashboard brings everything together visually:
- Bar charts for monthly income and expenses comparison
- Pie charts showing expense distribution by category
- Line charts tracking investment or savings growth over time
Drop-down menus and slicers let you filter data by date range or category.
Building charts and keeping them linked to your data takes time. The Financial Planning Template includes a pre-built dashboard that updates automatically as you add transactions.
Optional: Automate with Scripts
Google Apps Script can automate repetitive tasks like data entry or generating monthly summaries. This requires some coding knowledge, but there are plenty of tutorials available if you’re interested.
An Alternative: Pre-Built Templates
Building a tracker from scratch gives you complete control, but it takes time to get right - and formulas can break if something’s set up incorrectly.
FinancialAha offers several templates depending on what you need:
- Monthly Expense Tracker - For tracking where money goes, no budgeting required
- Monthly Budget Template - Tracking plus budget targets with visual comparisons
- Annual Budget Planner - Full year view with all 12 months
- Financial Planning Template - The complete solution covering income, expenses, savings, investments, and net worth in one place
All templates come with categories built in, formulas that update automatically, and work immediately without setup.
Getting Started
Whether you build your own or use a template, the value comes from actually using it consistently. Start with whatever approach feels manageable - even tracking just expenses for a month provides useful visibility into where money goes.