Transform Your Business With Spreadsheet Accounting – Part 3

In the first blog post in this series I introduced you to the 3 key spreadsheets that every business needs and I gave you a really quick-and-dirty way to set up the three spreadsheets in one Excel file. In the second blog post in this series, I talked about the relationship between all three spreadsheets.

I’m realistic enough to realize that financial statements can seem complex and unwieldy at the best of times, which I’ve been walking you slowly through the details that I felt you needed to know. And I was planning to show you how to build the three spreadsheets yourself. But I’ve got good news for you: In the last blog post of this series, I’m going to make it really easy for you! I’m going to link you to one free file that you can download that will GIVE you all three spreadsheets in a single Excel file. Here’s how to get it and use it:

Step 1: Download the Consolidated Report Template from the Microsoft Office site in the template section.

Step 2: Unzip it and open it. (You need to have Microsoft Excel 2003 or later).

Step 3: Start using it! It’s divided up by months and all three of the statements are conveniently located on one sheet. It’s already formatted and encoded for you! By entering a number into a cell, you’ll notice that many of the other numbers are impacted by the cell’s information. Simply zero out all of the numbers, fill in your own details, and watch your balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement auto-fill as you go.

Financial spreadsheets are powerful and should be used by your business. They can guide you to make better decisions and understand your business deeply. Unfortunately, business owners fail to take the time to understand their spreadsheets so these spreadsheets end up diminishing in usefulness. Use your spreadsheets, put them to work for you and your business will run better because of it!