Build a professional Excel / Google Sheets budget planner
Required tabs:
1. START HERE
- Welcome screen
- Setup checklist
- Quick instructions
- Navigation links to main sheets
2. SETUP
- Budget year
- Start month
- Currency symbol
- Household name
- Categories
- Accounts
- Payment methods
- 50/30/20 groups: Needs, Wants, Savings
- Dropdown lists using named ranges
3. ACCOUNTS
Track bank, cash, credit, savings, and investment accounts.
Columns:
Account Name, Type, Starting Balance, Current Balance, Currency, Notes, Active.
Current Balance should update automatically from transactions.
4. TRANSACTIONS
Main transaction log.
Columns:
Date, Month, Type, Category, Description, Account, Payment Method, Amount, User, Recurring, Cleared, Notes.
Use dropdowns and automatic month calculation.
5. RECURRING TRANSACTIONS
Track salary, rent, subscriptions, insurance, loans, and recurring bills.
Include frequency, start date, end date, amount, account, and category.
6. BILLS / PAYMENTS
Track bills with:
Bill Name, Category, Amount, Due Date, Paid Date, Status, Account, Notes.
Status should auto-calculate as Paid, Upcoming, or Overdue.
7. DASHBOARD
Create a professional dashboard with:
Total Income, Total Expenses, Net Savings, Savings Rate, Current Net Worth, Total Debt, Monthly Leftover, Budget Health Score.
Include charts for income vs expenses, spending by category, cash flow, account balances, debt progress, and savings goals.
8. ANNUAL TOTALS
Show monthly totals from January to December:
Income, expenses, net cash flow, savings rate, debt payments, investments, and net worth change.
9. MONTHLY TABS
Create 12 tabs: JAN to DEC.
Each month should include:
Income summary, expense summary, budget vs actual, category spending, bills due, top expenses, savings, debt payments, and notes.
10. 50/30/20 DASHBOARD
Compare actual spending to:
50% Needs
30% Wants
20% Savings / Debt
Show target, actual, difference, and status.
11. SINKING FUNDS
Track savings goals with:
Fund Name, Target Amount, Current Amount, Monthly Contribution, Target Date, Remaining Amount, Progress %, Status.
12. DEBT CALCULATOR
Track debts with:
Debt Name, Original Balance, Current Balance, Interest Rate, Minimum Payment, Extra Payment, Strategy, Estimated Payoff Date.
13. NET WORTH
Track assets, liabilities, and monthly net worth trend.
14. INVESTMENT FORECAST
Simple calculator with:
Starting balance, monthly contribution, annual return, years, future value, total contributions, estimated growth.
15. NO-SPEND CHALLENGE
Calendar-style tracker for spend/no-spend days, streaks, and money saved.
16. PRINTABLE REPORT
Clean monthly/annual report page for PDF export.
Design:
Use an original premium design with clean tables, soft colors, readable typography, dashboard cards, charts, conditional formatting, and clear input cells.
Formula requirements:
Use SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, XLOOKUP, FILTER, structured tables, named ranges, dropdowns, charts, and conditional formatting.
All dashboards and monthly tabs must update automatically from the Transactions sheet.
