I’ve been keeping my checkbook and a financial budget in Excel for a long time. I was a former Quicken user for many years, but the constant upgrades and cost became distasteful. So I turned to Excel 15 years ago and it has worked well.
I have tried other sample Excel checkbook spreadsheets in the past, and some were decent. But they all had a problem. Any attempt to move (cut/paste) transactions around would result in #REF errors in the formula that’s used to calculate the current balance. So I’d constantly have to re-copy the correct formula to the affected cells. Not difficult. But definitely annoying! My version doesn’t have that frustration.
I’m a teacher at heart and I like helping people. If you would like to learn more about Excel and/or you would like to create your own checkbook register in Excel, I have a step-by-step video on how to create a checkbook register in Excel. If you would prefer to download a template that’s ready to go, I have 3 different templates available at my site at https://excel-checkbook.com/.
But here’s my video on how to create a checkbook register from scratch in Excel.
Why Use Excel for a Checkbook Register?
There are a lot of good reasons to keep a copy of your checkbook register in Excel. This includes:
- It’s easy to go back in time to find an old transaction. Most bank websites will limit or cripple your ability to see older transactions. Or they’ll offer your statements in PDF format, but searching across many PDF files becomes way too tedious.
- You can quickly see how much you’ve been spending in a particular category. Yes, that can be frightening! But helpful nonetheless.
- You can forecast how the rest of the month looks by entering bills that you know will come due, and then figure out how much money you’ll have left for other things. This is where my Excel spreadsheet shines over the others.
Download
To see all of the latest versions of the Excel checkbook register spreadsheet, please visit this site dedicated to that content