I originally shared my Microsoft Excel Checkbook template in 2019 as an alternative to Quicken. Since then, I have received lots of positive feedback on YouTube which has helped to fuel ongoing enhancements. Note: no matter which version you might buy, they don’t expire! You can continue to use any version you download for many years to come.
“I mistakenly thought that Excel would have a simple and easy to use checkbook register template. Not so! They offer one but it was extremely frustrating to use. However, your spreadsheets were extremely easy to use and I thank you very, very much for sharing your expertise!” (John J.)
In a hurry and want the spreadsheet template right away? Click here.
To see a video tour, click here.
System Requirements / Compatibility Notes: You must already have the Microsoft Excel program. This Excel template is compatible with Excel 2016 or higher (Windows). It is not compatible with Google sheets, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, or any other office clone. For Mac users, you will need Microsoft 365 in order for the dashboard to work as ‘power query’ is not available in older versions of Excel for the Mac. If needed, the latest version of Microsoft Office is available for $69.99/year (or $6.99/month), or as a one-time purchase (no subscription).
Tip to save money: Microsoft has a discount program that offers 30% off of Microsoft 365 for many employees, teachers and current/past military.
Summary of Features
- Updated for 2025! Manage up to 8 different bank accounts (checking, savings, credit cards). Need a lot more than 8 registers?
- Easily categorize each entry to track spending by category
- See a visual reminder at the top of each register with current balance, future balance, and last check number entered
- Enjoy two ways to reconcile your checkbook with your bank statement
- Gain the ability to quickly post recurring transactions and deposits to your register with a single click
- Track and visually graph your progress for paying down your credit card debt
- View your spending with the revamped dashboard which displays charts for deposits & withdrawals by category and sub-category, with buttons to filter your data by year, month, register and/or category
- New for 2025! View your spending with a text-based report, suitable for printing, which also features convenient buttons (slicers) to filter your transactions by year, register, and category
- New for 2025! To accelerate data entry, there are now convenient drop-downs for Date, Trx Type, as well as a drop-down list of frequent Payee/Descriptions which will also auto-populate your preferred category when chosen
- New for 2025! The Future Transactions feature, for quickly posting recurring entries, has been enhanced with grouping. You can now designate a group letter (A, B, C or D) for your recurring entries so that you can designate that only a certain group of entries is posted when you click the button.
Up to 8 Registers
You can record transactions for eight different bank accounts. Those can be any combination of checking, savings and/or credit card accounts — anything that has transactions with dates and dollar amounts.
NOTE: Do you have a large number of bank accounts? If you need more than 8 registers, there’s now a super-expanded version with 20 registers! For most users, this version with 8 registers is usually more than enough.
Post Future Transactions with a One-Click Button
This feature makes it super quick to post your recurring transactions into your checkbook with a single button click. In other words, you can create a list of expenses that you have every month, and when you want to paste them into your register, you can click a button and all of them will get entered! These can also be separated into groups, in case you only want to post a subset early in the month and a different set when it’s later in the month. Note: a VBA macro is embedded in the template for this feature. Learn more about macros.
Why is this handy? I like to keep an eye on my bottom line. How much money will I have at the end of the month before I get paid again? By putting in those future expenses, it helps me see how much money I’ll likely have later in the month.
Reconcile Transactions
If you need to reconcile your transactions against your monthly bank statement, there are two different features to make that task easy. The first feature will show you the total dollar amount of withdrawals, deposits and checks that you have already entered into your spreadsheet for the date range specified. This is often all that is needed to confirm you have everything entered correctly.
When needed, you can also review each transaction against your monthly bank statement. As you mark each one with an “R”, the screen will subtract each amount from the totals displayed.
Financial Dashboard
Totally revamped in 2024, the financial dashboard consolidates all of your bank accounts to a single dashboard. There are filter buttons to easily focus in on a particular year, month, category and/or to focus on a specific bank account. Note: a VBA macro is embedded in the template for this feature. Learn more about macros.
Financial Report/Statement
Newly added for 2025, there’s now a text-based report available with filter buttons to see expenses and credits by year, month, category and by a specific bank account.
Track Your Progress on Reducing Card Debts
If you have personal loans or credit cards you have stopped using but you’d like to visually track your progress on paying them off, this sheet makes it easy to update your card balances each month in order to visually track your efforts and help to motivate your progress.
Click the purchase button to download
Use discount code SAVE25 during checkout for 25% percent off! Note: this is not a subscription and the spreadsheet will not expire. Once purchased, you can use it forever! (Previous customers of the 2024 version, please contact me for a special discount code).
Submit your review | |
I recently purchased your spreadsheet Excel Checkbook 2025 Version. Can't tell you how pleased I am with the product. It works GREAT for me and I like it waaaay more than Quicken. I am a Rideshare/Gig worker so I can keep track of my work easily and keep track of my checking accounts and other investments. Just wanted to say thank you for your product.
I have successfully, finally, downloaded the 2025 new version. Any problems I had in downloading were of my own doing! This checkbook has been an answer to my prayers! I have not used it for my personal checkbook; however, and planning to do so this year. The new version is for a very small foundation that doesn’t need all the bells and whistles that every other option I checked has. It is just what I need. Thanks for your kind, patient help!
I am so grateful I came across your site!! This is absolutely perfect for my needs. I LOVE Excel!! You've thought of everything and I've learned some new things already - just downloaded it a couple days ago!!
I love it!! Oh, and thanks for the discount ... well worth the price!!
Thank you Gail! I appreciate it.
This is a great program and product. It will do much more than any other check book program I’ve seen.
Purchased it yesterday and have started inputting my data. This is Awesome so far!!!!
Video Walk-through (watch on YouTube site)
A note about macros / security warning / how to fix
Since this new version is a macro-enabled file, if you use Microsoft Windows, please see this article for steps to follow.
How to Transfer (Copy) Your Transactions from an Old Version to the New Version
Please see see this video which will demonstrate how to safely copy your bank transactions from any previous version to the latest version.
Can this do splits?
Example if I show a payment to a credit card for an amount but the amount is not applicable to just one category, can I disperse the different amounts to the correct categories?
Hi Ron,
I do hope to add a feature to simplify that process in the near future. But for now, see this FAQ for a workaround.
excel-checkbook.com/faq/#split
I use a paper-based physical checking account register to track my spending through my checking account. I hope to explain my manual method of balancing my checkbook clearly to determine whether your “Better Excel Checkbook Register” is capable of accomplishing what I do manually within its framework.
I pay as many expenses and purchases as I’m able to with credit cards (to earn perks, rewards, cash back, etc.) and record expenses and purchases in my check register as individual entries in real time.
Each week, I total the entries from each separate credit card and pay one consolidated payment to that particular credit card with its own separate line entry in my check register as “Credit Card Nickname”, “CP” for consolidated payment, and “#” for the number of items being consolidated. I cross off all of the items that account for the total of this consolidated payment (as though they’ve cleared) and make one dollar entry in my check register for that consolidated total. I then make a payment to that credit card for the consolidated total and note that I made the payment online.
I do not subtract this consolidated payment from my running balance in my check register because that consolidated total has already been subtracted from my running checking account balance via the individual entries that have already been recorded and subtracted in real time.
In the same way that I account for a check clearing against my account, I wait for the consolidated payment to post against my checking account. I use my check register method because some credit card issuers limit the # of online payments one can make during the month, which helps me circumvent this limitation.
Is the Better Excel Checkbook Register capable of accommodating my manual checkbook register method, specifically with regard to my entering credit card purchases and expenses in real time and then subsequently making a consolidated payment which I do not subtract from the checking account balance a second time?
Hopefully, I made my checkbook balancing and check register entries method clear. Please advise as to whether the Better Excel Checkbook Register can be massaged to accommodate my check register method. I’m looking for a spreadsheet tool that will tackle what I do manually each week.
Thank you.
Hi Tom, thanks for writing in and sharing. One question I have right away is, would you like to be able to categorize your purchases that you make by credit card so that you can see how much you spend on groceries, gas, household items, gadgets, or whatever? Or is that not really important and instead your focus is on how you might manage things electronically in a similar way that you currently do on paper? (And feel free to email me at excelcheckbook@gmail.com for ongoing conversation)
Hi Tom, I definitely understand the value of the credit card perks. And you could put tentative entries into the checkbook register as you make card transactions. But as I have thought about this and how I would approach it, I think I would do it a different way so as to both minimize any data entry while also categorizing my card transactions so that I could see how I’m spending my money at anytime, which the Dashboard and Reports worksheets are designed to show me. Here’s how I would approach it.
For each credit card that I am actively using, I would devote one of the checkbook registers for each credit card. And then either once a day (or whatever schedule), I would enter my card charges into the spreadsheet and also categorize them (groceries, gas for the car, household items). And then once a week (or whatever preferred payment schedule), I would quickly see how much I owe to each credit card and make that payment and then record that payment into the checking account register using whatever desired format for the description line that I like (e.g., Discover card, CP 5 items).
To easily know how much I should send from my checking account to the credit card company, I would either use Excel’s handy sub-total feature (screenshot below) or visit the card company’s website to see a current balance. In Excel, you can quickly highlight a list of numbers, and Excel will show you the sum of your highlighted numbers at the bottom of the screen.
TY, Logan. Excellent points all. I appreciate your time in thinking about my “method” and explaining your idea of a comparable method that’d be easier and accomplish what I’m doing in my own labor-intensive (knuckleheaded?) way. I’m going to buy the 2025 version and figure out how to make your method my new method.
Thanks for your time, effort, and kind explanation, Logan.
Be well.