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A good accounting spreadsheet for a small business does four things: it records every sale and every expense with a date and a category, it shows profit and loss per month, it tells you who still owes you money, and it sets aside what you will owe in tax. Anything else is decoration. This guide explains what a usable bookkeeping or P&L template must track, which layout suits which type of business, what such templates cost on Getly and what to check before you pay.
What the shelf looks like today
We measured Getly on 4 November 2026, and two sets of numbers matter.
- Accounting templates. Listings whose name contains "bookkeeping", "accounting", "ledger" or "profit": 47 listings. The middle half costs between $9.23 and $15, the median is $12.99, and 2.1% are free. 59.6% carry a commercial licence, 25.5% a personal one, and 10.6% state no licence.
- The whole shelf. Excel templates, spreadsheets and calculators, Google Sheets templates and business and finance listings together: 530 listings, median $12, middle half $7.60 to $15, 2.5% free. 48.9% carry a commercial licence.
So a full bookkeeping workbook costs about as much as one lunch. That is far less than an hour of an accountant's time, and that is the right comparison: a template does not replace the accountant, it makes the accountant's hour shorter.
What a usable accounting template must track
Open the preview images and look for these sheets. If one of the first five is missing, you will build it yourself.
| Sheet | What it holds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Income log | Date, client or channel, invoice number, amount, tax, payment status | The source for everything else |
| Expense log | Date, supplier, category, amount, tax, receipt reference | Deductions you can prove |
| Categories list | Your own chart of accounts, editable | Totals that match your tax form |
| Monthly P&L | Income minus expenses per month and year to date | The one number you check each month |
| Tax set-aside | A percentage of profit or sales tax collected | No surprise at tax time |
| Receivables | Unpaid invoices with due date and days overdue | Cash you are owed |
| Cash flow or bank check | Opening balance, money in, money out, closing balance | Catches missed entries |
| Dashboard | Charts of the above | Nice to have, never a substitute |
The categories sheet is the one most templates get wrong. A good one lets you rename and add categories, and every total in the P&L follows. A bad one has categories typed into formulas, so renaming "Software" breaks the year.
Which layout for which business
Freelancer or sole trader
You need the simplest version: income log, expense log, monthly P&L and a tax set-aside line. Invoicing can live in a separate tool. Avoid templates built around stock and cost of goods: you will fight empty columns.
Online shop or marketplace seller
The money arrives net of fees, often in a payout that covers many orders. Look for a template that records the gross sale, the platform fee and the payout separately, plus cost of goods or production cost per item. Without the fee column your profit looks higher than it is.
Service business with invoices
The receivables sheet matters most: invoice date, due date, amount and a "days overdue" column that colours itself. A template that also numbers invoices for you saves mistakes.
Shop with stock
You need an inventory sheet that feeds cost of goods sold into the P&L. Check that stock goes down when a sale is recorded, or at least that the template explains how to count it monthly. Stock is where simple templates stop being enough.
Several people or a small team
Consider a Google Sheets template so everyone works in one file, with protected formula cells. Check who can edit what.
Checklist before you pay
- Excel or Google Sheets. An .xlsx file opens in Google Sheets, but macros do not run there and some features change. If the description mentions macros or VBA, it is Excel only.
- Protected formulas. Locked formula cells stop you breaking the P&L by typing over a total.
- Your currency and date format. A template built for US dates and dollar signs can misread 03/04 and decimal commas. Check that the currency is a setting, not typed into every cell.
- Tax handling. Sales tax or VAT should be a separate column, not mixed into the amount. The rate should be a setting.
- A year without rebuilding. Look for a "new year" instruction or a copy of the workbook per year.
- A filled example. A version with sample data shows you how the sheets connect. Delete it before you start.
- Instructions. A short PDF or an instructions tab is worth more than a dashboard.
- Licence. For your own business, a personal or single-business licence is usually enough. If you are a bookkeeper using the template for clients, you need a commercial licence that allows client work. Ask the seller when no licence is stated.
What a spreadsheet will not do
Be honest about the limits before you start:
- It does not know your country's tax rules. Category names and rates must match the forms you file, and an accountant should check the first year.
- It does not connect to your bank. You type or paste transactions, so a monthly bank check is the habit that keeps the numbers right.
- It keeps no audit trail. Anyone can change a past entry. Keep receipts and bank statements separately.
- It stops scaling at some point. Hundreds of transactions a month, payroll or several currencies are a sign to move to accounting software.
A monthly routine that takes thirty minutes
- Paste or type the month's sales and expenses.
- Give every line a category.
- Compare the closing balance with your bank statement.
- Chase every invoice the receivables sheet marks as overdue.
- Move the tax set-aside amount to a separate account.
- Read the P&L: is this month better or worse than last, and why.
Buying on Getly
You can pay by card, with Apple Pay or Google Pay where your device supports it, or with USDT/USDC stablecoins. PayPal is not accepted. You do not need an account. Card orders deliver the files right after payment, and the receipt email has a download link for each file. Each store sets a refund window of at least 30 days. Browse Excel templates, Google Sheets templates, spreadsheets and calculators and business and finance, and read each listing's file list and licence before you choose.
