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Free Business Plan Excel Template [Excel Download]

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Growthink's Business Plan Excel Template

A business plan is a roadmap for growing your business. Not only does it help you plan out your venture, but it is required by funding sources like banks, venture capitalists and angel investors.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

The body of your business plan describes your company and your strategies for growing it. The financial portion of your plan details the financial implications of your business: how much money you need, what you project your future sales and earnings to be, etc.

Below you will be able to download our free business plan excel template to help with the financial portion of your business plan. You will also learn about the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

Download the template here: Financial Plan Excel Template  

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less! It includes a simple, plug-and-play financial model and a fill-in-the-blanks template for completing the body of your plan.

What’s Included in our Business Plan Excel Template

Our business plan excel template includes the following sections:

Income Statement : A projection of your business’ revenues, costs, and expenses over a specific period of time. Includes sections for sales revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), operating expenses, and net profit or loss.

Example 5 Year Annual Income Statement

Cash Flow Statement : A projection of your business’ cash inflows and outflows over a specific period of time. Includes sections for cash inflows (such as sales receipts, loans, and investments), cash outflows (such as expenses, salaries, and loan repayments), and net cash flow.

Example 5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement

Balance Sheet : A snapshot of your business’ financial position at a specific point in time. Includes sections for assets (such as cash, inventory, equipment, and property), liabilities (such as loans, accounts payable, and salaries payable), and owner’s equity (such as retained earnings and capital contributions).

Example 5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

Download the template here: Business Plan Excel Template 

The template is easy to customize according to your specific business needs. Simply input your own financial data and projections, and use it as a guide to create a comprehensive financial plan for your business. Remember to review and update your financial plan regularly to track your progress and make informed financial decisions.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

The importance of the financial model in your business plan.

A solid financial model is a critical component of any well-prepared business plan. It provides a comprehensive and detailed projection of your business’ financial performance, including revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability. The financial model is not just a mere set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand the financial health of your business, make informed decisions, and communicate your business’ financial viability to potential investors, lenders, and other stakeholders. In this article, we will delve into the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

  • Provides a roadmap for financial success : A well-structured financial model serves as a roadmap for your business’ financial success. It outlines your revenue streams, cost structure, and cash flow projections, helping you understand the financial implications of your business strategies and decisions. It allows you to forecast your future financial performance, set financial goals, and measure your progress over time. A comprehensive financial model helps you identify potential risks, opportunities, and areas that may require adjustments to achieve your financial objectives.
  • Demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders : Investors, lenders, and other stakeholders want to see that your business is financially viable and has a plan to generate revenue, manage expenses, and generate profits. A robust financial model in your business plan demonstrates that you have a solid understanding of your business’ financials and have a plan to achieve profitability. It provides evidence of the market opportunity, pricing strategy, sales projections, and financial sustainability. A well-prepared financial model increases your credibility and instills confidence in your business among potential investors and lenders.
  • Helps with financial decision-making : Your financial model is a valuable tool for making informed financial decisions. It helps you analyze different scenarios, evaluate the financial impact of your decisions, and choose the best course of action for your business. For example, you can use your financial model to assess the feasibility of a new product launch, determine the optimal pricing strategy, or evaluate the impact of changing market conditions on your cash flow. A well-structured financial model helps you make data-driven decisions that are aligned with your business goals and financial objectives.
  • Assists in securing funding : If you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, a robust financial model is essential. It provides a clear picture of your business’ financials and shows how the funds will be used to generate revenue and profits. It includes projections for revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability, along with a breakdown of assumptions and methodology used. It also provides a realistic assessment of the risks and challenges associated with your business and outlines the strategies to mitigate them. A well-prepared financial model in your business plan can significantly increase your chances of securing funding as it demonstrates your business’ financial viability and growth potential.
  • Facilitates financial management and monitoring : A financial model is not just for external stakeholders; it is also a valuable tool for internal financial management and monitoring. It helps you track your actual financial performance against your projections, identify any deviations, and take corrective actions if needed. It provides a clear overview of your business’ cash flow, profitability, and financial health, allowing you to proactively manage your finances and make informed decisions to achieve your financial goals. A well-structured financial model helps you stay on top of your business’ financials and enables you to take timely actions to ensure your business’ financial success.
  • Enhances business valuation : If you are planning to sell your business or seek investors for an exit strategy, a robust financial model is crucial. It provides a solid foundation for business valuation as it outlines your historical financial performance, future projections, and the assumptions behind them. It helps potential buyers or investors understand the financial potential of your business and assess its value. A well-prepared financial model can significantly impact the valuation of your business, and a higher valuation can lead to better negotiation terms and higher returns on your investment.
  • Supports strategic planning : Your financial model is an integral part of your strategic planning process. It helps you align your financial goals with your overall business strategy and provides insights into the financial feasibility of your strategic initiatives. For example, if you are planning to expand your business, enter new markets, or invest in new technologies, your financial model can help you assess the financial impact of these initiatives, including the investment required, the expected return on investment, and the timeline for achieving profitability. It enables you to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of your business and ensures that your financial goals are aligned with your overall business objectives.
  • Enhances accountability and transparency : A robust financial model promotes accountability and transparency in your business. It provides a clear framework for setting financial targets, measuring performance, and holding yourself and your team accountable for achieving financial results. It helps you monitor your progress towards your financial goals and enables you to take corrective actions if needed. A well-structured financial model also enhances transparency by providing a clear overview of your business’ financials, assumptions, and methodologies used in your projections. It ensures that all stakeholders, including investors, lenders, employees, and partners, have a clear understanding of your business’ financial performance and prospects.

In conclusion, a well-prepared financial model is a crucial component of your business plan. It provides a roadmap for financial success, demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders, helps with financial decision-making, assists in securing funding, facilitates financial management and monitoring, enhances business valuation, supports strategic planning, and enhances accountability and transparency in your business. It is not just a set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand, analyze, and optimize your business’ financial performance. Investing time and effort in creating a comprehensive and robust financial model in your business plan is vital for the success of your business and can significantly increase your chances of achieving your financial goals.

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10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

ClickUp Contributor

August 14, 2023

Turning your vision into a clear and coherent business plan can be confusing and tough. 

Hours of brainstorming and facing an intimidating blank page can raise more questions than answers. Are you covering everything? What should go where? How do you keep each section thorough but brief?

If these questions have kept you up at night and slowed your progress, know you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together the top 10 business plan templates in Word, Excel, and ClickUp—to provide answers, clarity, and a structured framework to work with. This way, you’re sure to capture all the relevant information without wasting time. 

And the best part? Business planning becomes a little less “ugh!” and a lot more “aha!” 🤩

What is a Business Plan Template?

What makes a good business plan template, 1. clickup business plan template, 2. clickup sales plan template, 3. clickup business development action plan template, 4. clickup business roadmap template, 5. clickup business continuity plan template, 6. clickup lean business plan template, 7. clickup small business action plan template, 8. clickup strategic business roadmap template , 9. microsoft word business plan template by microsoft, 10. excel business plan template by vertex42.

A business plan template is a structured framework for entrepreneurs and business executives who want to create business plans. It comes with pre-arranged sections and headings that cover key elements like the executive summary , business overview, target customers, unique value proposition, marketing plans, and financial statements.  

A good business plan template helps with thorough planning, clear documentation, and practical implementation. Here’s what to look for:

  • Comprehensive structure: A good template comes with all the relevant sections to outline a business strategy, such as executive summary, market research and analysis, and financial projections 
  • Clarity and guidance: A good template is easy to follow. It has brief instructions or prompts for each section, guiding you to think deeply about your business and ensuring you don’t skip important details
  • Clean design: Aesthetics matter. Choose a template that’s not just functional but also professionally designed. This ensures your plan is presentable to stakeholders, partners, and potential investors
  • Flexibility : Your template should easily accommodate changes without hassle, like adding or removing sections, changing content and style, and rearranging parts 🛠️ 

While a template provides the structure, it’s the information you feed it that brings it to life. These pointers will help you pick a template that aligns with your business needs and clearly showcases your vision.

10 Business Plan Templates to Use in 2024

Preparing for business success in 2024 (and beyond) requires a comprehensive and organized business plan. We’ve handpicked the best templates to help you guide your team, attract investors, and secure funding. Let’s check them out.

ClickUp Business Plan Template

If you’re looking to replace a traditional business plan document, then ClickUp’s Business Plan Template is for you!

This one-page business plan template, designed in ClickUp Docs , is neatly broken down into the following sections:

  • Company description : Overview, mission, vision, and team
  • Market analysis : Problem, solution, target market, competition, and competitive advantage
  • Sales and marketing strategy : Products/services and marketing channels
  • Operational plan : Location and facilities, equipment and tools, manpower, and financial forecasts
  • Milestones and metrics: Targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your company logo and contact details, and easily navigate to different sections using the collapsible table of contents. The mini prompts under each section guide you on what to include—with suggestions on how to present the data (e.g., bullet lists, pictures, charts, and tables). 

You can share the document with anyone via URL and collaborate in real time. And when the business plan is ready, you have the option to print it or export it to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.

But that’s not all. This template is equipped with basic and enterprise project management features to streamline the business plan creation process . The Topics List view has a list of all the different sections and subsections of the template and allows you to assign it to a team member, set a due date, and attach relevant documents and references.

Switch from List to Board view to track and update task statuses according to the following: To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, and Complete. 

This template is a comprehensive toolkit for documenting the different sections of your business plan and streamlining the creation process to ensure it’s completed on time. 🗓️

ClickUp Sales Plan Template

If you’re looking for a tool to kickstart or update your sales plan, ClickUp’s Sales Plan Template has got you covered. This sales plan template features a project summary list with tasks to help you craft a comprehensive and effective sales strategy. Some of these tasks include:

  • Determine sales objectives and goals
  • Draft positioning statement
  • Perform competitive analysis
  • Draft ideal customer persona
  • Create a lead generation strategy

Assign each task to a specific individual or team, set priority levels , and add due dates. Specify what section of the sales plan each task belongs to (e.g., executive summary, revenue goals, team structure, etc.), deliverable type (such as document, task, or meeting), and approval state (like pending, needs revisions, and approved).

And in ClickUp style, you can switch to multiple views: List for a list of all tasks, Board for visual task management, Timeline for an overview of task durations, and Gantt to get a view of task dependencies. 

This simple business plan template is perfect for any type of business looking to create a winning sales strategy while clarifying team roles and keeping tasks organized. ✨

ClickUp Business Development Action Plan Template

Thinking about scaling your business’s reach and operations but unsure where or how to start? It can be overwhelming, no doubt—you need a clear vision, measurable goals, and an actionable plan that every member of your team can rally behind. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Business Development Action Plan Template is designed to use automations to simplify this process so every step toward your business growth is clear, trackable, and actionable.

Start by assessing your current situation and deciding on your main growth goal. Are you aiming to increase revenue, tap into new markets, or introduce new products or services? With ClickUp Whiteboards or Docs, brainstorm and collaborate with your team on this decision.

Set and track your short- and long-term growth goals with ClickUp’s Goals , break them down into smaller targets, and assign these targets to team members, complete with due dates. Add these targets to a new ClickUp Dashboard to track real-time progress and celebrate small wins. 🎉

Whether you’re a startup or small business owner looking to hit your next major milestone or an established business exploring new avenues, this template keeps your team aligned, engaged, and informed every step of the way.

ClickUp Business Roadmap Template

ClickUp’s Business Roadmap Template is your go-to for mapping out major strategies and initiatives in areas like revenue growth, brand awareness, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. 

Use the List view to populate tasks under each initiative. With Custom Fields, you can capture which business category (e.g., Product, Operations, Sales & Marketing, etc.) tasks fall under and which quarter they’re slated for. You can also link to relevant documents and resources and evaluate tasks by effort and impact to ensure the most critical tasks get the attention they deserve. 👀

Depending on your focus, this template provides different views to show just what you need. For example, the All Initiatives per Quarter view lets you focus on what’s ahead by seeing tasks that need completion within a specific quarter. This ensures timely execution and helps in aligning resources effectively for the short term.

This template is ideal for business executives and management teams who need to coordinate multiple short- and long-term initiatives and business strategies.

ClickUp Business Continuity Plan Template

In business, unexpected threats to operations can arise at any moment. Whether it’s economic turbulence, a global health crisis, or supply chain interruptions, every company needs to be ready. ClickUp’s Business Continuity Plan Template lets you prepare proactively for these unforeseen challenges.

The template organizes tasks into three main categories:

  • Priorities: Tasks that need immediate attention
  • Continuity coverage: Tasks that must continue despite challenges
  • Guiding principles: Resources and protocols to ensure smooth operations

The Board view makes it easy to visualize all the tasks under each of these categories. And the Priorities List sorts tasks by those that are overdue, the upcoming ones, and then the ones due later.

In times of uncertainty, being prepared is your best strategy. This template helps your business not just survive but thrive in challenging situations, keeping your customers, employees, and investors satisfied. 🤝

ClickUp Lean Business Plan Template

Looking to execute your business plan the “lean” way? Use ClickUp’s Lean Business Plan Template . It’s designed to help you optimize resource usage and cut unnecessary steps—giving you better results with less effort.

In the Plan Summary List view, list all the tasks that need to get done. Add specific details like who’s doing each task, when it’s due, and which part of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) it falls under. The By Priority view sorts this list based on priorities like Urgent, High, Normal, and Low. This makes it easy to spot the most important tasks and tackle them first.

Additionally, the Board view gives you an overview of task progression from start to finish. And the BMC view rearranges these tasks based on the various BMC components. 

Each task can further be broken down into subtasks and multiple checklists to ensure all related action items are executed. ✔️

This template is an invaluable resource for startups and large enterprises looking to maximize process efficiencies and results in a streamlined and cost-effective way.

ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template

The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality. 

It provides a simple and organized framework for creating, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks. And in effect, it ensures that goals are not just set but achieved. Through the native dashboard and goal-setting features, you can monitor task progress and how they move you closer to achieving your goals.

Thanks to ClickUp’s robust communication features like chat, comments, and @mentions, it’s easy to get every team member on the same page and quickly address questions or concerns.

Use this action plan template to hit your business goals by streamlining your internal processes and aligning team efforts.

ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template 

For larger businesses and scaling enterprises, getting different departments to work together toward a big goal can be challenging. The ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template makes it easier by giving you a clear plan to follow.

This template is packaged in a folder and split into different lists for each department in your business, like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement. This way, every team can focus on their tasks while collectively contributing to the bigger goal.

There are multiple viewing options available for team members. These include:

  • Progress Board: Visualize tasks that are on track, those at risk, and those behind
  • Gantt view: Get an overview of project timelines and dependencies
  • Team view: See what each team member is working on so you can balance workloads for maximum productivity

While this template may feel overwhelming at first, the getting started guide offers a step-by-step breakdown to help you navigate it with ease. And like all ClickUp templates, you can easily customize it to suit your business needs and preferences.

Microsoft Word Business Plan Template by Microsoft

Microsoft’s 20-page traditional business plan template simplifies the process of drafting comprehensive business plans. It’s made up of different sections, including:

  • Executive summary : Highlights, objectives, mission statement, and keys to success
  • Description of business: Company ownership and legal structure, hours of operation, products and services, suppliers, financial plans, etc.
  • Marketing: Market analysis, market segmentation, competition, and pricing
  • Appendix: Start-up expenses, cash flow statements, income statements, sales forecast, milestones, break-even analysis, etc.

The table of contents makes it easy to move to different sections of the document. And the text placeholders under each section provide clarity on the specific details required—making the process easier for users who may not be familiar with certain business terminology.

Excel Business Plan Template by Vertex42

No business template roundup is complete without an Excel template. This business plan template lets you work on your business financials in Excel. It comes with customizable tables, formulas, and charts to help you look at the following areas:

  • Highlight charts
  • Market analysis
  • Start-up assets and expenses
  • Sales forecasts
  • Profit and loss
  • Balance sheet
  • Cash flow projections
  • Break-even analysis

This Excel template is especially useful when you want to create a clear and visual financial section for your business plan document—an essential element for attracting investors and lenders. However, there might be a steep learning curve to using this template if you’re not familiar with business financial planning and using Excel.

Try a Free Business Plan Template in ClickUp

Launching and running a successful business requires a well-thought-out and carefully crafted business plan. However, the business planning process doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or take up too much time. Use any of the above 10 free business plan formats to simplify and speed up the process.

ClickUp templates go beyond offering a solid foundation to build your business plans. They come with extensive project management features to turn your vision into reality. And that’s not all— ClickUp’s template library offers over 1,000 additional templates to help manage various aspects of your business, from decision-making to product development to resource management .

Sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan today to fast-track your business’s growth! 🏆

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Business Plan: How to Create Great Financial Plans in Excel

how to make a business plan in excel

I guess, you are about to write a business plan and that is why you have come to this page. Very good – because in this article I am going to write down my experience with business plans and what I have learned creating them with Microsoft Excel. As I will point out again further down, I will only concentrate on the financial part of business plans. Specifically, how to set it up in Excel. Of course, you can also download an Excel template .

Parts of business plans

As you reached this page I suppose you already have a rough idea of what a business plan is. So, we will skip this part here.

A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

how to make a business plan in excel

But one comment concerning the scope of this article: The formal business plan has usually many different parts, in which you describe the business idea and product, the market, competition, legal construct and so on. But typically, investors are most interested in the financial part. They want to know first, what they can get out of it. Of course, the other parts are also very important, but the financial topics usually put everything described in the other sections into numbers.

I’m not going further into the details of all the other parts than then financial section here. Specifically, we will dive into the basics of the financial part and how to model it in Excel.

Please scroll down to download the business plan template. We are going to explore all the following advice with this template.

How to create a business plan in Excel

Advice 1: be clear about the purpose and the recipient of the business plan.

Business plan presentation

Before you start opening Excel, make sure that you are 100% clear of the purpose this business plan. Is the business plan just for you? Or do you create it for someone else, for example an investor or bank? Although the next steps might still be the same, the focus might be different. For example: Maybe you have a very good understanding of the major assumptions because you have been working in this field for some time. But for someone external you still need to validate them. Of course, in both cases the assumptions should be realistic and goals should be achievable. But maybe for your own peace of mind you would choose more pessimistic assumptions if the plan was only for you.

Advice 2: Go top-down in terms of line items

Possible structure of the line items in a business plan.

Now, let’s start in Excel. But how do we start?

My approach is to go top-down. I usually use a basic P&L (“Profit- and loss” calculation) structure to start with, having some placeholders for revenue and costs.

Specifically, I go through the following parts (also shown on the right-hand side).

Let’s assume that you develop and sell Excel add-ins: 50 EUR per license – once-off. You would now start with assumptions of how many you can sell per month and the price. This is your first revenue item. At this point in time, I would leave it like this. We can later drill further down as much as we need (for example modeling discounts, the connection between marketing spending and number of units sold, price changes, etc.).

If we have multiple products, we calculate them in a similar manner.

Cost of goods sold

Cost of goods sold – or COGS – refers to the direct costs of producing the goods sold. Depending on the complexity you could also summarize cost of sales here or keep it separately.

Often, the COGS are directly linked to the number of units produced so you could refer to the numbers already calculated for the revenues.

In our example from above, we don’t have any direct costs for producing the Excel add-ins because we develop them ourselves and our salary will be regarded under “Salaries and Benefits”.

All other expenses

The structure of the expenses highly depends on your business. I usually start with these:

  • Salaries and Benefits
  • Rent and Overhead
  • Marketing and Advertising
  • Other expenses

Again, these items might look completely different for you. Example: if you travel a lot for your business, you might plan travel costs separately.

Subtracting costs from the revenue leads to the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). This is one of the important financial performance indicators.

Amortization and depreciation

If you buy any assets for your business (for example machines, computers, even cars), you usually plan to use them over a certain period. When you first buy them, let’s say for 1,000 USD, you basically just exchange money for assets in the same amount. The problem: The assets will decrease in value the longer you use them. Within the cost items above, you don’t regard the acquisition value. So, how to regard them in your business plan?

You only regard the annual decrease of value. If you plan to use your 1,000 USD item for 5 years, you could (plainly speaking), each year regard 200 USD as depreciation.

Please note: If you later plan your cash, you have to make sure that you fully regard the initial sales price and not the depreciation.

The key difference between amortization and depreciation is that amortization is used for intangible assets, while depreciation is used for tangible assets. https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/whats-the-difference-between-amortization-deprecia.aspx

Subtracting the amortization and depreciation from the EBITDA leads to the second key performance indicator, the EBIT (earnings before interest and tax).

Interest and taxes

Eventually, you have to prognose your interest costs (for example what you have to pay for bank loans) and your taxes, which is typically just a percentage of the EBT (the earning before taxes).

Advice 3: Think about the business drivers carefully

Good business plans are driver based.

Business drivers are the key inputs and activities that drive the operational and financial results of a business. Common examples of business drivers are salespeople, number of stores, website traffic, number and price of products sold, units of production, etc. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/modeling/business-drivers/

Let me explain with an example: You want to plan the revenues. You have two different options:

Example for business plan drivers

  • Revenue per month is split into number of units sold times price per unit.
  • Number of units sold is further split into number of salespersons and number of items sold per salesperson and month, and so on.
  • Or you could just write a number and every following year you assume a growth in percentage (e.g. +2% per year).

Let’s finish this section with some final comments:

  • Choose drivers that are measurable. You will most probably later on compare the drivers to reality and therefore make sure that they are not impossible to measure.
  • Figure out, which driver has most impact. You should focus on those first. Driver with no or very limited impact can be skipped initially.
  • Are drivers depending on each other? If yes, it should be modeled accordingly.

Advice 4: Choose the smallest period from the beginning in your business plan

So far, we have been focusing on the line items, for example costs, revenue, or drivers. Now, let’s talk about the time frame.

The question is: Should you plan on annual, monthly or any other basis? Or a mix?

I have seen many business plans doing it something like this:

  • Plan on monthly basis for the first 24 to 36 months.
  • Switch to annual planning for the years 3/4 to 5.

Most business plans are not going beyond 5 years planning period.

My recommendation: Plan on monthly basis for the full period. There will be a point in time when you need to break it down into months. And it is always easier to sum up 12 months for annual values than to drill down from years to months.

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Advice 5: Keep a unified, professional business plan structure

This advice should count for most Excel models: Try to keep the same structure throughout the whole Excel file.

  • Structure of worksheets: Make sure that most worksheets are set up with the same structure. For example, start with a headline in cell B2, years starting in column H, content in row 10.
  • Layout / format of cells: Make sure you use a consistent formatting. For example, Excel provides cell styles – use them. For more recommendations about professional formatting, please refer to this article .
  • Universal settings and assumptions should be consolidated on one sheet (for example tax rates, start date, company name).

Advice 6: Document business plan assumptions well

Document your assumptions well.

I can not say this often enough: Document your assumptions! Not only the values or variables, also your thoughts behind them. Why have you chosen this value? What is it based on? What is it used for?

Advice 7: Gross vs. net values

This question I am asked quite frequently: Should you use gross or net values? That means, include tax in revenues and costs?

Typically, you only work with net values, excluding VAT. For Germany with a tax rate of 19%, for example, if you invoice 119 EUR to a customer, you would only regard 100 EUR. Also, for costs, you would only regard net values.

Then, in your business plan, you start with revenue minus costs and eventually reach the EBT (earning before tax, please scroll up to see the P&L). From this, you calculate your company tax.

Advice 8: Think ahead

Some more things you should keep in mind when creating your business plan.

  • Business plans are “living documents”. Keep in mind that at some point in the future you have to update it or extend it.
  • Validate your assumptions: After some time, you will come back to your plan having real life figures. Now, it’s time to compare and – if necessary – adjust the plan.
  • a valuation (“Discounted Cash Flow model”),
  • liquidity planning,
  • bank loan simulations,
  • financial dashboards,
  • budget planning,
  • maybe even the first real official P&L (at least when it comes to the line items of your business plan)
  • and much more…

Download business plan template

So, after reading all this description and advice, it’s time to start. Probably many things I have written above sounds like common sense, right? But I can assure you: Doing it and regarding as much advice as possible is not necessarily simple.

Download the business plan template in Excel.

That’s why I have decided to create a template. I have pre-filled it with an imaginary example.

I know, there are countless Excel business plan templates around. So, why should you use this one?

  • This template is very flexible: I have always included place holders so that you can add much more items if needed.
  • In terms of the time frame, I have created monthly columns for up to ten years. Typically, you need less. Then just hide the extra columns.
  • Also, I have created a consistent structure throughout the model.
  • No fancy Excel functions and formulas, mainly just plain links.

Please feel free to take a look at it. If you like it, just use it. If not, please feel free to create your individual business plan – you now know how to do it!

Download link: Click here to start the download .

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Henrik Schiffner is a freelance business consultant and software developer. He lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Besides being an Excel enthusiast he loves photography and sports.

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Ask a question or join the conversation for all things Excel on our Slack channel.

There’s a reason Excel is so ubiquitous in the workplace. Its versatility allows you to do a plethora of different things, like track KPIs, create sales receipts, and record time cards.

To make your life a little easier, we compiled some of our favorite Excel templates for business.

Get your free Excel templates

These handy Excel templates will save you precious time when creating business documents.

1. Timeline template

timeline-template

Time is a resource that can’t be gained back, which is why it’s essential to track it. This  timeline template  by Vertex42 gives you an overview of the milestones and events that team members should be aware of.

2. Gantt chart template

gant-chart-template

3. To-do list template

to-do-list-template

A big part of the solution-creating process is simply knowing what needs to get done. This to-do list template by Vertex42 is perfect for keeping you and your team in the loop.

With this template, you can add project tasks, the priority level, a due date, who’s in charge, and status updates.

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4. Issue-tracking template

issue-tracking-template

This template allows you to keep a log of what went wrong, the priority of the issue, and the team assigned to tackle it, as well as a comment section to note any findings. Having a birdseye view of what went wrong will help you track recurring issues and nip them in the bud before they affect the rest of the current project.

5. Weekly time-card template

weekly-time-card-template

6. KPI tracker template

KPI-tracker-template

This handy KPI tracker will help you measure the things that matter for business success. The template allows you to consolidate metrics between teams and switch between a table and a graphical layout.  

7. Party planning template

party-planning-template

8. Payment invoice template

Payment-invoice-template

9. Portfolio management template

portfolio-management-template

Use this portfolio management template to track how much you earn from your investments. Created by a Singaporean investor and adapted to fit the US stock market, this template also has a summary section for a broad view of your portfolio.

10. Service invoice template

service-invoice-template

11. Shipping invoice template

shipping-invoice-template

Save money on invoicing software with this template . With this Excel sheet, you can include shipping information, alternate addresses, product codes, and notes.

12. Account statement template

account-statement-template

13. Packing slip template

packing-slip-template

If you’re shipping goods to customers, use this packing slip template to show your customers a breakdown of their orders.

14. Price quote template

price-quote-template

15. Purchase order template

purchase-order-template

Once your customer decides to accept your price quote, you can then create a purchase order thanks to this template .

16. Sales receipt template

sales-receipt-template

17. Rent receipt template

rent-receipt-template

This rent receipt template is handy If you rent out your office space or home. The simple template allows you to keep a record of payments made on your property.

18. Home office expense tracker template

home-office-expense-template

19. Time card template

time-card-template

20. Weekly time card template

weekly-timesheet-template

21. Weekly timesheet

weekly-timesheet-template

If you're looking for a daily schedule template , check out this resource.

22. Payroll calculator template

payroll-calculator-template

This payroll calculator template helps you account for deductions when determining gross pay.

23. Startup business plan template

startup-business-plan-template

24. Existing business plan template

existing-business-plan-template

25. 12-month marketing plan template

marketing-plan-template

26. Editorial content calendar template

Editorial-content-calendar-template

Content and social media have only grown in importance over the past few years. This editorial content calendar template is a handy way to track when and where you post over a few months.

27. On-page SEO template

on-page-SEO-template

28. SWOT analysis template

SWOT-analysis-template

Use this SWOT analysis to ensure you and your team are systematically identifying and adapting to opportunities and potential threats

29. Event planning template

event-planning-template

In the event planning a business, or simply want to celebrate a milestone with your team? Check out this event planning template so yours runs without a hiccup.

30. Job application template

job-application-template

31. World meeting planner

world-meeting-planner-template

If you work as part of a global remote team, you are probably aware of the inconvenience that comes with coordinating a mutually optimal time for meetings. This world meeting planner and time zone converter will save you multiple e-visits to timeanddate.com when coordinating with your coworkers.

32. Business financial plan template

business-financial-plan-template

33. Business budget expense template

business-budget-expense-template

34. To do list template

how to make a business plan in excel

Become an Excel pro

Want to learn how to use Excel like a pro (and maybe create a couple of templates of your own)? Check out our range of Excel courses , complete with video lessons with accompanying cheat sheets, exercises, and quizzes to bolster your learning.

For more Excel templates, check out this handy article .

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Krystal Tolani Motwani

Krystal is a Growth Product Manager at GoSkills with a background in digital marketing. When she's not at work, you can find her listening to podcasts or watching comedy specials on Netflix.

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Free business plan template for excel.

Ajay Jagtap

  • October 31, 2023

Business Plan Templates for Excel

With 1 in 8 people using Excel, I’d be hard-pressed to believe that anyone has never used it at some point in life.

While we have all used it at least once—be it for school homework, college assignments, or travel planning—we never really got the hang of it.

(Excel formulas are tough!)

Preparing a business plan from scratch using Excel is not a joke; we get that. That’s why we created this business plan template in Excel .

So, no more worrying about Excel formulas or plan structure—download the document and follow the instructions in the article for successful business planning.

Sounds good? Let’s start with understanding the pros and cons of using Excel for planning:

Pros and Cons of Using Excel for Business Plans

Before we head to discussing the Excel business plan template, let’s understand the pros and cons of using Excel for business planning:

  • Free to use:  MS Excel is 100% free for all its users, making it a cost-effective choice.
  • Data Analysis:  Excel is a powerful tool for performing various financial and data analyses and calculations.
  • Collaboration: Collaborating with your team while working on a project using Excel is easier.
  • Lack of automation: Excel may not help create dynamic business plans with automated features.
  • Limited presentation:  Excel cannot create an appealing business plan like a business plan software.
  • Complex formulas: Excel’s formulas are complex and require a significant learning curve to master.

So these were the pros and cons. Let’s cut to the chase and discuss the key components of our free business plan Excel template.

Key Components of Our Excel Business Plan Template

It’s a fact—you cannot use Excel to create the entire plan from scratch, no! Excel is a powerful tool for complex calculations and analyses; let’s use it for that only.

So, we’ll use this business plan Excel template only to perform complex financial analyses and calculations—to prepare financial projections.

Following are the critical components of a good business plan template you must include in your financial plan:

1. Income Statement

The income statement is one of the key financial statements of your financial plan that highlights its profit and loss over a given period of time.

The critical components of your income statement include—revenue/sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), operational costs, EBITDA, interest, and others.

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how to make a business plan in excel

2. Balance Sheet

Your balance sheet is a statement that reports your company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity, providing a snapshot of its financial position at a specific period of time.

The statement helping you calculate financial ratios includes the following:

  • Assets—e.g. Inventory, cash, property.
  • Liabilities—e.g. Accounts payable, loans, salaries to be paid.
  • Owners equity—e.g. Capital investment/contribution.

3. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement of your financial plan is the projection of your cash in and outflows over a certain period of time.

As one of three key components of your financial plan, the cash flow statement summarizes the amount of cash or cash equivalents entering or leaving your company.

4. Break-Even Analysis

A break-even analysis helps you determine the number of units you need to sell to cover all fixed and variable costs.

The break-even point is considered a measure of safety margin, and anything you sell beyond the point will result in profit.

While your balance sheet already highlights the assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity, assets are considered critical for investors to assess the company’s financial health. So, our simple business plan template (Excel) has a separate sheet for business assets.

6. Accounts Payable & Receivable

The accounts payable refer to the amount due to vendors or suppliers for services or goods received, whereas accounts receivable represent the money due to the company.

The increase or decrease in your accounts payable or receivable can be seen in your cash flow statement.

7. Working Capital

Working capital is the subtraction of your current liabilities from your current assets. As a critical element in identifying your company’s health, it helps investors understand if it has enough capital to pay employees and fund operations to meet short-term goals.

Download the Financial Forecast Template In Excel

We discussed all the critical statements to be covered in your financial plan. Now what? It’s time for you to download the financial forecast template and start preparing your financial plan.

Unlike other free Excel templates, this template has all the reports with the suggested revenue streams, expenses, and other details.

You can directly download and use the template to forecast cash flow, create balance sheets, and prepare income statements that provide detailed information about your revenue and expenses. So what are you waiting for?

How to Use an Excel Business Plan Template

We’re hoping you’ve already downloaded the business plan template. So, the question arises: How can this Excel template be used to prepare realistic forecasts?

Let’s get this over with:

Understand the template structure

Before you start planning, you must understand the structure of the financial portion of your business plan. Get a thorough review of the template and understand:

  • What critical statements does it include?
  • What are the revenue streams?
  • What are considered to be assets and liabilities?
  • What does the taxation structure look like?

And others. Once you thoroughly understand the structure, you can move ahead with the next step.

Analyze historical data

Financial forecasting is about assumptions—a lot of them, but accurate ones. If you’re a total stranger to financial forecasting, analyzing historical data will help you get off on the right foot.

Analyze the historical data and try to gain insights about your business financials:

  • Monthly revenue over the last year?
  • How much you’re spending on day-to-day operations?
  • What is your sales growth rate? How fast is it increasing over time?

And others. These historical figures will be of massive help in the next step.

Make pre-assumptions

As I said before, financial forecasts heavily rely on certain assumptions like sales forecasts, operational expenses, revenue growth, and others.

So, in this step, you’ll make assumptions about these variables based on the historical data to make them realistic and accurate.

Prepare key financial reports

Once you have made pre-assumptions, it’s time to prepare forecasts. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a lot of numbers; start by preparing critical financial reports that include—a cash flow statement, balance sheet, and income statement.

Other statements of your plan rely heavily on these reports, so the process will become much easier after having prepared these three beforehand.

Monitor and track progress

After preparing your financial reports, the next step is timely monitoring these reports and tracking progress.

You can compare your assumptions with actual results to see if your projections are accurate and relevant to the changing market trends.

Analyzing metrics like customer acquisition rate, acquisition costs, net profit, and gross margin will help track progress.

If you follow these steps rigorously, you can surely make a decent plan to support your business strategies and achieve financial goals.

Still, it was just about financial planning. What about the entire business plan? Excel is a no-go for business planning; let’s see why.

How Excel may not be the best choice for business planning?

Since Excel doesn’t offer all the necessary features for business planning that a business plan software like Upmetrics would, it is not the tool to be used to create a comprehensive business plan.

Following are a few reasons why Excel may not be a better choice for business planning compared to a tool like Upmetrics:

  • Limited features: Since it is not designed specifically for planning, it has limited business planning features compared to software like Upmetrics. A business planning software may include features like business plan builder, financial forecasting, and pitch deck creator.
  • Limited collaboration: Everyone knows Excel isn’t the tool with the best collaboration features. Business plan software offers collaboration features, allowing multiple team members to work on a business plan simultaneously.
  • No Automation: Upmetrics comes with many automation features like AI assistant and financial forecasting tool, helping entrepreneurs and small businesses save time and reduce human errors.
  • No customizable templates: Upmetrics has 400+ business plan examples and templates that make it easier for new users to get started, which has not been the case with Excel.

These were just a few of many reasons why a planning tool is a better alternative than Excel to create a comprehensive plan to support their business strategy.

Improve Your Business Financial Plan with Upmetrics

I’d surely have recommended Excel for financial planning if you had asked maybe a decade ago.

Today? There’s no way Excel stands a chance when competing with a cutting-edge AI business planning solution like Upmetrics.

Upmetrics simplifies business planning with its library of business templates, financial forecasting tool, and AI-powered assistant, making it a much more efficient alternative to Excel.

What are you waiting for? Start planning today!

how to make a business plan in excel

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i create a business plan in excel.

It’s challenging to draft an entire business plan in Excel. However, you can use Excel to create the financial portion of your plan using a free business plan Excel template. A ready-made template is always better and faster than preparing your financial reports from scratch.

Are there any alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan?

Yes, there are a few alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan. However, using a business plan software like Upmetrics would be a better alternative to creating a business plan than others.

Why should I use an Excel template for my business financial plan?

You cannot certainly master Excel formulas in one day, and preparing advanced financial reports from scratch means you must be very good at accounting, budgeting, and Excel sheets and ready to spare some intense hours.

So, considering the complexity of Excel—using a ready-made template seems like a great starting point for budding entrepreneurs with no financial planning experience.

Are there any free business plan templates available in Excel?

Although it’s tough to create the entire business plan in Excel from scratch, Upmetrics offers a free business plan Excel template to help you gain inspiration and make the financial portion of your business plan.

Can I share my financial plan online with others using Excel?

Yes, you can share your financial plan online with others using Excel. To share your document with others, simply click on the “Share with People” option and enter their email addresses, and you have shared the doc.

About the Author

how to make a business plan in excel

Ajay is a SaaS writer and personal finance blogger who has been active in the space for over three years, writing about startups, business planning, budgeting, credit cards, and other topics related to personal finance. If not writing, he’s probably having a power nap. Read more

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14 Best Excel Templates for Business in 2024 (Free & Premium)

  • Last updated October 5, 2023

Let’s talk about Excel templates. These pre-made spreadsheets help you improve productivity quickly. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into the world of Excel templates, equipping you with the knowledge and tools to streamline your tasks, boost productivity, and make informed decisions.

From understanding what Excel spreadsheet templates are to exploring specialized templates for various industries, we’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a seasoned Excel user or just starting, our friendly yet professional approach will simplify complex concepts and empower you to harness the full power of Excel templates.

What Are Excel Templates?

We provide a host of spreadsheet templates for our readers. And Excel templates are no exception. These pre-designed spreadsheets created to simplify various tasks and processes. They serve as starting points, offering predefined structures, formulas, and formatting. These templates are designed to save you time and effort by eliminating the need to build spreadsheets from scratch.

Key Features of Excel Spreadsheet Templates

  • Structured Layout: Templates come with organized rows and columns tailored to the specific task or use case. For instance, a budget template might include categories for income, expenses, and savings.
  • Predefined Formulas and Functions: Excel spreadsheet templates often include formulas and functions that perform calculations automatically. For example, a mortgage calculator template may already have formulas for calculating monthly payments and interest.
  • Formatting and Styling: Templates feature consistent design, including fonts, colors, and cell borders. This makes your data visually appealing and easy to read.
  • Placeholder Data: Templates often contain placeholder data or instructions to guide you in entering your information. These placeholders help you understand how to use the template effectively.
  • Customizability: While templates provide a structured framework, they are highly customizable. You can modify them to suit your specific needs by adding or removing columns, changing labels, or adjusting formulas.

Common Uses of Excel Templates

  • Budgeting: Excel templates for budgeting help individuals and businesses manage their finances effectively by tracking income and expenses, projecting future financial goals, and analyzing spending patterns.
  • Project Management: Project management templates assist in planning, tracking, and managing projects. They often include Gantt charts, task lists, and progress trackers.
  • Data Analysis: Excel offers templates for data analysis, such as pivot tables, allowing you to quickly summarize and analyze large datasets.
  • Accounting: Accounting templates help businesses maintain accurate financial records, including ledgers, income statements, and balance sheets.
  • Inventory Management: Inventory templates help businesses track stock levels, monitor product sales, and manage inventory turnover.

Types of Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates come in various categories, each designed to address specific needs and tasks. Here are some of the most common types of Excel templates:

Financial Excel Templates

Financial templates are geared towards managing finances, budgeting, and financial analysis. You can make your own cash flow template , or use one that’s already made. Common financial spreadsheets include:

  • Budget Templates: These templates help individuals and businesses create and manage budgets, ensuring that income and expenses are balanced. Check out our top budget templates for Google Sheets .
  • Financial Models: Financial modeling templates are used for forecasting financial performance, especially in business planning and investment analysis.
  • Income Statements: Templates for income statements track revenues and expenses to determine profitability.
  • Balance Sheets: These templates provide a snapshot of a company’s financial position by displaying assets, liabilities, and equity.

Project Management Excel Templates

Project management templates are essential for planning, executing, and monitoring projects. For example, we covered our favorite project status report templates . Other common templates include:

  • Gantt Charts: Gantt chart templates visually represent project schedules, showing tasks, timelines, and dependencies.
  • Project Timelines: These templates offer a simplified view of project milestones and deadlines.
  • Task Tracking Templates: Task tracking templates help teams assign, track, and manage tasks to keep projects on schedule.

Data Analysis Excel Templates

Data analysis templates are invaluable for individuals and businesses working with data. Key templates include:

  • Pivot Tables: Pivot table templates simplify data summarization and analysis, allowing users to create interactive reports.
  • Data Visualization Templates: Templates for charts and graphs help transform raw data into visual representations for easier understanding.
  • Statistical Analysis Templates: Statistical analysis templates include tools for performing statistical tests and calculations.

Personal and Business Excel Templates

Personal and business templates cover a wide range of tasks. We have an article that covers payment receipt templates . Other common personal and business spreadsheets include:

  • To-Do List Templates: These templates help you stay organized by listing tasks and priorities.
  • Invoice Templates: Invoice templates streamline the invoicing process for businesses, including itemized lists and payment tracking.
  • Business Plan Templates: Business plan templates provide structured frameworks for creating comprehensive business plans, helping startups and established companies alike.

Whether you’re managing finances, overseeing a project, analyzing data, or organizing personal tasks, Excel templates offer a time-saving solution to enhance your productivity.

Top 14 Excel Templates for Business

Now, let’s delve into the top Excel templates that can significantly boost your productivity across various domains. We’ll explore each template, highlighting its key features and benefits.

Financial Management Excel Templates

1. financial model.

The Financial Model Excel template is a versatile tool designed to help businesses of all sizes and types manage their finances effectively. Whether you’re a business, a startup , or operating in specific niches like SaaS , E-Commerce , or Marketplace , this template offers comprehensive financial projections, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. It’s essential for budgeting, forecasting, and making informed financial decisions.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Accurate Projections: Generate precise financial projections for different business scenarios, aiding in strategic planning.
  • Scenario Analysis: Easily assess the impact of various decisions on your financial health by running multiple scenarios.
  • Investor-Ready: Impress investors and stakeholders with professional financial reports and insights.
  • Data Visualization: Utilize charts and graphs to visualize financial trends and make data-driven decisions.

Price: $74-139 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

2. Profit and Loss Statement

The Profit and Loss Statement Excel template is tailored to specific business models, including startups , marketplaces , SaaS , and E-Commerce ventures. It helps you track your revenues, costs, and expenses to calculate your net profit or loss accurately. With clear and customizable categories, you can gain a deep understanding of your business’s financial performance.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Business-Specific Tracking: Choose a template that aligns with your business model for precise financial insights.
  • Expense Categorization: Easily categorize expenses for better cost management and identification of cost-saving opportunities.
  • Year-over-Year Comparison: Track your financial performance over time to identify growth trends or areas that need improvement.
  • Tax Preparation: Simplify tax preparation by neatly organizing your income and expenses.

Price: $74 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

3. Revenue Forecasting Tool

The Revenue Forecasting Tool Excel template is indispensable for businesses focused on revenue growth. With different versions tailored to Marketplace , SaaS , E-Commerce , and Agency models, it enables you to project your future revenues based on historical data, market trends, and growth strategies. This tool empowers you to set realistic revenue targets and make informed decisions to achieve them.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Data-Driven Projections: Utilize historical data and market insights to generate accurate revenue forecasts.
  • Goal Setting: Set achievable revenue targets and track progress towards your financial goals.
  • Scenario Planning: Assess how changes in pricing, marketing, or sales strategies impact revenue.
  • Informed Decision-Making: Make strategic decisions backed by comprehensive revenue projections.

Price: $46 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

Budgeting and Tracking Excel Templates

4. zero-based budget template.

Zero-based budgeting is a meticulous approach to budgeting where you allocate every dollar of your income to expenses, savings, or investments. The Zero-Based Budget Excel template simplifies the zero-based budgeting process, ensuring that your budget accurately reflects your financial priorities and goals.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Financial Clarity: Gain a clear understanding of where your money goes and prioritize spending according to your goals.
  • Savings and Investments: Systematically allocate funds for savings, investments, and debt reduction.
  • Expense Tracking: Monitor daily expenses to identify areas for potential savings.
  • Emergency Fund Planning: Create a buffer for unexpected costs by including an emergency fund category.

Price: $4.99

5. Inventory and Sales Tracking Template

Managing inventory and tracking sales is crucial for businesses, especially those in retail or e-commerce. The Inventory and Sales Tracking Excel template streamlines inventory management, allowing you to efficiently track stock levels, sales, and product performance.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Real-Time Inventory: Monitor inventory levels in real-time, ensuring you never run out of stock or overstock products.
  • Sales Analysis: Analyze sales data to identify top-performing products and optimize your product offerings.
  • Cost Control: Keep tabs on inventory costs and prevent financial losses due to mismanagement.
  • Data-Driven Decision-Making: Use sales insights to make informed decisions about restocking, promotions, and pricing strategies.

Price: $19.99

6. Capital Expenditure Planning Template

Capital expenditures (CapEx) are essential for businesses looking to grow and invest in assets like equipment, technology, or infrastructure. This free CapEx Excel template simplifies the planning and tracking of capital expenditures, ensuring efficient allocation of resources.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Streamlined Planning: Plan and prioritize capital expenditures in a structured manner.
  • Budget Control: Stay within budget by tracking expenses against planned allocations.
  • ROI Assessment: Evaluate each capital expenditure’s return on investment (ROI) to make informed decisions.
  • Asset Management: Keep a comprehensive record of your business’s assets and their depreciation.

Price: Free!

Investment and Financial Analysis Excel Templates

7. simple investment template.

The Simple Investment Excel template is perfect for individuals or businesses looking to analyze potential investments. It assists in evaluating the financial feasibility of investments, calculating returns, and making informed investment decisions.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Investment Evaluation: Assess the attractiveness of various investment opportunities.
  • Risk Analysis: Consider the risks associated with each investment and their impact on returns.
  • Return Calculations: Calculate potential returns, including net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).
  • Decision Support: Make well-informed investment choices based on financial analysis.

8. Mortgage Calculator with Amortization Table

Mortgages are a significant financial commitment. This Mortgage Calculator Excel template simplifies mortgage calculations, helping individuals and homeowners understand their loan terms, amortization schedules, and total interest payments.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Loan Clarity: Understand your mortgage terms, including interest rates, monthly payments, and loan duration.
  • Amortization Schedule: View the full amortization schedule, tracking principal and interest payments over time.
  • Interest Savings: Explore strategies for paying off your mortgage early to reduce interest costs.
  • Financial Planning: Incorporate mortgage payments into your long-term financial planning.

9. CLV vs. CAC Analysis Template

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) are critical business metrics. The CLV vs. CAC Analysis Excel template simplifies the calculation and analysis of CLV and CAC, aiding in strategic marketing and growth decisions.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Customer Profitability: Determine the profitability of acquiring and retaining customers.
  • Marketing Efficiency: Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by comparing CAC to CLV.
  • Retention Strategies: Identify opportunities to increase CLV through customer retention and loyalty programs.
  • Data-Driven Marketing: Allocate marketing budgets more efficiently based on CLV and CAC insights.

Data Analysis and Metrics Tracking Excel Templates

10. cohort analysis template.

Cohort analysis is a powerful method for examining user behavior over time. The Cohort Analysis Excel template simplifies the process, helping businesses gain insights into customer retention, engagement, and more.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • User Segmentation: Group users into cohorts based on signup date or other criteria for focused analysis.
  • Retention Insights: Identify trends in user retention and pinpoint when users drop off.
  • Product Improvement: Use cohort analysis to inform product improvements and marketing strategies.
  • Churn Reduction: Develop strategies to reduce customer churn based on cohort analysis findings.

11. MRR Dashboard Template

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is a vital metric for subscription-based businesses. The MRR Dashboard Excel template provides a comprehensive dashboard for tracking MRR, analyzing trends, and making data-driven decisions.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • MRR Overview: Get a real-time overview of your MRR, including new revenue, lost revenue, and net MRR growth.
  • Churn Analysis: Identify reasons for churn and implement strategies to reduce it.
  • Growth Tracking: Monitor your subscription business’s growth and set goals for MRR expansion.
  • Data Visualization: Visualize MRR trends with charts and graphs for easier interpretation.

12. User Engagement Dashboard Template

User engagement is critical for online businesses. The User Engagement Dashboard Excel template provides a user-friendly dashboard for tracking user engagement metrics, analyzing user behavior, and optimizing user experiences.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Comprehensive Metrics: Track key engagement metrics such as session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
  • Segmentation: Analyze user engagement based on demographics, devices, or referral sources.
  • Content Performance: Identify high-performing content and optimize the user journey accordingly.
  • Conversion Optimization: Implement strategies to improve user engagement and conversion rates based on insights.

Business Planning and Management Excel Templates

13. software license management tool.

The Software License Management Excel tool simplifies the process for businesses managing software licenses. It allows you to track software licenses, renewal dates, and compliance, ensuring efficient software management.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • License Tracking: Easily keep track of all software licenses in use across your organization.
  • Renewal Alerts: Identify license renewals timely to prevent interruptions.
  • Cost Control: Avoid unnecessary software purchases and optimize license utilization.
  • Compliance Assurance: Ensure compliance with software licensing agreements to avoid legal issues.

14. Workforce Planning Tool

Effective workforce planning is crucial for businesses of all sizes. The Workforce Planning Excel template streamlines the process by helping you manage employee information, staffing levels, and workforce optimization.

how to make a business plan in excel

  • Employee Database: Maintain a centralized employee information database, including roles, qualifications, and contact details.
  • Staffing Analysis: Analyze staffing levels and plan for hiring, training, or restructuring as needed.
  • Cost Projections: Estimate labor costs and budgets for workforce expansion or reduction.
  • Scenario Planning: Model various workforce scenarios and their financial implications.

These Excel spreadsheet templates cover a wide range of business and financial needs, making them invaluable tools for improving productivity, making informed decisions, and achieving your goals. Whether you’re a financial analyst, business owner, or simply looking to better manage your finances, Excel templates offer a user-friendly and robust solution.

Best Practices for Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates are powerful tools that can significantly enhance your productivity , but it’s essential to follow best practices to make the most of them. Here are some tips and strategies to help you use Excel templates effectively.

Choose the Right Template

Selecting the appropriate template for your specific task is the first step to success. Consider the following factors when choosing a template:

  • Task Complexity: Ensure the template aligns with the complexity of your task. Simple tasks may require basic templates, while more complex tasks need advanced templates.
  • Customizability: Look for templates that allow customization. Templates that are too rigid may not suit your unique needs.
  • Industry or Use Case: Many templates are designed for specific industries or use cases. For financial tasks, for instance, choose templates tailored to your industry, such as retail, healthcare, or real estate.
  • Scalability: If your task may grow in complexity or data volume, opt for a template that can scale with your needs.

Understand Formulas and Functions

Excel templates often come with built-in formulas and functions to automate calculations. To use these templates effectively, it’s crucial to understand how these formulas work.

  • Learn the Basics: Familiarize yourself with common Excel functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP, and more. These are the building blocks of many templates.
  • Review Formulas: Take time to review the formulas used in the template. Understand how they calculate results and what data they depend on.
  • Customize Formulas: If needed, customize formulas to suit your specific requirements. Modify cell references or add new calculations as necessary.

Input Data Accurately

Accurate data input is essential to obtain meaningful results from Excel spreadsheet templates.

  • Double-Check Data: Ensure all data entered into the template is accurate and error-free. A slight mistake can lead to significant inaccuracies in calculations.
  • Use Data Validation: Implement data validation rules to prevent incorrect data entry. Excel can prompt users when data doesn’t meet specified criteria.
  • Consistent Formatting: Maintain consistent formatting throughout the template. This includes date formats, number formats, and currency symbols.
  • Document Data Sources: Keep track of your data sources, especially if you’re pulling data from external sources. This documentation can help troubleshoot discrepancies later.

Regularly Save and Backup

Excel templates represent valuable work, so protecting your data is essential.

  • Frequent Saving: Save your work regularly to prevent data loss in case of unexpected software crashes or power outages.
  • Version Control: Maintain version control by saving different iterations of your template. Use meaningful file names and dates to track changes.
  • Backup Files: Implement a backup strategy. Regularly create copies of your Excel files and store them in a secure location, whether it’s a cloud service or an external drive.

Understand Template Limitations

Excel spreadsheet templates have limitations, and it’s essential to be aware of them.

  • Data Volume: Excel may not handle very large datasets efficiently. Consider using a database or specialized software for extensive data management.
  • Complexity: Templates have limits in terms of complexity. You might need to consider custom software or consulting with a specialist for more advanced or intricate tasks.
  • Data Security: Be cautious when handling sensitive or confidential data within Excel. Implement password protection and encryption where necessary.

Customize for Your Needs

While templates provide a structured starting point, don’t hesitate to customize them to better suit your unique requirements.

  • Add or Remove Fields: Include additional or remove unnecessary fields to streamline data entry and reporting.
  • Format and Styling: Adjust the template’s formatting and styling to match your preferences and branding guidelines.
  • Automate Repetitive Tasks: Excel allows you to automate repetitive tasks using macros. Learn how to create and use macros to save time.

Stay Updated and Educated

Excel is a continually evolving software, and staying updated with the latest features and best practices can benefit your productivity.

  • Software Updates: Keep your Excel software up-to-date to access new features and security patches.
  • Online Resources: Explore online resources, spreadsheet tutorials , and forums to expand your Excel skills and troubleshoot issues.
  • Advanced Training: Consider advanced Excel training courses or certifications to become an Excel power user.

By following these best practices, you can harness the full potential of Excel spreadsheet templates, streamline your tasks, and make more informed decisions. Excel templates are versatile tools that can save you time and effort, but mastering them requires a combination of knowledge, practice, and attention to detail.

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Excel templates are your secret weapon for accomplishing tasks faster and more efficiently. With the right template at your fingertips, you can conquer financial challenges, manage projects like a pro, and analyze data with ease. The best part? You don’t need to be an Excel expert to reap the benefits. These templates are designed to simplify your life and make complex tasks feel like a breeze.

So, whether you’re tracking expenses, planning a project, or diving into data analysis, remember that Excel spreadsheet templates are your trusty companions on the journey to productivity and success. Embrace them, customize them, and watch your tasks transform from daunting to doable. Excel templates are your shortcut to getting things done, and the possibilities are endless. Start using them today and take control of your tasks, one spreadsheet at a time!

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > Writing and Formatting a Successful Business Plan

Writing and Formatting a Successful Business Plan

Whether you’re an experienced business person or a first-time entrepreneur, a business plan presents an important opportunity to showcase your unique business ideas and make a plan for how it will it function and operate.

Because of its importance, it can sometimes appear to be an overwhelming task. However, with some guidance on business plan formatting and a breakdown of the plan’s most essential components, you can make the task more manageable and more easily get started on your own plan—bringing the possibility of your grand opening ever closer.

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What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan usually serves either or both of two purposes: Sometimes it’s used to court potential investors in a business. Other times, it sets out guidelines and a strategy for initial members of a business’s team to follow as they get things up and running. In either case, this formal document maps out the purpose, goals, finances, and future plans of a new or existing business.

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Formatting Your Business Plan

Before you get started on writing your business plan, it’s useful to understand the formatting of a typical business plan. Not only will this help you make sure you ultimately deliver the information that potential investors or teammates are expecting, but it will also help you see where you might need to do more research or spend more time.

Typically, all business plans contain each of the following parts:

Executive Summary

Company description, business goals, market and opportunity analysis, competitive analysis, execution plan, marketing plan, financial analysis and projections.

Below, we sum up what these sections entail to help you craft each of them according to your own business’s needs.

Business plans usually open with what’s called an executive summary. Typically taking up no more than about half of a page, this summary should include the most essential information about your business and highlights from the plan that follows, including:

  • Your organization’s mission statement
  • A description of the products and services your business offers
  • The purpose of your business plan
  • Any major achievements your business has made so far
  • An overview of your business’s financial health

A company description should include both basic information about your organization—its registered name, physical location, and a short history of the company—as well as more detailed info about how your business intends to succeed. In other words, once you’ve touched on the very basics, this is your chance to hook readers of your business plan. To do so, it can be helpful to set the stage for your readers: consider the answers to questions like, “Why did you start this business?”, “What unique problems does your business solve?”, and “What makes your company different from others like it?”

Sometimes referred to as an “objective statement,” this section of your business plan should clearly outline your company’s goals—over both the short and long term. If you’re making an appeal to investors, this is also your chance to include some persuasive writing and describe to them how their investments are critical to helping you meet these goals.

This section requires keen research skills: Bring in all of your knowledge of the market your business is working in to show investors and potential partners where the opportunity lies. Show that you have an understanding of the market’s past, present, and future—and understand the unique risks that businesses in this space face. Additionally, you will want to show what typical types of customers in this market are like with information on key demographics and customer behaviors that your business will market itself to.

Moving past the broad view of the overall market, your business plan should include an analysis of the business models or examples of your closest competitors in the space. Showing how these other organizations operate, how they’ve fared over their histories, and how they market themselves to customers can help you make the case for how your business will do these things both differently and successfully.

The execution plan section should provide a window into how your business will operate behind the scenes: How will you and your employees be organized? Who will handle what tasks? Why are they the right people to do so? Answer these questions by providing thorough details on who will be doing the work and how they will be structured while getting it done.

Every business needs to have a plan on how they position and promote their offerings, as well as attract and retain customers. With this section of your business plan, explain to potential stakeholders and financiers what your initial marketing strategy is and how it will change and scale over time.

Especially for business owners seeking additional financing and investment, the financial portion of your business plan is critical in showing how your business has generated and managed income, plus deliver insight into how it will continue doing so.

This section should include a breakdown of your organization’s sales, expenses, and profits. If you’re applying for a loan or seeking investment, include an overview of what your company’s financials would look like over the next period of years if you were to receive that financial backing. In addition, you should outline a clear plan for how and when you will pay back these creditors.

Crafting a Business Plan That Succeeds

While the particulars of every business plan will be different, there are some aspects that should be common to all business plans:

  • Be Concise: The writing in a business plan needs to be persuasive for its intended audience, but it needs to do so efficiently. Use clear and concise writing that communicates your ideas and plans effectively.
  • Use Data for Support: Even if your writing is persuasive, it won’t be as effective as it can be without relevant data and hard numbers that back up your insights.
  • Get Rid of Errors: In most cases, your audience is only going to read your business plan once. Make sure you present a tidy image of your business through your business plan writing by catching and fixing all of your typos and grammatical errors. Use a digital writing assistant like Microsoft Editor to help spot these mistakes, along with any slips in the formal tone that a business plan requires.
  • Keep It Real: Avoid exaggeration, whether it’s in your sales projections, market opportunity, or elsewhere.

Creating a successful business plan requires pulling together a lot of disparate information, which takes a diverse set of skills to pull off. Whether you’re new to new businesses or this is just your latest and greatest project, this can always be a tall order.

Make it easier on yourself by using all of the tools you have at your disposal to help. In addition to the guidelines above, explore a wide range of business plan templates available from Microsoft 365, including everything from complete business plans to individual components like revenue forecasts .

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Download Business Plan Template In Excel

  • Budget , Business management , Excel Templates

Kickstart Your Business Success with Our Free Excel Business Plan Template

Charting a path to success for your business can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to organizing and managing the myriad elements that constitute a business plan. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce our free, comprehensive Business Plan Excel template. With multiple, integrated sheets for every facet of your planning needs, this template streamlines your strategic process, saving you time and effort.

What Is Included in Our Sample Business Plan Template in Excel?

Our Excel business plan template is meticulously designed and includes the following components:

  • Sales Planning / Forecasting Template : This template enables you to plan product-wise and year-wise sales. By analyzing trends over the previous two years, you can forecast sales for the coming year and make informed business decisions.
  • Profit and Loss Template : This sheet will help you track your revenues, costs, and expenses to determine your business’s profitability over a period of time.
  • Balance Sheet Template : It provides a snapshot of your company’s financial position at a particular moment, illustrating what the company owns (assets) and owes (liabilities), and the amount invested by shareholders (equity).
  • Cash Flow Template : With this, you can manage your cash position by tracking the inflow and outflow of cash in your business. This template helps in monitoring your liquidity and understanding if you have enough cash to cover your expenses.
  • Budget Template : This facilitates the allocation and tracking of financial resources, ensuring you don’t overspend and stay on the right financial track.
  • Break-Even Analysis Template : This crucial template calculates the point where your total cost equals your total revenue. Understanding your break-even point can help guide pricing strategy, monitor efficiency, and make profitable business decisions.

How to Use the Excel Business Plan Template?

Using our comprehensive Excel business plan template is simple:

  • Download the Template : Start by downloading our free Business Plan Excel template.
  • Input Your Data : Enter your business data into each sheet. Each section comes with clear instructions on what information is needed.
  • Analyze and Plan : Use the data you’ve entered to analyze your current business situation, make projections, and develop strategic plans.
  • Update Regularly : As your business evolves, so should your business plan. Regularly update the data in the template to keep your plan relevant and responsive to your business’s changing circumstances.

Why Use the Excel Business Plan Template?

Our Excel business plan template offers a host of benefits:

  • Comprehensive : It covers every aspect of your business plan, eliminating the need for multiple documents or programs.
  • Easy to Use : The template is designed to be user-friendly, making it easy for anyone, regardless of their familiarity with Excel.
  • Customizable : The template can be modified to suit the specific needs and nature of your business.
  • Effective Visualization : The template includes graphs and charts, transforming your data into a visual format that’s easier to understand and present.
  • Free : Our template is completely free, making it a cost-effective solution for business planning.

In conclusion, our Excel business plan template simplifies the planning process by consolidating all elements of a business plan into a single, comprehensive document. Whether you’re drafting your first business plan or refining an existing one, this template can be an invaluable tool. So, download our free Excel business plan template today and embark on a strategic journey to business success!

Users of This Free Business Plan Template

The Excel Business Plan Template is designed for a wide variety of users who need to develop a structured and strategic approach to their business planning. Here’s a list of individuals and entities who could greatly benefit from using this template:

  • Entrepreneurs and Startups : If you’re in the initial stages of starting a business, this template can help you plan, analyze, and forecast various aspects of your business such as sales, finances, and cash flow.
  • Small Business Owners : For existing small businesses, this template can help monitor performance, manage finances, and plan for future growth.
  • Financial Analysts and Managers : These professionals can use this template to gain insights into the financial health of a business, plan budgets, and conduct break-even analysis.
  • Freelancers and Solopreneurs : Even if you’re a one-person business, this template can help keep track of your finances, forecast your revenue, and manage your cash flow efficiently.
  • Consultants and Business Advisors : These individuals can utilize the template to assist their clients in developing business plans, improving financial management, and setting strategic goals.
  • Non-profit Organizations : Even though their goals might not be profit-oriented, non-profit organizations can also benefit from this template to manage their finances, plan budgets, and conduct break-even analysis for their fundraising events or projects.

Remember, the key to leveraging this tool effectively is to customize it to the unique needs and circumstances of your business or project. No matter your industry or the size of your business, our Excel Business Plan Template can be a valuable tool in your strategic planning toolkit.

Download this Business Plan template in Excel Format

Our easy to use editable Excel templates and save your significant amount of time and effort. Here’s how to download and use one of our templates:

Download this free Excel Template : Once you’ve browsed through our collection of templates and find the one that best fits your needs. Once you’ve found the template you want, click on the download button.

Replace sample data with your actual data: Once the template is downloaded, open it in Excel. You’ll see that it is already set up with sample data. To start analyzing your own data, simply replace the sample data with your actual data.

Customize the template: Our templates are completely editable, which means you can customize them to fit your specific needs. For example, you can change the formatting, add or remove columns, or create new charts and graphs.

Use the Excel template: Once you’ve fed in your data and customized the template, you’re ready to start using it for data analysis. Use the various tools and features of Excel to analyze and visualize your data, and make informed business decisions.

Save and share: Once you’ve finished working on the template, save it to your computer and share it with other members of your team or stakeholders as needed.

Click Download Button To Get Business Plan Excel Template

Instruction :

All Excel templates and tools are sole property of xlsxtemplates.com. User can only download and use the excel templates for their Personal use only. All templates provided by XLSX templates are free and no payment is asked. However, you are not allowed to distribute or share in any other website for sole purpose of generating revenue from it.

 You can also download and use our 1000 Best PowerPoint Presentation Templates and  500 Resume Samples  from  PPTXTemplates.com   Completely Free. All our templates are designed by Professionals

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Business Plan Template

Sample Business Plan Template in Excet

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Business management, data analysis, decision matrix, educational, event budget, excel addins, excel chart, excel planners, excel templates, federal income tax, financial calculator, financial management, financial statement, gantt chart, gst templates, health and fitness, home & personal, human resource, inventory management, invoice templates, list & checklist, personal finance, project management, sales & marketing, social media, timesheet & payroll, download free editable excel templates | popular templates.

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Introduction: Navigating Fencing Service Quotations A fencing service quotation is an essential tool for businesses in the fencing industry. It provides potential clients with a

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Introduction: Excelling with Event Planning Quotations An event planning quote is a critical document for event planners, detailing proposed services and costs for organizing an

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Cleaning Quote

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Free editable professional Excel templates can be a useful tool for businesses , organizations, and individuals looking to streamline their data management and reporting processes. These templates can provide a pre-designed and pre-formatted framework for storing and organizing data, as well as for creating charts, graphs, and other visualizations to help communicate that data more effectively.

One advantage of using professional Excel templates is that they are often designed by experienced professionals who understand best practices for data management and visualization. This means that the templates are likely to be well-organized, easy to understand, and aesthetically pleasing, which can make working with them more efficient and enjoyable.

Another advantage is that these templates are often fully editable, allowing users to customize them to meet the specific needs of their organization or project. This can include adding or deleting rows and columns, changing the formatting and layout, and adding custom formulas and functions .

Some examples of professional Excel templates that may be available for free include budgeting templates for personal or business use , project management templates for tracking tasks and deadlines, and sales tracking templates for analyzing and forecasting sales data. There are also a wide variety of templates available for specific industries, such as real estate, marketing , human resource , Payroll management and among others.

Overall, free editable professional Excel templates can be a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their data management and analysis skills. By providing a pre-designed and customizable framework for storing, organizing, and visualizing data, these templates can help users save time and make more informed decisions.

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Powerful business plan templates

Plan for the future, no matter what your business plans are or the size of your business with these designs and templates. whether it's just one big project or an entire organization's worth of dreams, these templates will keep you and your company on track from ideation to completion..

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Put your ideas to work with simple templates for every business plan

Every successful business took a lot of planning to get there, and these templates will be cornerstones of your future success. Whether you're looking to attract new business, pitch your services or reimagine your company, with these simple, customizable templates at your fingertips you can turn complexity into something tangible. These templates can become marketing assets or simply remain internal touchpoints for your team. And as your dreams change, you'll always have this template to refer to – it's easy to change what exists on paper. If you're a small business, focusing on your niche can help you dominate in your field, and you can forge a plan to figure out exactly what that niche might be and how to target your ideal customer . When it's time to share your vision with stakeholders, craft a presentation that outlines your plan succinctly and with style. Let these templates from Microsoft Designer be your partner in business strategy for years to come.

Excel Made Easy

Business plan 101.

Creating your company will require a business plan. This plan will list every possible detail you can think about that is relevant for your company to become a success.

It will be read not only by yourself or your wife but by the investors that you will ask to join the company or the banks you will ask money from. It will also be useful in the future when you are so overwhelmed with work and help to put you back on the right track.

A business plan explains why your company is in business. It will go from an executive summary that will in two sentences describe your business to how many of your products you plan to sell in 5 years.

It is a living document that you will update on a regular base according to your experience and the development of your company. This should be done once or twice a year. Even more if you are just starting.

To start a business plan , the best way is to create a business model for your company. This business model will help you to get the overview before starting to dig into the sordid little details that only your accountant will be interested in (;-).

Everything box in the business model should then be described in more details in the business plan.

So follow the links here under and start your business model and use our free business model canvas template for excel. Good luck. It is also called a businee plan template.

To help you further in the development of your business plan, you need to make a fair and honest analysis of your Strength and Weaknesses as well as the Opportunities and Threats that you will be facing. For this you will use the so called SWOT matrix that does exactly this. It is a listing of your Strength, Weakness, Threath and Opportunities related to your product business plan.

A SWOT Matrix  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) is also used to define the strategy of your company when used in conjunction with the business model. The SWOT matrix can also be used for personal development, for example to compare yourself to other for a certain situation.

For this purpose we have created this SWOT matrix Template.

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Business Budget Template

Having a business budget is essential for any size business. A business budget helps you decide whether you can grow your business, give yourself a raise, purchase additional inventory and assets, and whether you may be able to avoid bankruptcy.

It's possible to modify a personal budget spreadsheet to apply to a business, but if you are using our Income Statement Template , you'll want to use the business budget spreadsheet so that you can create a budget that is parallel to your income statement.

For those who are just starting a business, or thinking of starting a business, you might be interested in the free Business Start Up Costs template. A startup cost analysis is an important part of a good business plan and can help you get things off the ground before you begin using a more detailed business budget.

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

"No installation, no macros - just a simple spreadsheet" - by Jon Wittwer

Description

This spreadsheet contains two sample business budgets designed for companies providing services or selling products.

Service Providers : The Services worksheet is a simple business budget that separates income and business expenses into categories that closely match those used in an income statement. The categories are fairly comprehensive, but it is also easy to add, remove, and modify the categories.

Retailers, Manufacturers, Publishers : The Goods worksheet includes the categories in the Services worksheet, but also has a Cost of Goods Sold section for recording inventory and purchases and calculating Gross Profit.

12-Month Business Budget

This worksheet is a variant of the above business budget, with sales and business expenses broken down by month . This is helpful for budgeting quarterly expenses and other business expenses that occur at specific times of the year.

The Goods worksheet lets you record sales and cost of goods sold for multiple products .

Business Budget for Multiple Products

This version allows you to perform a detailed analysis of your business expenses and cost of goods sold (COGS) if you are selling multiple products. Columns are also included for calculating the Percentage of Total Sales for each product and the various expenses.

Using the Business Budget Spreadsheet

These business budget templates are pretty simple to modify and customize. However, here are some things you should know and keep in mind as you use these templates:

Double-Check the Formulas

If you add or move categories around, make sure to double-check the calculations, especially the SUM() formulas that calculate the totals and subtotals, to make sure that the right cells are summed.

Conditional Formatting for red Values

The Difference is calculated as Actual - Budget. Conditional formatting is used to highlight the Difference red if income is less than the budget amount or if business expenses are more than the budget. In other words, a red value means you ought to take a closer look at it.

Analyzing Cost of Goods Sold

The costs associated with producing and purchasing goods are variable costs that increase or decrease with the volume of production and sales, such as wages for direct labor required to produce the goods, packaging, inventory purchases, shipping, and commissions. These costs are usually compared to the total sales. A careful study of these costs can help you determine pricing for your products, which products are more profitable, etc.

Multiple Products

The Goods spreadsheet is set up initially to record total net sales for each quarter. If you want to perform a more detailed analysis for multiple products, you can insert additional rows and separate the sales and costs according to product, or you can use the bonus spreadsheet that is designed for performing a detailed analysis for multiple products.

Income Taxes

A separate section under business expenses calculates the Net Income Before Taxes by subtracting the Total Expenses from Total Income. This helps you make a simple estimate of the income taxes, assuming all the Expenses are tax deductible. If you have any taxable expenses make sure to subtract those values from the Net Income Before Taxes before estimating your income tax budget.

Budgeting Large Non-Recurring Expenses

One of the reasons for budgeting is of course to help you determine whether you will be able to afford upgrades, new construction, asset purchases, etc. However, this budget spreadsheet is mainly for comparing your operating income and expenses to make sure that in your normal business activities you are earning more than you are spending. You would typically look at your Net Income to determine whether you will be able to expand your business, make large asset purchases, etc.

More Business Budgeting Resources

  • Small Business Budgeting Tips and Techniques at investopedia.com
  • Drafting Your Budget at entrepreneur.com

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How to Create a Project Timeline in Excel (Free Template Included)

ProjectManager

A project timeline is a project scheduling tool that’s used to estimate the total duration of a project from start to end by mapping tasks, deliverables and milestones in chronological order. Gantt charts are the most commonly used tool to create and manage project timelines, but there are other methods and tools you can use like Excel.

In this blog, we’ll go through a step-by-step guide on how to create a project timeline in Excel using various methods and then, we’ll explore other project scheduling tools that can help you create a project timeline such as Gantt charts, kanban boards or project calendars.

Why Should You Make a Project Timeline In Excel?

Before learning how to make a project timeline in Excel, let’s review the final product to better understand how this tool can help you. As you can see, this Excel project timeline resembles a Gantt chart that includes your project tasks, their duration and due dates as well as a visual representation of your project timeline .

Excel project timeline

The best part is, that once you make this Excel project timeline, you’ll have a template that will allow you to estimate future project timelines based on project tasks and due dates. As project timelines are one of the most important tools to execute a successful project , having a template on hand can be extremely helpful and reduce wasted time. We encourage you to download our free file below!

how to make a business plan in excel

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Project Timeline Template

Use this free Project Timeline Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

While Excel can be a helpful tool, a project timeline in Excel can only do so much. Think of timelines as just an inferior Gantt chart, which is a staple of project management. If you want to elevate your project timelines, ProjectManager is an award-winning project and portfolio management software that has powerful Gantt charts that can do more than what Excel does.

For example, our Gantt chart will link all four dependencies to help you avoid costly delays. It also filters for the critical path to identify essential tasks. Then, set a baseline to track planned progress and costs against actual progress and costs to avoid missing deadlines and overspending your budget. Get started with ProjectManager for free.

how to make a business plan in excel

How to Make a Project Timeline In Excel

Excel wasn’t designed for project scheduling , but fortunately, we can use its stacked bar chart feature for creating a simple Gantt chart project timeline. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

1. List Tasks and Their Due Dates

Start by creating four columns for your task names, start and end date and duration. List your tasks and due dates in day/month/year format, but leave the duration column empty. We’ll add a formula to calculate task duration in the next step.

Excel project timeline task list

2. Create a Formula for Calculating Task Duration

Go to the first row in the duration column, and enter a formula to subtract the “End (Date)” value from the “Start (Date)” value. To do so, begin by typing an equal symbol “=” to start creating a formula, then select the “End (Date)” cell, add a minus symbol “-” and finally select the “Start (Date)” cell as shown below. The difference between these two values will determine the duration of each task measured in days.

Excel project timeline formula

Apply the same formula to the remaining cells in the task duration column. Then you should have a table that indicates your project tasks, their due dates and duration. Now it’s time to create a Gantt chart so you can visualize your project timeline.

3. Insert a Stacked Bar Chart for Your Excel Project Timeline

Select all values in the “Start (Date)” column and then insert a stacked bar chart following these steps:

  • Click on the “Insert” tab at the top left corner of your screen
  • Click the chart icon
  • Select the stacked bar chart

Steps to create a stacked bar chart for your Excel project timeline

4. Select Data for Your Excel Project Timeline Gantt Chart

Once you complete the last step, a stacked bar chart should automatically appear. Now we’ll need to add some data to it so it shows your project timeline information. Right-click your stacked bar chart and click select data from the dropdown menu.

Select data for your project timeline

A window will pop up. Now, click “add” as shown in the example below.

select the data for your Excel project timeline stacked bar chart

Now choose the “Duration (Days)” column header as the series name and then, select all the numeric values in the “Duration (Days)” column as the series value.

Select data

Again, right-click your stacked bar chart and click on select data. This time, select edit under “horizontal (category) axis labels” once the window pops up and then select the values from the task name column as shown in the examples below.

how to make a business plan in excel

5. Format Your Excel Project Timeline

Now your project timeline’s Gantt chart has the right data. Now it’s time for the final formatting steps to create your project timeline in Excel. Right-click on the blue bars of your stacked bar chart, go to the “fill” options and select no fill. This will make those blue bars disappear and will show your project tasks as the remaining stacked bars.

how to make a business plan in excel

Now right-click the task names, select “Format Axis…” and then check the “categories in reverse order” checkbox on the right side of your screen.

how to make a business plan in excel

Congratulations! You’ve created an Excel project timeline equipped with a working Gantt chart that’ll adjust itself based on the task information data you add to the table.

Project Timeline Excel Template

This project timeline Excel template is ideal for creating a project timeline you can share with your project team members or stakeholders. Simply enter your project information and estimate your project timeline in minutes.

Project timeline template for Excel

Once you’re ready to try project management software, you can upload this project timeline Excel template to ProjectManager and use its advanced project management tools such as Gantt charts, project calendars, dashboards and much more.

Advantages of an Excel Project Timeline

Now that you’ve learned how to make a project timeline in Excel, it’s important that you clearly understand both the pros and cons of using Excel for project scheduling or project management . Let’s start with the advantages of using a project timeline for Excel.

  • Most People Are Familiar With Excel: Excel is a very popular software that’s widely used by organizations across industries, so your team members are likely familiar with it.
  • Compatible With Project Scheduling Software: Excel files can be exported to advanced project management software such as Microsoft Project or ProjectManager, which have much more advanced project scheduling features and are easier to use.
  • Simple to Use Project Timeline Template: Our Excel project timeline is simple to use. All you need to do is fill out the template with your project information and it will automatically generate a Gantt chart project timeline.

Disadvantages of an Excel Project Timeline

While a project timeline for Excel can help you visualize your project timeline, it’s a very limited tool with very few project scheduling features that can’t compete with more robust project management software .

  • Limited Project Scheduling Functionality: Our Excel project timeline only allows you to get a high-level view of your project timeline, but lacks advanced Gantt chart software features such as assigning tasks to team members, monitoring their progress, identifying task dependencies or finding the critical path .
  • No Online Collaboration, Hard to Share Files: Excel doesn’t allow multiple users to collaborate on files online, which means everybody has to work on their copy of the Excel project timeline. Worse than that, that means that whenever someone makes changes to it, it needs to be sent to everyone on your team.
  • Editing Excel Files Is Time Consuming: In general, creating, editing and maintaining Excel project documents and templates is a time-consuming process that involves too much manual work.

More Free Project Management Templates for Excel and Word

We’ve created dozens of project management templates for Excel, Word and Google Sheets. Here are some that can help you as you go through the process of creating a project timeline.

Task Tracker Template

As discussed above, your project timeline is made up of many individual tasks that need to be completed on time. This task tracker template for Excel helps you to track the due dates, progress and status of your project tasks so you can track their completion. This is very important; if tasks aren’t completed on time, their duration will extend and so will your project timeline.

task tracker template for Excel

Project Budget Template

Creating a project timeline is just one of your responsibilities as a project manager. Besides estimating the duration of your project tasks, you’ll also need to estimate their costs. Once you do so, you’ll need to create a project budget which will define how much money will be available for the execution of your project.

project budget template for Excel

Project Plan Template

A project plan is a comprehensive document that describes how a project will be executed. It includes important components such as the project timeline, budget and schedule. It also establishes the guidelines and procedures that the project team should follow for specific project management areas like resource management and risk management.

project plan template for Word

Using ProjectManager Is Better Than Creating a Project Timeline for Excel

ProjectManager offers a wide variety of project management tools that will allow you to create detailed project timelines, collaborate with your team and track your project progress. Here’s a quick overview of some of its key features.

Multiple Project Scheduling Tools

ProjectManager offers multiple project management views such as Gantt charts , kanban boards, task lists and project calendars to give you multiple project planning alternatives. You can use them to assign tasks to your team members, set due dates and adjust your project timelines. All of them sync with each other so the changes you make in one view will reflect on the others.

Gantt chart showing a project timeline

Powerful Resource Tracking Features

To execute your project tasks, you’ll need resources like people, materials and equipment, so you’ll need a tool that helps you allocate them and track their availability and utilization. ProjectManager offers various tools like workload management charts, dashboards and timesheets to help you allocate, schedule and track your project resources and costs.

ProjectManager has resource tracking tools for managing resources and project timelines

Import and Export Excel Project Timelines

ProjectManager allows you to import Excel files so you can view and edit your Excel project timeline with its project views. Or in the opposite case, you can create project timelines in ProjectManager and then download your project data as an Excel file.

ProjectManager is online project management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere else. Excel can’t let you share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app alerts like we do. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free .

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

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The Top Project Plan Templates

By Kate Eby | June 8, 2018 (updated October 24, 2023)

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A project plan is an essential part of any project manager’s toolkit. While it can be tempting to get started on completing tasks as soon as possible, taking the time to map out your strategy can help you save money and resources. Your project will constantly be shifting, and you need a project plan template that can keep up. 

But, with so many available templates, how do you know which one to use? We’ve sorted through them all and found the best project plan templates in Excel and Microsoft Word. We’ll explain the different types of templates and when you should use each one. We’ll also provide a selection of free downloads of project plan templates in Microsoft Word and Excel. You’ll learn what a project plan is and how to make one from scratch in Excel. Or you can try a pre-built template in Smartsheet, a project management platform that empowers you to efficiently manage projects with real-time collaboration and process automation.

Project Plan Templates

A project plan template can be as simple or as complex as you need, depending on your style of project management and the requirements of your project planning . You can choose to include a static timeline or a dynamic Gantt chart, and focus on action items or business goals.

A project plan is most often used in a project management context, with Gantt charts to plan and report progress as the project changes. The main difference between a project plan and a work plan is the Gantt chart, making it a more integrated project plan complete with a way to track tasks against timelines. A Gantt chart is a dynamic, horizontal bar chart to visualize a project schedule and is an important asset to share with stakeholders to communicate project status. This type of template caters toward project managers who are managing larger projects with many people.

project plan template excel

‌   Download Excel Template   Try Free Smartsheet Template   ‌

Project plan templates, complete with a Gantt chart, are used most often in instance like construction project management , or where there’s a need for a more agile project plan . Sometimes, people prefer to use  project management software to create more complex project plans, enabling them to easily update and manage their plans with greater flexibility.

Simple Project Plan Template

Track project details, manage timelines, and visualize how your project is progressing with this simple project plan template. Document all key details, like task start and end dates, resources needed, and budget details, with this comprehensive, easy-to-use template.

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‌   Download Word Template   Try Free Smartsheet Template   ‌

Work Plan Templates

A work plan template is designed to break down your large project goals into smaller, actionable steps. This kind of template outlines what needs to be done, by whom, and when. It also includes a timeline to help set expectations and improve transparency, keeping everyone on the same page about deliverables and deadlines. A work plan template is best for larger teams working on big projects with many tasks and due dates.

work plan template excel

Project Implementation Plan Template

Ensure you don’t miss or overlook any key steps and that all your bases are covered as you move through your project. Use this professionally designed template to keep key internal and external stakeholders, clients, and upper management in the loop on all phases of the project.

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‌   Download Word Template

Action Plan Templates

An action plan lists all the steps that must be taken to achieve a specific goal. The template includes information about the actions that need to happen, the people that will complete them, due dates, priority, and status. While an action plan and work plan are similar, an action plan focuses on goals, whereas a work plan template focuses on phases of tasks that are usually listed in chronological order. An action plan template is best for individual use or by smaller teams.

action plan template excel

Project Action Plan Template

Establish the main goals of your project, identify the actions needed to achieve those goals, and assign a person to be responsible for each task with this complete project action plan template. Assign priority to tasks, view status, and list start and end dates to keep your project moving forward.

how to make a business plan in excel

Business Plan Templates

A business plan template highlights business goals and the plan for achieving them. It focuses on your business’ future and how you intend to reach your objectives. Business plans are much more strategic than a work plan or action plan and often include a vision statement, business profile, economic assessment, and more. A business plan is most appropriate for people who are starting their own business, growing their business, or seeking outside help.

business plan template excel

Get started quickly with project plan templates in Smartsheet

Your projects may be complex, but your project management tool doesn’t have to be. Combine a rich set of features with flexibility, simplicity, and ease of use to deliver projects quickly. Try Smartsheet free for 30 days and get access to hundreds of pre-built, easily customizable templates to jumpstart your project. After your trial, you can choose the plan that best suits your needs or opt for the Free Plan as a no-cost alternative.

Try Smartsheet for Free

What is a project plan?

A project plan is designed to deliver the intended scope of a project, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and track planning assumptions and decisions. It is a living document that can include a stakeholder list, a scope statement, a project schedule, schedule and cost baselines, baseline management plans, communication plan, and it can change over the course of a project. It is worth noting that a project plan is not just a project timeline, although that is an important component of the plan.

You should always create a project plan before starting a new project. Start with what you want to achieve from the project and break it down into the things you need to do in order to accomplish the goal. Then, once you have a high-level plan of all the things that need to be done, you can think about timing, budget, resources, and more.

At the very least, a project plan should answer the following questions about a project:

  • Why? - Why are we starting this project? What is the problem that this project will address or solve?
  • What? - What are we working on? What are the major deliverables and goals?
  • Who? - Who will be involved in the project and what will be their responsibilities?
  • When? - When should the project start and end? What are the milestones?

What to include in a project plan

Project plans differ, but they all contain similar information. In your project plan, include an executive summary, project goals, milestones, deliverables, an estimated timeline, potential risks, and budget details. We’ve outlined some common topics covered by a project plan below:

To learn how to create your own project plan, check out our comprehensive guide to project planning.

  • Executive Summary: The executive summary should summarize the information contained within your project plan onto a single page for easy reading.
  • Project Goals: Outline the end goals of your project and how you will measure its success.
  • Target Audience: Identify the target audience of your project, or who it will affect and who will use the results.
  • Key Responsibilities: Outline the roles and responsibilities of each team member.
  • Key Tasks and Deliverables: Highlight the most important tasks and deliverables throughout the project, with estimated deadlines.
  • Available or Needed Resources: List the resources you will need to secure to complete the project.
  • Risk Analysis and Mitigation Plan: Identify possible risks and put a plan in place to manage them before they become problems.
  • Key Milestones: Identify the key milestones you will use to measure progress.
  • Proposed Project Timeline: Create an estimated timeline for tasks, milestones, and deliverables.
  • Costs and Budget Details: Create an estimated timeline for tasks, milestones, and deliverables.
  • Contingency Plans: Include any contingency plans for project elements that don’t pan out as planned.
  • Communication Strategies: Create a communication plan for reference throughout the project’s lifecycle.
  • Evaluation Strategy: Determine how you will evaluate the successes and failures of your project.

To learn more, check out our comprehensive  Project Management Guide .

What is the purpose of a project plan?

A project plan is one of the most important ingredients for a successful project. It is used to document and communicate expectations, to control schedule and delivery, and to calculate and manage risks. In general, it acts as a roadmap for everyone involved in the project.

Here are the four biggest benefits of a project plan:

  • Improves communication : By outlining your whole plan for everyone to see, stakeholders can provide feedback early in the process if things are going in the right direction. A project plan also helps facilitate expectation management by letting you update milestones and timelines as the project progresses.
  • Increases transparency : With a project plan, stakeholders and team members know exactly where to look to get information every step of the way. Expectations and the project timeline are clearly defined, so everyone is on the same page about priorities and objectives.
  • Increases organization : Many projects have dozens of tasks, dependencies, and milestones, and it can be hard to track how everything is progressing. A project plan makes you think through the timing of each activity and how it affects the rest of the project. You always know how much time to spend on each task and how many things you can accomplish at the same time.

The project planning process

The project planning process involves thoroughly mapping out your project from start to finish. At this time, determine your goals, estimate a timeline for key deliverables, create a budget projection, and assess your risks before launching your project.

  • Concept and Initiation: Start by determining the overall concept of your project and how you plan to complete it.
  • Roadmap Creation: In this phase, determine a rough timeline of the tasks necessary to complete your project.
  • Deliverable Listing: Each project must have specific deliverables, which you should identify during the beginning portion of your planning phase, so each team member is aware of what is expected of them.
  • Project Milestone Identification: Figure out specific points in the project that you consider to be key milestones. These milestones can consist of certain tasks that you complete, a budget target that you reach, or a team that you assemble.
  • Budget Creation: Creating a predetermined budget is one of the most important parts of a project plan. You should adhere to that budget as your project moves forward. This way, you can allocate specific resources and budgets to certain tasks, without exceeding spending projections.
  • Team Member Identification: As with any project, you’ll need to assemble a team of people to implement the project. Work with others to target the specific people who will be most helpful in carrying out the project.
  • Risk Assessment: You must identify all potential risks or threats to your project, including those that could cause budget issues, project delays, and more. List all those potential risks, and detail how you plan to mitigate the issues if they do occur.
  • Project Communication: Once you’ve outlined the key components of your project, you need to communicate these plans and goals to the greater team — including key stakeholders and any external parties. Develop a way to appropriately and efficiently communicate the project plans to everyone involved.
  • Project Launch: At this point, your project should be ready to launch. Ensure that you’ve covered all your bases and outlined all the details before starting. Then, you’re set to begin.

How to create a project plan in Excel

Here are some step-by-step instructions for making a project plan in Excel. You’ll first create the table with your project information, then we’ll show you how to make your project timeline.

1. Add Headers to the Table 

First, you’ll need to add some headers to your table.

  • Leave the first row in your spreadsheet blank. On the second row, type in the headers. In this example, we’re using Tasks, Responsible, Start, End, Days , and Status . You could also add more headers for extra granularity, like Budget, Cost , and more. 
  • Highlight the text and in the Alignment group, click the center icon to center the text in the headers.
  • To format the headers for proper spacing, highlight all the text you just typed and on the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format . Select Column Width and set the width for around 15-20 so you have enough space to enter in your project information.

Create Table Headers

2. Add Your Project Information

  • Start with the Task column and enter the tasks for your project plan. You can enter as many or as few tasks as you want. To visually organize your project plan, we recommend adding a title for each group of tasks or each phase. In this example, we use Prerequisites, Initiation, Development, Operations and Launch .
  • Then, enter the person responsible for each task and the start and end dates.
  • To automatically calculate the number in the Days column, click on a cell in the Days column and type =, then click the End date cell, type the minus (-) symbol, then click the Start date cell. Click enter. Drag the bottom right-hand corner of this cell down the entire column and the rest of the values will be automatically calculated for you with this formula.
  • Enter the status of each task. We use Complete, In progress, Overdue , or Not started .
  • All the information should now be in your table, but you’ll notice the spacing is off depending on the length of your text. To fix this, highlight all your information and in the Cells group, click Format . Select Autofit Column Width to automatically adjust the column width to your content.
  • To center your content, highlight the text and in the Alignment group, click the center icon.

Add Project Details to Chart

3. Add Colors to Convey Project Status at a Glance

It’s easy to customize your project plan with colors and visual hierarchy. By changing the styling and font sizes, you can highlight key information and convey project status at a glance.

  • To change font color, click on the cell with the text you want to change. In the Home tab, select the color you want from the color drop-down list.
  • To change the background color of one or more cells, select the cell(s) you want to change. Click the paint bucket icon and select the fill color.
  • To format fonts, select one or more cells. In the Home tab, you can change the font type, font size, and make the title bold, italicized, or underlined. 

We recommend adding a background color to the main header and to each group or phase of tasks, as well as your target completion date or launch date. You can also change the font color of in the Status column to reflect current progress (in this example, red represents Overdue , green represents Complete , etc).

Add Chart Colors

4. Create the Project Plan Timeline

You’ve already added all your project information to the table, now it’s time to make the corresponding project timeline. Including a timeline in your project plan will help set expectations and increase transparency, keeping everyone aligned around priorities and due dates.

Add and Format Dates

  • On the same row as your table headers, in the next available column, enter the two dates of your project timeline. Then, hold down Shift, select the two dates, and drag the bottom right-hand corner across the row until you’ve reached your end date.
  • If you’d like to change the format of dates, select all the dates and right-click. Select Format Cells .
  • In the pop-up box, select Date under the Category section and select the date type you’d like.
  • You’ll notice that the cells are very wide. To make the timeline more compact, select all the dates, and select a smaller font size. In this example, we’ve selected font size 9.
  • Then, select all the dates again and in the Cells group, click Format . Select Autofit Column Width to automatically adjust the column width to the dates.

Add Project Dates

Add Colors to Make the Project Timeline

  • First, extend the same background colors and font formatting from your table to your timeline.

Add Colors to Timeline

  • Now, you’ve created a type of matrix. You have a row that corresponds to each task, and on the right-hand side, on your timeline, you can simply fill in the cells that represent each task’s start and end date. To do this, select a cell (or more than one cell) and click the paint bucket icon. Select the color you’d like to use.

Create Task Bars

5. Final Touches

  • To add grid lines to the project plan, select the entire project plan, both the table and the timeline, and in the Font group, click the borders icon. Select All Borders .   
  • If you want to add more project information, select the first column, right-click and select Insert > Entire Row . Repeat until you have 8 empty rows.
  • Then, in the first column, enter the following: Project Name, Project Manager, Project Deliverable, Start Date, End Date , and Overall Progress . Then, fill in the corresponding information.

Add Additional Project Info

How to create a project plan in Smartsheet

Smartsheet’s pre-built project template with a Gantt chart makes it even easier to organize tasks, foster communication, and improve transparency. In this template, duration is automatically calculated for you and the interactive Gantt chart lets you drag-and-drop task bars to adjust dates. Smartsheet’s powerful collaboration features let you have discussions directly in the project plan, attach files, and set alerts and reminders.

Here’s how to use a project plan template in Smartsheet:

1. Select a Project Template

  • Go to Smartsheet.com and login to your account ( or start a free 30-day trial )
  • From the Home tab, click Create and choose Browse All Solutions .
  • Type “ Project with Gantt Timeline ” in the Search box or select Projects from the category list.
  • Click on the  Project with Gantt Timeline  tile, then click the blue Use  button.
  • Name your template, choose where to save it, and click the Ok button.

Project Template with Gantt in Smartsheet

2. List Your Project Information

A pre-made template will open, with sample content filled in for reference and the sections, sub-tasks, and sub-sub-tasks already formatted. With Smartsheet, it’s easy to add or delete columns depending on the scope of your project.

Simply right-click on a column and select Insert Column Left/Insert Column Right to add a column or Delete Column to remove a column.

  • Add your tasks under the Task Name column. You’ll notice that the hierarchy is already formatted for you. So, be sure to enter the project phase name or group name to the Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3 fields (this is called the parent row. For more information about hierarchy, click here )
  • Enter your tasks and sub-tasks under the parent rows.
  • On the left side of each row, you can attach files directly to a task (perfect for attaching stakeholder lists, budgets, and more) or start a discussion about a certain item.

Fill in Gantt Project Details Smartsheet

3. Add Start and End Dates

  • Add start and end dates for each task. If you click and drag either end of the task bars in the Gantt chart, Smartsheet will automatically adjust the dates in your table.
  • Click a cell in the either date column.
  • Click the calendar icon and choose a date. You can also manually enter a date in the cell.

Add Start and End Dates in Smartsheet

4. Enter % Complete and Assigned To Information

The % Complete and Assigned To columns provide more information about your project and improve transparency by allowing team members to see who is doing what and the status of each task.

On the Gantt chart, the thin bars inside the task bars represent the percentage of work complete for each task.

  • In the % Complete column, enter the percentage of work complete for each task. Enter a whole number and Smartsheet will automatically add the percentage sign. 
  • In the Assigned To column, choose a name from your contact list (in the drop-down menu) or manually enter a name.

Contact column in Smartsheet

Customize your project plan in Smartsheet

With just a couple clicks, you can customize the appearance of your project timeline.

1. Customize Fonts and Colors in Your Project Plan

  • To change the font type and size, or bold, italicize or underline text, click the cell with the text you want to change. On the left-hand toolbar, you will find all the text formatting options.
  • To change the background color of a row, click the far left gray cell to highlight the entire row. Then, click the paint bucket icon and select the color you’d like to use.

Add background color in Smartsheet

2. Change the Colors in Your Gantt Chart

  • Right-click on a task bar and click Color Settings .
  • Select the color you’d like to use from the color palette.
  • If you want to apply the same color to more than one task bar, click the bars while holding down the Shift key. Then, release the Shift button, right-click on any of the selected bars, and click Color Settings .

Customize gantt chart bar colors in Smartsheet

Discover a better way to manage your project plans with Smartsheet

From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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Action Plan Template for Excel, Word, Google Docs, Google Sheets

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Template Highlights

  • The template is available for download in Excel and Microsoft Word or accessible in Google Sheets and Google Docs.
  • In the Google Sheets and Excel files, our action plan template includes a task summary section that automatically counts completed, uncompleted, and overdue tasks.
  • Our action plan template also allows you to easily insert your logo, adding a professional touch to your action plan document when sharing it with team members or stakeholders.

What is an action plan?

An action plan is a document that sets out the steps required to complete an objective. It is often used in project management to help meet goals promptly. An action plan is more than a laundry list of tasks that need to be done. Rather, it’s a detailed breakdown of how you plan to achieve something. Your action plan may touch on objectives, resources, methods, and constraints.

Benefits of an action plan

As the saying goes, “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” Without a clear action plan to keep you on track, it’s easy to lose sight of important tasks and miss project deadlines. By using an action plan template, you can expect the following benefits:

  • Clearer objectives: Writing an action plan helps you pinpoint objectives for you and your team.
  • Better accountability: Having an action plan in place with set processes and objectives helps you stay accountable to yourself, your colleagues, and your stakeholders.
  • Increased productivity: With an action plan in place, you can save time and make your project workflow more efficient.

How to create an action plan

While this action plan can be used by anyone, it’s specifically designed for business owners and project managers. Follow these steps:

  • Define your goals: As Zig Ziglar said , “A goal properly set is halfway reached.” You should use the SMART goal framework to help with pinpointing your objectives.
  • Clarify key tasks: These are the steps you’ll take to achieve your desired outcome. For example, a new product release could involve tasks related to design, development, and production. Establish the priority level of all tasks and set milestones for their completion.
  • Communicate responsibilities: Each team member should understand how they fit into achieving the goal.
  • Identify challenges and dependencies: Clarify difficulties related to the task and mark when the undertaking of one task relies on the completion of another.
  • Set realistic deadlines: This step requires careful consideration because if you have many task dependencies with overly tight deadlines, one missed due date could derail the entire project timeline.
  • Amend your action plan: Regularly review your plan and adjust it as needed so that it continues to align with your objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i create an action plan template, what’s the difference between an action plan and a project plan, related tags:.

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How to Create a Budget in Excel and Understand Your Spending

New to budgeting? Here's how to make a budget in Excel the right way.

Quick Links

  • Structuring Your Budget in Excel
  • Make Your Budget Easy to Understand With Excel Tools
  • Set Savings Goals and Calculate a Deficit or Surplus in Your Excel Budget

Key Takeaways

  • Get your finances under control by creating a budget in Excel. Structure your budget with different headers for incomings and outgoings.
  • Make your budget easy to read and understand by adding borders, using conditional formatting to identify overspending, and creating a chart.
  • Set savings goals based on a percentage of your monthly income, and calculate your deficit or surplus by comparing your actual savings to your savings goals.

Like most people, you probably worry about your finances often. Which is where creating a budget and sticking to it proves its worth. We'll show you how to create a personal budget in Excel and learn to manage your money better.

1. Structuring Your Budget in Excel

Before we begin, make sure you gather all your financial information in one place. This includes your bills, bank statements, paychecks, tax forms, and everything else. This will be easier to do if you already have a habit of tracking your transactions.

Once you're ready, open a new Excel worksheet. Note that we're creating an annual budget from scratch in this guide, but you can find free templates if you want to expedite this process.

i. Create Headers for Income and Expenses in Your Excel Budget

The first step in structuring your budget is to create headers. Type the names of the months (January to December) in a row from cell C2 to N2, and type "TOTAL" in the O2 cell to sum up the annual figures. Next, we'll create an income section that lists all your earnings.

Type "INCOME" in the A3 cell. Then, starting from cell B3, list down your income sources like paycheck, bonus, interest, and gifts in a column, one below the other. At the end of the list, type "Other" for income obtained from miscellaneous sources, and type "TOTAL" in the cell below. Refer to the image below.

Income section in a personal Excel budget

The income section is made. Next, create the expenses section following a similar structure. Here, I strongly advise dividing your expenses into two separate sections: needs and wants. This allows you to budget for each separately and remain disciplined.

Also, if you're ever over budget, you can see whether it's because you are overspending on your wants or because the cost of living has increased due to inflation.

Type "NEEDS" in a cell in the A column below the income section, then list down expense categories such as rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities, and more. The needs section only includes expenses that are necessary for survival, honor an obligation, and are required for you to do your job effectively (and no, a new iPhone is not a need). Refer to the image below.

Income and needs sections in a personal Excel budget

Similarly, create the "WANTS" section. This is where you list down things like travel, shopping, and entertainment. Remember to type "Other" and "TOTAL" here as well. Finally, in column B, type "MONTHLY SAVINGS" below the three sections you just made. This is where your savings will surface once we start doing the math.

Needs, wants, and savings sections in a personal Excel budget

ii. Enter Your Income and Expenses Into Your Excel Budget

You've made the headers, now it's time to start filling up the cells with the appropriate values. Refer to your financial documents and enter your monthly income and expenses accordingly.

You can always create or remove categories later on as you see fit. Once done, your budget will start taking shape and should look like this:

Sample data for personal budget in Excel

iii. Find Remaining Balance and Insights in Your Excel Budget

You're almost done structuring your budget. The last step is to find your total monthly and annual income, expenses, and savings. To do that, we'll use two simple formulas. The first one is the SUM function , which helps you add up the values in a group of cells.

=SUM(range)

For example, to find out my total income in January, I will type "=SUM(C3:C9)" in the C10 cell. Similarly, I'll find my total income and expenses for all the months using this formula.

Totaling January income in personal Excel budget

Note that you might have fewer or more categories than the example I've shown here, so the cell range you choose in the formula will differ.

Use the same formula to find your total annual income and expenses as well. For example, to find out how much I spent on groceries in a year, I'll type "=SUM(C13:N13)" in the O13 cell. Once you've done all that, your budget should look like this:

Sample budget in Excel

Lastly, we'll calculate both monthly and annual savings. This is where we'll use the second formula. For me, my total income, the total amount spent on needs, and the total amount spent on wants in January are located in the C10, C21, and C31 cells respectively. So, to find my savings for January, I'll simply type "=C10-C21-C31" in the C32 cell.

Finding monthly savings in personal budget in Excel

Do the same for the entire row up until the end of the inputted data.

2. Make Your Budget Easy to Understand With Excel Tools

After you're done creating the headers, entering your financial data in the correct order, and finding your savings, the next step is to make your budget easy to understand at a glance.

This will help you save time and immediately get a visual indication of whether you're under or over budget. To do that, we'll do three things: create borders, use conditional formatting to spot overspending, and create a chart in Excel .

First, we'll create borders around the total values row and column in the income and expenses sections. This can be done by using the Borders button located in the Font section of the Home tab. Simply click on the Outline Borders option.

Creating borders in Excel budget

Once done, your budget should look like this:

Personal budget in Excel with income, needs, wants, and savings sections

i. Use Conditional Formatting to Spot Overspending in Your Excel Budget

Next, we use what's called conditional formatting in Excel . In a nutshell, it helps you identify values that you should pay attention to. For instance, it can highlight a particular cell when you've gone over budget.

Let's say you've decided not to spend more than $800 per month on your wants. To be notified of when this happens so you can take corrective actions, first select the cells in the TOTAL row in the wants section from January to December. Then, select Conditional Formatting in the Home tab and select Highlight Cells Rules > Greater Than... from the dropdown.

Using conditional formatting in personal budget in Excel

In the box that appears next, type "800" and click OK . Immediately, you'll notice that those months are highlighted where you spent more than $800 in total on your wants. Refer to the image below.

Spotting overspending in personal budget in Excel

Similarly, you can use conditional formatting in other sections to gather more insights as per your needs.

ii. Create Charts to Visualize the Data in Your Excel Budget

We'll be creating a simple bar chart for this example. To do that, we'll first create a dataset that's easily readable by Excel. Here, from cell Q2 to T2, write down "Income," "Needs," "Wants," and "Savings" as headings. Under each heading, type the total of that section. It should look something like this:

Now, to create the chart, select the whole dataset (from cell Q2 to T3), then go to the Insert tab at the top, and in the Charts section, click on the Bar Chart . Give the chart a title and resize it as you see fit. Once done, your budget should look like this:

Personal budget with chart in Excel

3. Set Savings Goals and Calculate a Deficit or Surplus in Your Excel Budget

The last step is to set savings goals and calculate your deficit or surplus against your actual savings. Instead of coming up with an arbitrary number, it's wiser to try to save a certain percentage of your monthly income. Experts usually recommend saving at least 20%, but let's say you want to target 30% instead.

To set a savings target, add a new row below Monthly Savings and label it "Savings Goal". Here, in the C33 cell, I'll type "=C10*0.3" to find 30% of my income in January. I'll do the same for the rest of the cells (including months) too. Remember, the appropriate cell location for you can vary, as discussed earlier.

Setting a savings goal in personal budget

Finally, we find a deficit or surplus. For that, create a new row under Savings Goal, titled "Deficit/Surplus Savings." Here, simply subtract your savings goal from your actual savings for each month. It'll look like this:

Finding deficit or surplus savings in personal budget in Excel

Use the same formula to find out your deficit or surplus savings for the rest of the months.

You've successfully created a personal budget in Excel. All that's left now is for you to track your transactions, update your budget, and adjust your spending accordingly.

Using the insights in your budget, you can figure out if you should cut back on your spending, or if you have some wiggle room for a new purchase.

Business growth

Business tips

21 project management templates to organize any workflow

Hero image with an icon of a Gantt chart for product roadmaps and project management

I recently went on a 20-hour road trip that involved stuffing three adults, two dogs, a baby, and two grandparents' worth of Christmas gifts into a Subaru Forester. 

While turning said compact SUV into Mary Poppins' handbag, I realized the only way to make it work was to abide by a structure I could replicate when we had to unload at hotels along the way.

That's what project management templates are to project managers: replicable systems of organization that keep everything efficiently structured.

If you're one of those people packing all those tasks and teams into a single, unified, potentially 4WD structure, these downloadable templates should help you set a workflow foundation.

What are project management templates?

In our case, these are shareable spreadsheets that can be customized and inserted into processes across various project types. They give people (you) effective starting places for building out repetitive processes, so you don't have to start from scratch every time. 

While project managers in particular may use them most, other team leads could find them useful for iterative processes within HR, financial, sales, and marketing teams.

Project management template example

To illustrate, here's an example of a project management template in action:

A marketing executive for a software company uses a project plan template to start every new campaign proposal. This template summarizes the goals, tasks, timelines, and budget, so they can submit a structured proposal to get approval from stakeholders before kicking off the campaign.

Project management planning templates

These project management planning templates can be used for a wide range of project types. Use these for basic plan proposals, briefs, organization, and even management role descriptions.

1. Project management template

 Mockup showcasing Zapier's project management template

That's it; the search is over. If you're looking for a one-stop project management template, you can probably just stop here. This baby has it all: project names, color-coded priority markers, description fields, deliverable timelines and progress, and hour tracking. 

Best for: Effectively organizing multiple projects in one place

2. Project plan template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project plan template

For those who like to apply a little structure to new projects (generally a key characteristic of most project managers), this project plan template has you covered. Designed for general use, it's got fields for overall timelines, individual task timelines, goals, and resource expense tracking. 

Best for: Showing what you plan to do, how long it'll take, and how much it'll cost

3. Gantt chart project plan template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's Gantt chart template

If Gantt is your chart of choice, this is the template for you. This project scheduling spreadsheet visualizes your project, so you can easily see where tasks and phases stand at a glance. Just fill it in with your dates and task names, update the dates, and let the spreadsheet do the rest of the heavy lifting.

Best for: Visually tracking project progress and timelines

4. Project proposal template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project proposal template

For those who need a more formal, standardized method of kicking off projects, a template for a project proposal makes sense. By clearly laying out your project's timelines, budget, purpose, methodologies, and risks, you can help ensure stakeholder buy-in is—like the plastic topper holding suitcases and baby toys on top of a Subaru—secured.

Best for: Outlining project concepts for early buy-in

5. Business project proposal template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's business project proposal template

If you need a slightly less detailed project proposal for business use cases, this document should help. This simpler version of our project proposal template includes fields for an executive summary, multiple goals, a task roadmap, a schedule, a budget, and necessary resources.

Best for: Simplified project proposals for business use cases

6. Project brief template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project brief template

Whether you need a document to submit a project for approval or just like the clarity of starting projects with a concise summary, a project brief covers your bases. This simple project management template has only a few fields that give a very basic, high-level overview of a project that's either under consideration or underway.

Best for: Succinctly summarizing an upcoming or in-progress project

7. Agile feature rollout Kanban board template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's agile feature rollout template

Agile teams are their own animal, and they get their own Kanban board template to match. This highly detailed spreadsheet even has drag-and-drop functionality to mirror typical Kanban software functionality as projects progress through feature rollout phases. To use this one, check out more detailed spreadsheet DIY instructions .

Best for: Agile teams with structured feature rollouts

8. Construction project template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's construction project template

If you're looking to plan a construction project, try this template. A variation on the general project management spreadsheet, this one has simplified fields for timelines with day totals, cost estimates, and customizable dropdowns for assigning tasks to relevant contractors and personnel.

Best for: Planning projects in construction or with multiple contractors

9. Project manager planner template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project manager planner template

For team leads looking to lasso multiple projects and team members into a single, easy-to-review document, this project manager planner template could be your rope. (Pardon the rodeo metaphor—I come from a cow town.) This simple template can be organized by filters, like task, date, assignee, and project status, to give you an instant look at who's doing what, when, and for how long. 

Then, fill in the assignee block as you go to keep track of utilization by period. I recommend using this as a recurring template with a structured timeline: start it fresh by week, month, sprint, or project.

Best for: Organizing tasks and tracking team member utilization

Budgeting and financial templates

Though some of the project management planning templates above include fields for projecting budgets, they may not allow for the kind of granularity you need for more detailed budgeting or expense reporting. That's where these come in.

10. Project budget allocation template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project budget allocation template

For a more detailed look at the likely costs of executing a project, you'll need a project budget allocation template. This form is dedicated solely to communicating the estimated costs and allocated amounts for specific items within a project to give all stakeholders a more transparent financial picture.

Best for: Calculating and communicating budgets for specific items in a project

11. Resource management project plan template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's resource management template

When you're planning a project, you also need to plan for expenses. This resource management plan template can serve as your one-stop shop for all things project budget so you can break resources down into quantities and estimates.

Best for: Detailed estimates for individual resources

12. Timesheet template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's timesheet template

Most of these templates are for bigger-picture planning and documentation from the manager's perspective, but managers are just one piece of the project puzzle. This timesheet template should help your team members track the time they spend working on a daily basis.

Best for: Tracking individual working time

13. Timesheet invoice template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's timesheet invoice template

While the timesheet template is designed for general clocking in and out, this invoice is perfect for drilling into individuals' time spent on specific tasks, so you can stay on top of—and ideally under—budgets.

Best for: Individual time and cost logging by task

14. Project-based invoice template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's project-based invoice template

If you want your teams to submit time and incurred costs on completed projects and tasks without having to clock in and out manually, a simpler project-based invoice template is probably more your speed. 

Best for: Reporting the costs of completed projects and tasks

Sales and marketing templates

All the templates up to this point should be great options for generalists, but sales and marketing projects tend to have their own unique workflows. These templates may not apply to all project managers, but they should help sales and marketing managers and team leads stay on top of their projects.

15. Sales dashboard template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's sales dashboard template

As your completed projects stack up, it'll be worth your while to see how those projects are performing. This—quite frankly, very impressive—sales dashboard spreadsheet gives you a high-level, real-time view of individualized performance by team member. While it's geared toward sales performance tracking, it can also be formatted to show accrued expenses by individual, project, or team.

Best for: Visualizing accrued revenues or expenses

16. Social media calendar template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's social media calendar template

Take it from someone who gets anxious at the thought of social media posting: social media can be complicated. But it doesn't have to be if you use this calendar template to help align teams on content scheduling. This should help you get a clear picture of upcoming holidays and track posting patterns, so you can maximize your efforts with less anxiety. (I'll stick to making drafts and then deleting them.)

Best for: Organizing social media content schedules

17. Content calendar template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's content calendar template

If your content marketing operation tends toward robusticity, this is the template you didn't know you've been waiting for (and probably the last occasion I'll ever have for using the word "robusticity"). Use this template to keep all your content ducks in a row, whether you're recording podcasts, filming ads, writing blog posts, or even just hiring someone to do all the above for you.

Best for: Organizing content-related tasks and timelines

18. Marketing project proposal template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's marketing project proposal template

Sure, all project proposals have the same basic foundation: goals, timelines, projected expenses, slick color-coding, etc. But this marketing-specific project proposal template is specially formulated to help marketing team leads get buy-in, so they can prove the impact and import of their impending campaign.

Best for: Securing buy-in for marketing projects

19. Sales project proposal template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's sales project proposal template

Designed to flexibly include either B2C or B2B use cases, this sales-oriented project proposal template will help sales team leads prove viable ROI for their initiatives. Fill it out with pain points, timelines, and descriptions to show this sales project is worthwhile for all parties involved.

Best for: Outlining sales proposals with quotes

20. Marketing communication plan

Mockup showcasing Zapier's marketing communication plan template

Every great marketing campaign starts with one thing (along with money, personnel, time, software…): a plan. This communication plan template will set you up for success with an easy-to-follow reference document that aligns all team members on dates, projects, and contacts.

Best for: Creating a simple reference for aligning marketing teams

21. Annual marketing strategy calendar template

Mockup showcasing Zapier's annual marketing strategy calendar template

For those marketing team leads who like to think ahead—so, all marketing team leads—an easily editable calendar is your best friend. This spreadsheet is separated by tab to help you organize campaign timelines, project start and end dates, and relevant milestones, so you can ensure all projects line up with greater team goals and availability.

Best for: Organizing high-level annual strategy

Benefits of using a project management template

Can you manage a project without a template? Sure. But you can also try to cook Julia Child's coq au vin on your own—or you could just use her recipe.

The obvious reason for using any template is simplicity, but there's a lot more to gain than just time and effort. Here's why you should consider using a project management template like one of the above:

Workflow standardization: Incorporating standardized templates into workflows ensures all stakeholders know what to expect and keeps procedures consistent.

Scalability: As shareable and iterable assets, templates scale easily and ensure processes stay standardized as teams grow.

Improved organization: When you use templates with preset fields, you know every document is labeled, searchable, and includes the information you expect.

Transparency: With clearly outlined timelines, budgets, tasks, resources, and workflows, templates give everyone a clear idea of what's entailed in each element of their unique processes.

Automation: The best thing about templates is that they can be integrated with automation triggers, so they can be shared, filled, and delivered automatically.

Automating your project management templates

Now that you've got a truckload (compact-SUV-load doesn't quite have the same ring) of project management templates at your disposal, you can make them even more powerful with automation.

You can use Zapier to create no-code automations, so your Google Sheet template can talk to all the other apps you use. Here are some examples to get you started, but you can connect Google Sheets to thousands of other apps with Zapier.

Send emails via Gmail when Google Sheets rows are updated

Google Sheets logo

Send Slack messages whenever Google Sheets rows are updated

Slack logo

Or you can use Zapier's simple project plan template to keep track of everything in one app.

Zapier is a no-code automation tool that lets you connect your apps into automated workflows, so that every person and every business can move forward at growth speed. Learn more about how it works .

Templates alone can be hugely helpful when managing projects. But when you add automation to the mix, you can make them even more powerful, creating more structured workflows that seamlessly incorporate the tools your team depends on.

Related reading:

The best free project management software

How project management automation makes your job easier

How to streamline project management with automation and AI

How to make the most of your project management software

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Bryce Emley

Currently based in Albuquerque, NM, Bryce Emley holds an MFA in Creative Writing from NC State and nearly a decade of writing and editing experience. His work has been published in magazines including The Atlantic, Boston Review, Salon, and Modern Farmer and has received a regional Emmy and awards from venues including Narrative, Wesleyan University, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and the Pablo Neruda Prize. When he isn’t writing content, poetry, or creative nonfiction, he enjoys traveling, baking, playing music, reliving his barista days in his own kitchen, camping, and being bad at carpentry.

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IMAGES

  1. Excel Business Plan Template

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  2. Business Plan: How to Create Great Financial Plans in Excel

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  3. How to Make Business Plan In Excel

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  5. Excel Business Plan Template

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COMMENTS

  1. Free Business Plan Templates in Excel

    Business Planning Checklist with Timeline in Excel. Use this checklist to keep your business planning efforts on track. This template enables you to add tasks according to each phase of your plan, assign an owner to each task, and enter the respective start and end dates. The checklist also enables you to create and color-code a visual timeline ...

  2. Create a business plan

    Start with a template. Download these templates from the Office Templates site to create your plan: Fill in your Business plan. Analyze your market with the Business market analysis template. Detail your financials in a Financial plan. Divide up the work and track deliverables with this Business plan checklist.

  3. How to Create a Business Plan using Excel

    This is the first of a series of videos that will show you how to create the financials of a business plan using Microsoft excel Create a bookkeeping spreads...

  4. Free Business Plan Excel Template [Excel Download]

    Download the template here: Business Plan Excel Template. The template is easy to customize according to your specific business needs. Simply input your own financial data and projections, and use it as a guide to create a comprehensive financial plan for your business. Remember to review and update your financial plan regularly to track your ...

  5. How to Write a Simple Business Plan

    That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks: Product goals and deadlines for each month. Monthly financials for the first two years. Profit and loss statements for the first three to five years. Balance sheet projections for the first three to five years. Startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses all create ...

  6. 10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

    7. ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template. ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template. The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality.

  7. Business Plan: How to Create Great Financial Plans in Excel

    Structure of worksheets: Make sure that most worksheets are set up with the same structure. For example, start with a headline in cell B2, years starting in column H, content in row 10. Layout / format of cells: Make sure you use a consistent formatting. For example, Excel provides cell styles - use them.

  8. Business Plan Financial Templates

    This financial plan projections template comes as a set of pro forma templates designed to help startups. The template set includes a 12-month profit and loss statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement for you to detail the current and projected financial position of a business. Download Startup Financial Projections Template.

  9. Excel Business Plan Template

    We can select the template as per our needs. To open a third-party template, click Open > Browse and select the template we downloaded from a source. Let us suppose we have selected a business template from the inbuilt templates. We'll click on "create" to make the template ready. Now, the template is ready for use.

  10. 33 Excel Templates for Business to Improve Your Efficiency

    These handy Excel templates will save you precious time when creating business documents. 1. Timeline template. Time is a resource that can't be gained back, which is why it's essential to track it. This timeline template by Vertex42 gives you an overview of the milestones and events that team members should be aware of. 2.

  11. Free Excel Hacks and Templates for New Business Owners

    Each item should be entered into its own cell in an Excel sheet. Select the cell where you want the dropdown to appear. Click the Data tab and then the Data Validation button. In the Allow field, select List. In the source field, click the small icon and select the list of values for the dropdown. Press OK.

  12. Free Business Plan Template for Excel

    Excel is a powerful tool for complex calculations and analyses; let's use it for that only. So, we'll use this business plan Excel template only to perform complex financial analyses and calculations—to prepare financial projections. Following are the critical components of a good business plan template you must include in your financial ...

  13. 14 Best Excel Templates for Business in 2024 (Free & Premium)

    5. Inventory and Sales Tracking Template. Managing inventory and tracking sales is crucial for businesses, especially those in retail or e-commerce. The Inventory and Sales Tracking Excel template streamlines inventory management, allowing you to efficiently track stock levels, sales, and product performance.

  14. Writing and Formatting a Successful Business Plan

    Use a digital writing assistant like Microsoft Editor to help spot these mistakes, along with any slips in the formal tone that a business plan requires. Keep It Real: Avoid exaggeration, whether it's in your sales projections, market opportunity, or elsewhere. Creating a successful business plan requires pulling together a lot of disparate ...

  15. Download free Sample Business Plan template in Excel

    Download the Template: Start by downloading our free Business Plan Excel template. Input Your Data: Enter your business data into each sheet. Each section comes with clear instructions on what information is needed. Analyze and Plan: Use the data you've entered to analyze your current business situation, make projections, and develop ...

  16. Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

    Whether you want to launch a side gig, a solo operation or a small business, you need a simple business plan template to guide you. Forbes Advisor offers you a comprehensive and easy-to-follow ...

  17. Business Plan Design Templates

    Powerful business plan templates. Plan for the future, no matter what your business plans are or the size of your business with these designs and templates. Whether it's just one big project or an entire organization's worth of dreams, these templates will keep you and your company on track from ideation to completion. Category.

  18. How to Prepare a Business Plan with Excel

    Abstract and Figures. A business plan is a formal accounting statement which numerically describes a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the strategic plan and ...

  19. Business Plan 101 Explained by Excel Made Easy

    Help needed to create a business plan and a business model using our business model canvas template. Starting a company on your own, creating value for you, your family and the world is a totally recommendable thing to do. The world has been made by people like you. Entrepreneurs. Self-Made Men, Creators, Builders people that believed an obstacle is just another great challenge to overcome, to ...

  20. Business Budget Template for Excel

    Description. This worksheet is a variant of the above business budget, with sales and business expenses broken down by month. This is helpful for budgeting quarterly expenses and other business expenses that occur at specific times of the year. The Goods worksheet lets you record sales and cost of goods sold for multiple products.

  21. Business Plan excel template

    Using an excel template to generate financials for a business plan

  22. How to Create a Project Timeline in Excel (Free Template Included)

    Select all values in the "Start (Date)" column and then insert a stacked bar chart following these steps: Click on the "Insert" tab at the top left corner of your screen. Click the chart icon. Select the stacked bar chart. 4. Select Data for Your Excel Project Timeline Gantt Chart.

  23. How to Make Business Plan In Excel

    #BusinessplanDownload Format : https://drive.google.com/file/d/15OO1xQj-1kntadJzXIo7rOVz8Ae7YBZp/view?usp=sharingLatest Sale Purchase Accounting Sheet : htt...

  24. Top Project Plan Templates for Excel

    From the Home tab, click Create and choose Browse All Solutions. Type " Project with Gantt Timeline " in the Search box or select Projects from the category list. Click on the Project with Gantt Timeline tile, then click the blue Use button. Name your template, choose where to save it, and click the Ok button.

  25. Action Plan Template for Excel, Word, Google Docs, Google Sheets

    The template is available for download in Excel and Microsoft Word or accessible in Google Sheets and Google Docs. In the Google Sheets and Excel files, our action plan template includes a task summary section that automatically counts completed, uncompleted, and overdue tasks. Our action plan template also allows you to easily insert your logo ...

  26. How to Create a Budget in Excel and Understand Your Spending

    The first step in structuring your budget is to create headers. Type the names of the months (January to December) in a row from cell C2 to N2, and type "TOTAL" in the O2 cell to sum up the annual figures. Next, we'll create an income section that lists all your earnings. Type "INCOME" in the A3 cell.

  27. 21 project management templates

    12. Timesheet template. Make a copy. Most of these templates are for bigger-picture planning and documentation from the manager's perspective, but managers are just one piece of the project puzzle. This timesheet template should help your team members track the time they spend working on a daily basis.

  28. Manage your Microsoft 365 subscription or Office product

    Follow the prompts to install or reinstall the desktop apps. For Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscriptions: Select Install premium Microsoft 365 apps and follow the prompts to install or reinstall the desktop apps. On the Microsoft 365 subscription tab, select Manage. From here you can: Renew your subscription with a prepaid code or card.