A free balance sheet template that makes it easy to collect day-to-day data through easy and quick inputs. A perfect simple free balance sheet for startups or small businesses - compatible with excel and google sheets. Download our free balance sheet template today!
This balance sheet template, which works with both Excel and Google Sheets, is an easy-to-use tool that collects your data inputs through simple questions and then automatically generates your balance sheet for you! Plus it will tell you when it balances or if it doesn't. To make things even easier, we have created a step-by-step video guide that shows you exactly how to make a balance sheet so you aren't left with any confusion!
***A link to the template will appear here after you complete the form
Using this Excel and Google sheets balance sheet template you can generate a ready to use balance by just punching in your data as answers to the questions on the input tab
Perfect for use as a small business balance sheet applying for a loan or just trying to review finances.
1. Format Your Balance Sheet – The first thing you need to do is format your balance sheet. In the simplest form all you need to remember with your Balance Sheet is that Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity. You can see the basic line items that make up a balance sheet in the image below.
2. Enter Starting Balances – The first thing you need to do is enter starting balances. I am going to show you an example of a fictitious business called Adam’s Lawn Care. When I started the business my balance sheet was pretty empty as you can see below. All I had was a bit of cash in the bank, a lawnmower, and some “Paid in Capital” which was my personal investment into the company to purchase the lawnmower initially.
You can also see that the $4,500 in cash that I have also shows up in the Paid in Capital section as my investment into the company.
3. How Sales Impact the Balance Sheet
So the next thing that will hopefully happen with the business is SALES! So let’s assume I get a contract with 5 local businesses to mow their grounds. I will do the work, and then invoice the company and expect to get paid in 30 days. Let’s say that I charge each company $1,000 for the first month of work, so I would have $5,000 in sales, but the day after I invoice that does not show up as cash on the balance sheet yet. Instead it shows up as Accounts Receivable.
4. How Expenses Impact the Balance Sheet
In the process of generating those sales I will have some expenses like fuel, oil, meals, etc. Let’s assume that I have $1,000 worth of expenses half of which I paid with cash, and the other half I paid with a credit card. So let’s see how that changes my balance sheet.
Now you will also notice above that Retained Earnings went up to $4,000. Retained earnings is all of your cumulative net profit or net loss. So as of right now I have $5,000 in income and only $1,000 in expenses so I have a $4,000 net income that flows through to retained earnings on the balance sheet.
5. How Does a New Loan Impact the Balance Sheet
Finally I want to show you how the balance sheet changes when I buy a small office for my business. I had to get a loan from the bank to purchase the building, so my liabilities increase by the loan amount of $75,000, and my assets increase by the price of the building, $75,000.
I hope this has been helpful to see how different transactions impact the balance sheet. As you are creating your own financial model, just remember that each transaction that impacts an asset, must impact a liability or equity account equally so that you always stay balanced.
A balance sheet is a financial statement that reports a company’s assets, liabilities and equity at a specific point in time.
Yes. You should be able to easily convert this Excel template into a Google Sheets based balance sheet template.
A balance sheet will show you the assets, liabilities and equity of a company. The assets are at the top of the balance sheet, followed by the liabilities and finally the equity section at the bottom. Your total assets should equal your total liabilities plus your equity.
Retained earnings is the cumulative net income over the life of the company. So for example, if you have been in business 10 years and had a net income of $100,000 per year, your retained earnings would be 10 x $100,000 = $1,000,000.
Goodwill on the balance sheet is created when your company acquires another company for more than the net asset value of the company. So for example, let’s say that you acquire a company for $1 million, but the net asset value of that company is only $700,000. That would mean that $300,000 of the value of the company is goodwill. Watch our video on how to calculate goodwill for an acquisition.
An opening balance sheet is the balance sheet at the beginning of a period. For example, if you are asked to provide an opening balance sheet for the beginning of the year, you just need to provide the historic balance sheet as of the first day of the year. If you are asked for an opening balance sheet for some day in the future, you will need to create a projected balance sheet.
A projected balance sheet is simply a balance sheet for some date in the future. If you are asked to provide a projected balance sheet for a business that you have not started yet, then you probably just need our startup balance sheet template which helps you produce a projected balance sheet as of day 1 of your startup. If you need to provide a projected balance sheet for an operating business, then you will need to create a full set of financial projections. A projected balance sheet works together with a projected income statement and cash flow projection, so you will likely need one of our 70+ projected financial models which will include up to 5 years of a projected balance sheet. Read our balance sheet forecasting guide for more details.
A pro forma balance sheet is a synonym for a projected balance sheet. It means you need to provide a balance sheet as of some date in the future.
A balance sheet forecast is a synonym for a projected balance sheet. It means you need to provide a balance sheet as of some specific date in the future. In order to create a forecasted balance sheet you will also need to create projections for your income statement and cash flow statement as well.
A common size balance sheet is a balance sheet that displays both the value of each asset, liability and equity line item, and the relative percentage of each line item.
In order to calculate a common size balance sheet, you will first need to fill out a balance sheet template, then take each asset line item and divide by total assets to come up with the relative percentage that each asset line item represents of total assets. Then you will need to do the same with each liability and equity line item. Take each liability line item and divide by total liabilities and equity to come up with the relative percentage for each line item.
You can see an example of a common size balance sheet below. Notice the column with the relative percentages for each line item.
The value of a common size balance sheet is that you can compare it to other companies that are much larger or smaller. For example, even though Apple's balance sheet might have many more zeros behind each line item, once you convert their balance sheet into percentages, you can compare to see if you have the same relative current liabilities as Apple does.
Fortunately, there is no real difference between a self employed balance sheet and a balance sheet for a larger business. You will still need to enter in your assets, liabilities, and equity investment into our balance sheet template. One challenge for a self employed balance sheet is that you will need to only enter in the assets and liabilities that are directly related to the business. This is a good reason to have a separate bank account for your business so that you know what cash should belong to the business and be added to the self employed balance sheet. You should also have a separate credit card for the business instead of using a personal credit card so that you know what amount of debt should belong to the business, and ultimately be added to your balance sheet.
Here is a list of common categories on the balance sheet:
Current Assets
Fixed Assets
Other Assets
Current Liabilities
Long-term debt
The most common asset categories to be listed on a balance sheet are:
The most common liabilities on a balance sheet are:
Current Liabilities
Long-term debt
To fill out a balance sheet you must enter in all of your current assets and liabilities along with owner’ equity onto a balance sheet template.
Below you will find an example balance sheet:
