Cash Flow Statement Template for Excel and Google Sheets

A cash flow statement template gives you a repeatable structure for tracking where your cash comes from and where it goes each month. The layout below uses the indirect method, can be built in Excel or Google Sheets in a few minutes, and fits the routine described in our guide to cash flow management. Copy the structure, enter your figures and let the formulas do the rest.

What the template contains

The layout has five blocks: operating activities, investing activities, financing activities, a reconciliation to your bank balance, and a few checks. Columns run across the months.

The formulas

Place the month in column B and copy the formulas across. These work in both Excel and Google Sheets.

B10  =SUM(B3:B9)
B14  =SUM(B12:B13)
B20  =SUM(B16:B19)
B22  =B10+B14+B20
B23  =A24        (for the first month, enter your opening cash)
B24  =B23+B22
B26  =B24-B25

In the first month, type opening cash in B23. From the second month onward, the beginning cash in column C is the previous month's ending cash, so C23 is =B24.

A sample month

Here is how the template looks with illustrative numbers for one month.

Check: 18,000 + 2,500 - 9,000 - 6,500 - 500 + 5,000 + 1,500 = 11,000. Then 11,000 - 4,000 - 5,000 = 2,000. This business earned $18,000 but converted only $11,000 into operating cash, because receivables and inventory grew.

How to fill it in each month

1. Close the month's books. The template is only as good as the accounts behind it.
2. Enter net income and depreciation from the income statement.
3. Calculate working capital changes by subtracting last month's balance from this month's for each account. Enter increases in assets as negatives and increases in liabilities as positives.
4. Enter investing and financing items from the bank and loan records.
5. Check the difference row. If row 26 is not zero, find the missing item before moving on.
6. Add a short note for any unusual number, so next month's reader understands.

The logic behind each step is explained in how to prepare a cash flow statement, and a full interpretation of a finished statement is in a line-by-line cash flow statement example.

Customizing the template

• Add rows for items specific to your business, such as customer deposits, sales tax payable or deferred revenue.
• Add a trailing twelve-month column that sums the last twelve months, to smooth seasonality.
• Add ratio rows below the statement: operating cash flow divided by net income, and free cash flow (operating cash flow minus equipment purchases).
• Use conditional formatting to highlight negative operating cash flow or a nonzero difference.
• Separate entities on separate tabs if you operate more than one company, with a consolidation tab.

Mistakes to avoid

• Entering a receivables increase as a positive number. Increases in assets reduce cash.
• Forgetting to carry forward ending cash. Link the cells rather than retyping.
• Mixing principal and interest. Principal belongs in financing, and interest is already in net income.
• Leaving the bank reconciliation blank. It is the control that proves the statement.

Want a version set up for your business?

This page shows the structure so you can build it yourself in a few minutes. If you would like a working version set up with your own categories, a rolling 13-week forecast alongside it, and a short walkthrough of what the numbers show, get in touch and we will help. For companies that carry inventory, we can also link the statement to your purchasing plan, which is where much of the cash movement originates, as discussed in demand planning and inventory optimization.

To understand what the numbers mean once your template is populated, read what cash flow is and cash flow vs. profit.