Before we start, it’s important to know that if you’re new to bookkeeping and finance resources, you need to understand what these resources are used for. Most of the options listed below provide some information about what the templates are for, but it’s always worth doing your research first to make sure you’re looking for the correct template to help with the task at hand. Most Excel accounting templates offer similar functions, but some do more than others. 

Depending on your business needs, your company may require a template that can easily track bank accounts, debit, and credit cards. In other cases, you may require an Excel workbook template for bank reconciliation efforts, cash flow statements, net income calculations, expense reports, and more. 

For example, you may need a Google Sheets or Microsoft Office Excel template for: 

• Income statements templates
• Balance sheet templates 
• Cash flow templates  
• Invoice templates 
• Budget templates 
• Chart of accounts templates 
• Accounts receivable and accounts payable templates 
• Asset and liability templates 
• Other types of templates for financial reports, financial statements, business transactions, and more. 

Having understood what the needs and requirements for differing template types are, the following resources allow you to download basic templates suitable for each of them.

1. Smartsheet

Smartsheet’s list of Excel spreadsheets is all you need to get started. They have researched the best Microsoft Excel accounting templates out there and included them in a list ready for downloading. They are divided into categories by purpose, making it easy to get an overview and select the exact template you need. They provide free downloadable templates for a wide variety of use cases, and also have an option to invest in dynamic integration solutions to further suit your Excel template needs.

2. Business Accounting Basics

Business Accounting Basics offer 16 free Excel bookkeeping templates for many purposes. The list is not as long as some of the others, but it does cover all the bases you need to get started. Resources include petty cash, cash book, business expenses, sales invoice and balance sheet. It’s an excellent resource if your needs are not complex. Business Accounting Basics also offer free bookkeeping software through various free trials, in order to test and see what would suit more complicated needs for your organization.

3. ExcelDataPro

ExcelDataPro keeps you on track with your finances and helps you manage your invoices, profit and loss statements, generate salary slips, prepare balance sheet, track accounts payable and receivable etc. They have a large number of templates, include options to include charts and other types of data visualization, and on top of this offer a suggestion form for if your needs are not being met by the contentthey have available. Their website also includes information such as glossaries, FAQs and a blog, so it’s a resource which can answer many of the questions you may have around needs and types.

4. Beginner bookkeeping

Beginner-bookkeeping.com is a great resource for finding your basic Excel accounting templates along with useful information about how and where they should be used – for example, what is a cash flow form and how do you use it?

Designed with a beginner and small business focus in mind, they also provide content which clearly talks through the basics of creating documents from these templates, and explains how the results are calculated. Their templates open in Excel but also function in OpenOffice, which is a free alternative to Excel, making it an excellent choice for smaller businesses who are limited in the number of software subscriptions they possess.

5. Themeforest

If you want to crank it up a notch and invest in a low-priced online bookkeeping system with access to more resources than just Excel spreadsheet templates, try looking at Themeforest’s list of accounting systems available online for a small cost. Themeforest provide templates for a wide variety of content types, from CMS website templates to blogger templates and and eCommerce templates. Naturally, they also include spreadsheet templates. Themeforest mainly focus on the visual elements of what can be provided, so they are excellent for ensuring correct colors and themes, but the functionality of accounting templates they offer is not as broad as some of the other options.