Income statement template in Excel (2024)

In the world of financial reporting, there are three main financial statements to consider. One of them is the income statement, alongside the cash flow statement and the balance sheet. This blog post shows how to set-up your own template to generate income statement automatically. Nowadays, companies do not need specialist software or external accounting to keep track of financial data.

An income statement, also called an operating expenses statement, summarizes your company’s revenue and expenses over a specific period of time. Additionally, organizations use it to secure investments and calculate taxes. Moreover, an income statement gives managers and investors a clear overview of a company’s financial situation. Learn how to use your own data and set up an in-house income statement template with spreadsheets.

Why use Excel to generate income statements?

• Flexible: Google Sheets lets you manage and analyze your financial data in the way that suits your business. Whenever you need to change the system you can simply adapt the spreadsheets — without accounting software or IT support.
• Accessible: Because Excel can be stored online, your accountants or admin staff can access and transfer their data at any time, from their phone or laptop.
• Compatible with everything: Every piece of software on the planet integrates with Excel. This means that if your company has data in other programs, you can easily import that information straight into Excel.
• Easy to use: Most people in your company probably already use spreadsheets and Excel is user-friendly for beginners. As a result, the system is easy to maintain and onboarding your team is quick and simple.

How to get started

Sheetgo’s spreadsheet-based template is ideal for anybody looking for a way to convert real-time income and expenses data into an automatically generated monthly income statement.

On top of that, it includes a pre-built dashboard outlining the company’s income and expenses. No matter the size of the organization, this income statement template in Excel allows teams to easily collect and share financial data.

What is an Excel-based workflow template?

Instead of providing you with a single file containing charts and formulas, Sheetgo’s income statement template gives you a complete system. The workflow consists of separate Excel files that exchange data between them automatically.

By having separate spreadsheets, each employee can manage their work privately. This way, you do not have to worry about slow spreadsheets caused by multiple people working in the same file. Besides, your data remains private and secure.

• Organization and data privacy: Each file is dedicated to one task, for better data protection and accuracy. Instead of working in a large shared spreadsheet, colleagues record financial data in their own personal spreadsheet. Sheetgo connections export this data to the manager’s master sheet automatically.
• Scalability: You can build upon your Excel-based system as your company grows. It’s easy to expand the workflow by connecting more spreadsheets, without redesigning the system or switching to a new solution.
• Integration: Excel is compatible with everything, so accountants and managers can easily import and combine data from other software packages. In a couple of clicks, you can connect data from Operations, Sales, or other company workflows to create an integrated financial management system.

What you get with this template

When you install the Sheetgo income statement template, three Microsoft Excel files with pre-built Sheetgo connections are saved to your OneDrive, SharePoint or Dropbox account:

1. One Expenses Inputs spreadsheet, to be shared with the person(s) responsible for payments. Some examples of expenses are taxes, purchases, salaries, and other outgoings.
2. One Income Inputs spreadsheet, to be shared with the person(s) responsible for processing invoices. The person responsible for this spreadsheet logs any money the company receives.
3. One Automated Income Statement master sheet, for the CFO, accountant, or administrator. This master sheet includes an automated income statement, an expenses report and an income report.

How to install the Sheetgo Excel income statement template

Click the blue button below to sign up for Sheetgo and install its income statement workflow template:

1. Login to Sheetgo with your Google, Microsoft, or Dropbox account.
2. Click Install template and choose your preferred platform to store your copy of the template.
3. Please allow a few moments as Sheetgo creates the connections and saves a copy of the template files to your chosen storage.

How to use the income statement template in Excel

Once you’ve installed the template, start by opening the Income statement master sheet from inside the Sheetgo web app.

In this sheet, find an automated overview of net operating income per month, your gross margin, expenses, and more.

Choose to either use the template online or use the Excel Desktop App.

Step 1: Set up the master sheet

• In the Instructions tab of the Income statement master sheet, choose which year you want to analyze.

Step 2: Configure the Income Inputs sheet

• Go back to the Sheetgo web app with the Income Statement workflow and open the Income Inputs sheet by double-clicking it.

Your colleague(s) responsible for processing invoices use this file to enter the company income.

This template contains sample data to give you an idea of how it works. Simply delete or replace this with your own finances.

Another option is to connect your existing finance spreadsheets to this workflow with Sheetgo connections.

• Click the Instructions tab on the left and enter the year you wish to analyze.
• Share this spreadsheet with your accountant or the person responsible for processing invoices and income.
• Click the Share button on the top right side of your screen.

Once your colleagues start entering data in the Income tab, the template creates automated income reports in the Accrual Mapping and Summary per Month tabs automatically.

Step 3: Configure the Expenses Inputs sheet

Now that you have successfully set up and shared the Income Inputs spreadsheet, do the same for the Expenses Input sheet.

• Go back to the Sheetgo web app with theIncome statement workflow and double-click the Expenses Input file to open it in a new tab.

Similar to the Income Inputs file, the Expenses tab contains sample data that you can delete or overwrite. The template uses the data in the Expenses tab to automate an Expenses report in the Summary per Month tab.

Share this spreadsheet with the person responsible for making payments in your company. Do so by clicking the Share button on the top right side of your screen.

Step 4: Transfer the data

After you have shared the Income inputs and Expenses inputs sheets with your colleagues and they are entering their data, bring that data back to the Automated Income Statement master sheet by updating your workflow.

• First, go to the tab with the main Income statement workflow and then click Run in the menu bar.

Sheetgo now updates both the connections (Income inputs & Expenses inputs) whilst pulling that data to the Automated Income Statement master sheet. Moreover, the template generates an automated Income report, Expense report, and an Income statement.

Step 5: Automate your workflow

Save yourself and your colleagues valuable time by scheduling automatic transfers. As a result, the template runs automatically on specific moments you select. Automation ensures that your Income Statement and Expenses/Income reports always contain the latest data from the Input spreadsheets.

• Go to the tab with the main Income statement workflow and click Automate in the menu bar.

UnderSchedule settings,

• Firstly slide the bar to the right to enable automatic updates.
• Secondly, select how frequently you want Sheetgo to transfer the data.

You have many options here and can choose to transfer multiple times a day, once a day or once a month. Next, select your preferred time window and your time zone.

You are able to see how many transfers per month your selection will approximately amount to at the bottom of the settings tab.

• Finally, save your changes when ready and your workflow will now automatically transfer.

All done!

Congratulations on setting up your Automated Income Statement!

If you want to further customize the template or have any questions, do not hesitate to book a call with our automation experts.