Vertex42 Money Manager 2.1: INSTRUCTIONS - For Excel 2010 or Later
Vertex42 Money Manager 2.1: INSTRUCTIONS - For Excel 2010 or Later
Vertex42 Money Manager 2.1: INSTRUCTIONS - For Excel 2010 or Later
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Introduction
The Vertex42® Money Manager can be a fairly simple money management tool. Like most
spreadsheet applications, you should know that spreadsheets are error-prone. It is easy to
make mistakes, accidentally delete things that should not be deleted, forget to copy formulas,
etc. If you are comfortable using Excel, know how to identify and fix formulas when needed,
understand how to use basic row operations (delete, copy, inserted copied rows, etc.), are
okay with the level of risk you take on by using a spreadsheet, and follow the instructions
and guidelines, you should find this spreadsheet very useful.
General Tips
- Edit cells with a gray border:
- Some of the labels include cell comments (marked with little red triangles) to provide
extra help information.
- You can add your own cell comments! This is especially useful in the Budget worksheet,
where you can create notes to explain irregular or variable expenses.
- If you see "#####" in a cell, widen the COLUMN to display the cell contents.
- This workbook uses a lot of conditional formatting. Look up "conditional formatting" online
or in the help system to learn how it works.
- You can add a limited amount of security by password protecting your workbook, but that
can be easily bypassed by anyone with malicious intent. The security of your data is your
responsibility.
- Backup your file regularly to avoid losing data! Excel files DO get corrupted occasionally.
TIP: If you start each account name with a different letter, Excel's autocomplete feature
will make entering the account much faster for you.
Goals: The account list includes a place to list a Goal and the % column shows your progress
towards that goal. This may be useful for listing savings fund goals or check reserve amounts.
• For a Financial Year that does not start in January: Before entering your yearly budget,
go to the Report worksheet and enter the "Year Begins" date. This will update the month
labels in the Budget worksheet.
• You can copy and paste the input cells within the Budget worksheet as needed. For example,
enter an average fuel cost in January, then copy the value to other months.
• Use formulas to do basic calculations like "=245/6" to divide 245 by 6 or "=34*2" to multipy
34 by 2, or "=34+12+45" to add a bunch of numbers. Formulas are entered using the
equals "=" sign.
IMPORTANT: You must copy and paste entire rows when adding new rows, to ensure that
all the formatting, data validation, and formulas get copied correctly.
THE MOST COMMON ERROR is inserting a new row and forgetting to copy formulas down.
When you insert a blank row, some formatting is copied from the row above it automatically,
but formulas are not copied. You can press CTRL+d after inserting a new row to quickly
copy all formulas and formatting from the row immediately above.
Date: To quickly enter the current date, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+;
The list of dates to the right is used to populate the drop-down box. For other dates,
you will need to enter the date manually. For a date in the current year, you can use the
shortcut of just entering the month/day like 5/16.
Num: This column is usually used to list the check number, but you can also use it to enter
"DEP" for deposit, "TXFR" for transfer, "EFT" for electronic funds transfer, "ACH" for
Automated Clearing House transactions, etc.
Category: The budget Category field is essential to the functionality of this workbook.
The dropdown list refers to the categories in the Budget worksheet.
If you enter a category that is not listed in the Budget worksheet, the cell is highlighted:
The highlighting is done via conditional formatting. If you insert rows in a way that does
not copy formatting, you'll lose this error-checking feature.
IMPORTANT: If you have chosen a category such as "Ted's Fund" and then later remove
"Ted's Fund" from the Budget worksheet, it will not be changed in the Transactions table
automatically. You will need to make sure that you find all the records that have used
"Ted's Fund" as the Category and change them to something else.
TIP: Always leave the last row in the table BLANK so that you can easily add new rows. To
add new rows, select the last row of the table (row 57 in the image below) and drag the fill
handle down to copy the row down to create as many new rows as you need.
TIP: If you want to verify the total amount of the split transaction, you can do a quick
calculation off to the side of the table using an Excel formula, like "=SUM(H13:H15)"
NOTE: The above example assumes that the "payment" to your Credit Card is to pay off the
charges that you have already recorded earlier in the Transaction History table for the
CreditCard account. If you are NOT recording individual CreditCard transactions using the
Transactions worksheet, or part of the $150.00 was to pay down an outstanding debt, then a
credit card payment would look like one of the following, where "Credit Card #1" is a category
under Obligations.
Example 1: Not using Credit Card #1 any more, but still owe money on it.
ACCOUNT DATE NUM PAYEE CATEGORY PAYMENT
Checking 1/1/10 Credit Card Credit Card #1 150.00
Example 2: A portion of a credit card payment used to pay down $25.00 of outstanding debt.
ACCOUNT DATE NUM PAYEE MEMO CATEGORY PAYMENT DEPOSIT
CreditCard 1/1/10 TXFR [From Checking] [Transfer] 150.00
Checking 1/1/10 TXFR [To CreditCard] Split [Transfer] 125.00
Checking 1/1/10 TXFR [To CreditCard] Split Credit Card #1 25.00
Original Transaction:
ACCOUNT DATE NUM PAYEE CATEGORY PAYMENT DEPOSIT
CreditCard 1/1/10 The Big Store Appliances 50.00
Budgeting for Known Future Expenses (e.g. car, holiday, vacation, etc.)
For large payments that are made once every few months or once a year, it is common to
estimate a monthly budget amount and transfer the monthly amount into a temporary
savings account so that you have enough money available when you need to pay the bill.
The transfers are recorded as expenses at the time the money is transferred as explained
above in the section "Recording a [Transfer] to SAVINGS."
If you are recording those transfers to savings each month as an expense, then what do
you do when it comes time to pay the bill? You don't want to record the expense twice.
1. Record the Transfer from Savings to Checking as a Credit to the Expense Category
ACCOUNT DATE NUM PAYEE CATEGORY PAYMENT DEPOSIT
Savings 6/1/14 TXFR [To Checking] [Transfer] 200.00
Checking 6/1/14 TXFR [From Savings] Insurance 200.00
In the above example, the actual payment of 198.00 was lower than the previously budgeted
total expense of 200.00, so you could end up seeing a value of -2.00 in the Actual column
of the report worksheet. This is similar to what you might see if you received a refund or
return for something you paid in a previous month.
The Cleared Balance in the transaction history table shows the Account balance for the
transactions marked "R" for reconciled or "c" for cleared. This allows you to compare the
Cleared Balance with the current balance shown on your bank statements.
The Account Balance reflects your actual or effective balance and is the one you should be
looking at to stay on budget. The Cleared Balance is for comparing to your bank and credit
card statements. For example, when you write a check to a friend, it won't show up in your
bank account until they cash it. You should record the transaction immediately, to help you
stay on budget, but until the check shows up on your bank statement, your Cleared Balance
will be different from the Account Balance (until you enter a "c" or "R" in the reconcile column).
TIP: If you are familiar with using Excel lists or tables, you can use autofiltering to filter the
transaction history table to show a single account at a time.
The Report pulls the budget info from the Budget worksheet and the actual spending from
the Transactions worksheet, so you can view the report at any time during the month and
see how much you have left (or how much you have overspent) in each category.
IMPORTANT: If the Report worksheet does not appear to be pulling information from the
Transactions worksheet, please see Step 4-5 above (Check Formulas).
Using the YearlyReport Worksheet
The YearlyReport worksheet is very similar to the Budget worksheet except that it calculates
amounts from the Transactions worksheet to show you an Income and Expense report.
If you customize budget categories, you will need to make sure to edit the YearlyReport
worksheet so that all budget categories match.
Worksheet Protection
Some worksheets are protected to prevent accidental editing of cells and rows that are not
meant to be edited. If you want to attempt to customize the spreadsheet, you can turn off
worksheet protection via Review > Unprotect Sheet.
© 2010-2021 Vertex42 LLC
py formulas,
Input Cell
This is an example
Label comment.
re categories.
our progress
rve amounts.
For example,
formulas down.
4/18/2021
4/17/2021
4/16/2021
4/15/2021
4/14/2021
4/13/2021
4/12/2021
4/11/2021
NT DEPOSIT
150.00
PAYMENT DEPOSIT
150.00
125.00
#1 25.00
PAYMENT DEPOSIT
300.00
300.00
p 150.00
50.00
n the Budget
r Emergency
ENT DEPOSIT
200.00
NT DEPOSIT
NT DEPOSIT
ENT DEPOSIT
ENT DEPOSIT
200.00
ENT DEPOSIT
eposit amounts
real payment,
PAYMENT DEPOSIT
200.00
200.00
200.00
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YEARLY BUDGET
HELP © 2010-2019 Vertex42 LLC
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Average
INCOME CATEGORIES
Dividends 0 0
Financial Aid 0 0
Gifts Received 0 0
Interest Income 0 0
Other Income 0 0
Refunds/Reimbursements 0 0
Rental Income 0 0
Wages & Tips 0 0
0 0
0 0
Total Income 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EXPENSE CATEGORIES
Alimony 0 0
Car Insurance 0 0
Car Payment 0 0
Car Repair / Licenses 0 0
Car Replacement Fund 0 0
Charity 0 0
Child Care 0 0
Cleaning 0 0
Clothing 0 0
Debt 0 0
Dining 0 0
Discretionary 0 0
Doctor / Dentist 0 0
Education 0 0
Emergency Fund 0 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Average
Fuel 0 0
Fun / Entertainment 0 0
Furniture / Appliances 0 0
Gifts Given 0 0
Groceries 0 0
Health Insurance 0 0
Home Insurance 0 0
Home Supplies 0 0
Interest Expense 0 0
Life Insurance 0 0
Medicine 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Mortgage / Rent 0 0
Other Savings 0 0
Other_1 0 0
Other_2 0 0
Other_3 0 0
Other_4 0 0
Other_5 0 0
Personal Supplies 0 0
Retirement Fund 0 0
Subscriptions/Dues 0 0
Taxes 0 0
Util. Electricity 0 0
Util. Gas 0 0
Util. Phone(s) 0 0
Util. TV / Internet 0 0
Util. Water 0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
Total Expenses 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ACCOUNT LIST
HELP © 2010-2019 Vertex42 LLC
You can track any number of real or virtual accounts. These accounts will show up in the
Accounts column in the Transactions worksheet.
TIP: If you start each account name with a different letter, Excel's autocomplete
feature will make entering the account much faster for you in the Transactions worksheet.
◄ To add accounts, insert new rows above this one and copy formulas down.
TRANSACTIONS
HELP © 2010-2019 Vertex42 LLC
Account Cleared
Account Date Num Payee Memo Tag Category Clr PAYMENT DEPOSIT
Balance Balance
BALANCE
Checking 1/01/19 [Beginning Balance] [Beginning Balance] R 875.00 875.00 875.00 875.00
Savings 1/01/19 [Beginning Balance] [Beginning Balance] R 2,345.00 2,345.00 2,345.00 3,220.00
CrCard1 1/01/19 [Beginning Balance] [Beginning Balance] R 256.00 (256.00) (256.00) 2,964.00
Checking 1/01/19 DEP Direct Deposit from Employer Wages & Tips x 1,000.00 1,875.00 1,875.00 3,964.00
Checking 1/10/19 2032 Car Payment Car Payment c 115.20 1,759.80 1,759.80 3,848.80
CrCard1 1/15/19 Joe's Food Mart Groceries 87.34 (343.34) (256.00) 3,761.46
CrCard1 1/18/19 Fuel Util. Gas 100.00 (443.34) (256.00) 3,661.46
Checking 2/05/19 DEP Direct Deposit from Employer Wages & Tips 1,000.00 2,759.80 1,759.80 4,661.46
Checking 2/10/19 2033 Target Split Clothing 23.10 2,736.70 1,759.80 4,638.36
Checking 2/10/19 2033 Target Split Groceries 45.15 2,691.55 1,759.80 4,593.21
Checking 2/10/19 2033 Target Split Personal Supplies 25.04 2,666.51 1,759.80 4,568.17
Savings 2/15/19 TXFR [From Checking] [Transfer] 200.00 2,545.00 2,345.00 4,768.17
Checking 2/15/19 TXFR [To Savings] Split Emergency Fund 100.00 2,566.51 1,759.80 4,668.17
Checking 2/15/19 TXFR [To Savings] Split Retirement Fund 50.00 2,516.51 1,759.80 4,618.17
Checking 1/01/19 [Allocation] Health Insurance 200.00 2,316.51 1,759.80 4,418.17
Checking 1/01/19 [Allocation] 200.00 2,516.51 1,759.80 4,618.17
Checking 2/01/19 [Allocation] Health Insurance 200.00 2,316.51 1,759.80 4,418.17
Checking 2/01/19 [Allocation] 200.00 2,516.51 1,759.80 4,618.17
Checking 3/01/19 [Allocation] Health Insurance 200.00 2,316.51 1,759.80 4,418.17
Checking 3/01/19 [Allocation] 200.00 2,516.51 1,759.80 4,618.17
Checking 3/15/19 ABC Insurance 600.00 1,916.51 1,759.80 4,018.17
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Account Cleared
Account Date Num Payee Memo Tag Category Clr PAYMENT DEPOSIT
Balance Balance
BALANCE
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Insert more rows above this one and then copy formulas down.
MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT
HELP © 2010-2019 Vertex42 LLC
BUDGET SUMMARY
Budget Actual Difference
Total Income 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00
Total Expenses 0.00 502.54 (502.54)
NET 0.00 497.46 497.46
Actual Budget
0 200 400 600 800
Total In...
Total Expe...
NET
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Date Begin 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec
Date End 31-Jan 28-Feb 31-Mar 30-Apr 31-May 30-Jun 31-Jul 31-Aug 30-Sep 31-Oct 30-Nov 31-Dec
BUDGET SUMMARY
Budget Actual Difference
Total Income 500.00 0.00 (500.00)
Total Expenses 250.00 115.20 134.80
NET 250.00 (115.20) (365.20)
Actual Budget
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Total In...
Total Expe...
NET
Balance Goal
Fund Location Goal % Balance
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Car Fund Savings 8,000.00 15.6% 1,250.00
Car ... Vacation Checking 1,500.00 33.3% 500.00
College Savings 0.0% 0.00
Vaca... Tax Fund Checking 0.0% 0.00
Col Fun Fund Checking 0.0% 0.00
0.0% 0.00
Tax ... 0.0% 0.00
0.0% 0.00
Fun ...
0.0% 0.00
0.0% 0.00
Insert more rows above this one and then copy formulas down.
Total Balance: 1,750.00
Total
Fund Date Num Description Memo Payment Deposit Fund Balance
BALANCE
Car Fund 1/01/18 [ Balance as of 1/1/18 ] 1,250.00 1,250.00 1,250.00
Vacation 1/01/18 [ Balance as of 1/1/18 ] 500.00 500.00 1,750.00
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Insert more rows above this one and then copy formulas down. - -
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