Filter by Keywords

10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

ClickUp Contributor

February 13, 2024

Turning your vision into a clear and coherent business plan can be confusing and tough. 

Hours of brainstorming and facing an intimidating blank page can raise more questions than answers. Are you covering everything? What should go where? How do you keep each section thorough but brief?

If these questions have kept you up at night and slowed your progress, know you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together the top 10 business plan templates in Word, Excel, and ClickUp—to provide answers, clarity, and a structured framework to work with. This way, you’re sure to capture all the relevant information without wasting time. 

And the best part? Business planning becomes a little less “ugh!” and a lot more “aha!” 🤩

What is a Business Plan Template?

What makes a good business plan template, 1. clickup business plan template, 2. clickup sales plan template, 3. clickup business development action plan template, 4. clickup business roadmap template, 5. clickup business continuity plan template, 6. clickup lean business plan template, 7. clickup small business action plan template, 8. clickup strategic business roadmap template , 9. microsoft word business plan template by microsoft, 10. excel business plan template by vertex42.

Avatar of person using AI

A business plan template is a structured framework for entrepreneurs and business executives who want to create business plans. It comes with pre-arranged sections and headings that cover key elements like the executive summary , business overview, target customers, unique value proposition, marketing plans, and financial statements.  

A good business plan template helps with thorough planning, clear documentation, and practical implementation. Here’s what to look for:

  • Comprehensive structure: A good template comes with all the relevant sections to outline a business strategy, such as executive summary, market research and analysis, and financial projections 
  • Clarity and guidance: A good template is easy to follow. It has brief instructions or prompts for each section, guiding you to think deeply about your business and ensuring you don’t skip important details
  • Clean design: Aesthetics matter. Choose a template that’s not just functional but also professionally designed. This ensures your plan is presentable to stakeholders, partners, and potential investors
  • Flexibility : Your template should easily accommodate changes without hassle, like adding or removing sections, changing content and style, and rearranging parts 🛠️ 

While a template provides the structure, it’s the information you feed it that brings it to life. These pointers will help you pick a template that aligns with your business needs and clearly showcases your vision.

10 Business Plan Templates to Use in 2024

Preparing for business success in 2024 (and beyond) requires a comprehensive and organized business plan. We’ve handpicked the best templates to help you guide your team, attract investors, and secure funding. Let’s check them out.

ClickUp Business Plan Template

If you’re looking to replace a traditional business plan document, then ClickUp’s Business Plan Template is for you!

This one-page business plan template, designed in ClickUp Docs , is neatly broken down into the following sections:

  • Company description : Overview, mission, vision, and team
  • Market analysis : Problem, solution, target market, competition, and competitive advantage
  • Sales and marketing strategy : Products/services and marketing channels
  • Operational plan : Location and facilities, equipment and tools, manpower, and financial forecasts
  • Milestones and metrics: Targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your company logo and contact details, and easily navigate to different sections using the collapsible table of contents. The mini prompts under each section guide you on what to include—with suggestions on how to present the data (e.g., bullet lists, pictures, charts, and tables). 

You can share the document with anyone via URL and collaborate in real time. And when the business plan is ready, you have the option to print it or export it to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.

But that’s not all. This template is equipped with basic and enterprise project management features to streamline the business plan creation process . The Topics List view has a list of all the different sections and subsections of the template and allows you to assign it to a team member, set a due date, and attach relevant documents and references.

Switch from List to Board view to track and update task statuses according to the following: To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, and Complete. 

This template is a comprehensive toolkit for documenting the different sections of your business plan and streamlining the creation process to ensure it’s completed on time. 🗓️

ClickUp Sales Plan Template

If you’re looking for a tool to kickstart or update your sales plan, ClickUp’s Sales Plan Template has got you covered. This sales plan template features a project summary list with tasks to help you craft a comprehensive and effective sales strategy. Some of these tasks include:

  • Determine sales objectives and goals
  • Draft positioning statement
  • Perform competitive analysis
  • Draft ideal customer persona
  • Create a lead generation strategy

Assign each task to a specific individual or team, set priority levels , and add due dates. Specify what section of the sales plan each task belongs to (e.g., executive summary, revenue goals, team structure, etc.), deliverable type (such as document, task, or meeting), and approval state (like pending, needs revisions, and approved).

And in ClickUp style, you can switch to multiple views: List for a list of all tasks, Board for visual task management, Timeline for an overview of task durations, and Gantt to get a view of task dependencies. 

This simple business plan template is perfect for any type of business looking to create a winning sales strategy while clarifying team roles and keeping tasks organized. ✨

ClickUp Business Development Action Plan Template

Thinking about scaling your business’s reach and operations but unsure where or how to start? It can be overwhelming, no doubt—you need a clear vision, measurable goals, and an actionable plan that every member of your team can rally behind. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Business Development Action Plan Template is designed to use automations to simplify this process so every step toward your business growth is clear, trackable, and actionable.

Start by assessing your current situation and deciding on your main growth goal. Are you aiming to increase revenue, tap into new markets, or introduce new products or services? With ClickUp Whiteboards or Docs, brainstorm and collaborate with your team on this decision.

Set and track your short- and long-term growth goals with ClickUp’s Goals , break them down into smaller targets, and assign these targets to team members, complete with due dates. Add these targets to a new ClickUp Dashboard to track real-time progress and celebrate small wins. 🎉

Whether you’re a startup or small business owner looking to hit your next major milestone or an established business exploring new avenues, this template keeps your team aligned, engaged, and informed every step of the way.

ClickUp Business Roadmap Template

ClickUp’s Business Roadmap Template is your go-to for mapping out major strategies and initiatives in areas like revenue growth, brand awareness, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. 

Use the List view to populate tasks under each initiative. With Custom Fields, you can capture which business category (e.g., Product, Operations, Sales & Marketing, etc.) tasks fall under and which quarter they’re slated for. You can also link to relevant documents and resources and evaluate tasks by effort and impact to ensure the most critical tasks get the attention they deserve. 👀

Depending on your focus, this template provides different views to show just what you need. For example, the All Initiatives per Quarter view lets you focus on what’s ahead by seeing tasks that need completion within a specific quarter. This ensures timely execution and helps in aligning resources effectively for the short term.

This template is ideal for business executives and management teams who need to coordinate multiple short- and long-term initiatives and business strategies.

ClickUp Business Continuity Plan Template

In business, unexpected threats to operations can arise at any moment. Whether it’s economic turbulence, a global health crisis, or supply chain interruptions, every company needs to be ready. ClickUp’s Business Continuity Plan Template lets you prepare proactively for these unforeseen challenges.

The template organizes tasks into three main categories:

  • Priorities: Tasks that need immediate attention
  • Continuity coverage: Tasks that must continue despite challenges
  • Guiding principles: Resources and protocols to ensure smooth operations

The Board view makes it easy to visualize all the tasks under each of these categories. And the Priorities List sorts tasks by those that are overdue, the upcoming ones, and then the ones due later.

In times of uncertainty, being prepared is your best strategy. This template helps your business not just survive but thrive in challenging situations, keeping your customers, employees, and investors satisfied. 🤝

ClickUp Lean Business Plan Template

Looking to execute your business plan the “lean” way? Use ClickUp’s Lean Business Plan Template . It’s designed to help you optimize resource usage and cut unnecessary steps—giving you better results with less effort.

In the Plan Summary List view, list all the tasks that need to get done. Add specific details like who’s doing each task, when it’s due, and which part of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) it falls under. The By Priority view sorts this list based on priorities like Urgent, High, Normal, and Low. This makes it easy to spot the most important tasks and tackle them first.

Additionally, the Board view gives you an overview of task progression from start to finish. And the BMC view rearranges these tasks based on the various BMC components. 

Each task can further be broken down into subtasks and multiple checklists to ensure all related action items are executed. ✔️

This template is an invaluable resource for startups and large enterprises looking to maximize process efficiencies and results in a streamlined and cost-effective way.

ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template

The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality. 

It provides a simple and organized framework for creating, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks. And in effect, it ensures that goals are not just set but achieved. Through the native dashboard and goal-setting features, you can monitor task progress and how they move you closer to achieving your goals.

Thanks to ClickUp’s robust communication features like chat, comments, and @mentions, it’s easy to get every team member on the same page and quickly address questions or concerns.

Use this action plan template to hit your business goals by streamlining your internal processes and aligning team efforts.

ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template 

For larger businesses and scaling enterprises, getting different departments to work together toward a big goal can be challenging. The ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template makes it easier by giving you a clear plan to follow.

This template is packaged in a folder and split into different lists for each department in your business, like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement. This way, every team can focus on their tasks while collectively contributing to the bigger goal.

There are multiple viewing options available for team members. These include:

  • Progress Board: Visualize tasks that are on track, those at risk, and those behind
  • Gantt view: Get an overview of project timelines and dependencies
  • Team view: See what each team member is working on so you can balance workloads for maximum productivity

While this template may feel overwhelming at first, the getting started guide offers a step-by-step breakdown to help you navigate it with ease. And like all ClickUp templates, you can easily customize it to suit your business needs and preferences.

Microsoft Word Business Plan Template by Microsoft

Microsoft’s 20-page traditional business plan template simplifies the process of drafting comprehensive business plans. It’s made up of different sections, including:

  • Executive summary : Highlights, objectives, mission statement, and keys to success
  • Description of business: Company ownership and legal structure, hours of operation, products and services, suppliers, financial plans, etc.
  • Marketing: Market analysis, market segmentation, competition, and pricing
  • Appendix: Start-up expenses, cash flow statements, income statements, sales forecast, milestones, break-even analysis, etc.

The table of contents makes it easy to move to different sections of the document. And the text placeholders under each section provide clarity on the specific details required—making the process easier for users who may not be familiar with certain business terminology.

Excel Business Plan Template by Vertex42

No business template roundup is complete without an Excel template. This business plan template lets you work on your business financials in Excel. It comes with customizable tables, formulas, and charts to help you look at the following areas:

  • Highlight charts
  • Market analysis
  • Start-up assets and expenses
  • Sales forecasts
  • Profit and loss
  • Balance sheet
  • Cash flow projections
  • Break-even analysis

This Excel template is especially useful when you want to create a clear and visual financial section for your business plan document—an essential element for attracting investors and lenders. However, there might be a steep learning curve to using this template if you’re not familiar with business financial planning and using Excel.

Try a Free Business Plan Template in ClickUp

Launching and running a successful business requires a well-thought-out and carefully crafted business plan. However, the business planning process doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or take up too much time. Use any of the above 10 free business plan formats to simplify and speed up the process.

ClickUp templates go beyond offering a solid foundation to build your business plans. They come with extensive project management features to turn your vision into reality. And that’s not all— ClickUp’s template library offers over 1,000 additional templates to help manage various aspects of your business, from decision-making to product development to resource management .

Sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan today to fast-track your business’s growth! 🏆

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Receive the latest WriteClick Newsletter updates.

Thanks for subscribing to our blog!

Please enter a valid email

  • Free training & 24-hour support
  • Serious about security & privacy
  • 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

Growthink logo white

Free Business Plan Excel Template [Excel Download]

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Growthink's Business Plan Excel Template

A business plan is a roadmap for growing your business. Not only does it help you plan out your venture, but it is required by funding sources like banks, venture capitalists and angel investors.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

The body of your business plan describes your company and your strategies for growing it. The financial portion of your plan details the financial implications of your business: how much money you need, what you project your future sales and earnings to be, etc.

Below you will be able to download our free business plan excel template to help with the financial portion of your business plan. You will also learn about the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

Download the template here: Financial Plan Excel Template  

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less! It includes a simple, plug-and-play financial model and a fill-in-the-blanks template for completing the body of your plan.

What’s Included in our Business Plan Excel Template

Our business plan excel template includes the following sections:

Income Statement : A projection of your business’ revenues, costs, and expenses over a specific period of time. Includes sections for sales revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), operating expenses, and net profit or loss.

Example 5 Year Annual Income Statement

Cash Flow Statement : A projection of your business’ cash inflows and outflows over a specific period of time. Includes sections for cash inflows (such as sales receipts, loans, and investments), cash outflows (such as expenses, salaries, and loan repayments), and net cash flow.

Example 5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement

Balance Sheet : A snapshot of your business’ financial position at a specific point in time. Includes sections for assets (such as cash, inventory, equipment, and property), liabilities (such as loans, accounts payable, and salaries payable), and owner’s equity (such as retained earnings and capital contributions).

Example 5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

Download the template here: Business Plan Excel Template 

The template is easy to customize according to your specific business needs. Simply input your own financial data and projections, and use it as a guide to create a comprehensive financial plan for your business. Remember to review and update your financial plan regularly to track your progress and make informed financial decisions.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

The importance of the financial model in your business plan.

A solid financial model is a critical component of any well-prepared business plan. It provides a comprehensive and detailed projection of your business’ financial performance, including revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability. The financial model is not just a mere set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand the financial health of your business, make informed decisions, and communicate your business’ financial viability to potential investors, lenders, and other stakeholders. In this article, we will delve into the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

  • Provides a roadmap for financial success : A well-structured financial model serves as a roadmap for your business’ financial success. It outlines your revenue streams, cost structure, and cash flow projections, helping you understand the financial implications of your business strategies and decisions. It allows you to forecast your future financial performance, set financial goals, and measure your progress over time. A comprehensive financial model helps you identify potential risks, opportunities, and areas that may require adjustments to achieve your financial objectives.
  • Demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders : Investors, lenders, and other stakeholders want to see that your business is financially viable and has a plan to generate revenue, manage expenses, and generate profits. A robust financial model in your business plan demonstrates that you have a solid understanding of your business’ financials and have a plan to achieve profitability. It provides evidence of the market opportunity, pricing strategy, sales projections, and financial sustainability. A well-prepared financial model increases your credibility and instills confidence in your business among potential investors and lenders.
  • Helps with financial decision-making : Your financial model is a valuable tool for making informed financial decisions. It helps you analyze different scenarios, evaluate the financial impact of your decisions, and choose the best course of action for your business. For example, you can use your financial model to assess the feasibility of a new product launch, determine the optimal pricing strategy, or evaluate the impact of changing market conditions on your cash flow. A well-structured financial model helps you make data-driven decisions that are aligned with your business goals and financial objectives.
  • Assists in securing funding : If you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, a robust financial model is essential. It provides a clear picture of your business’ financials and shows how the funds will be used to generate revenue and profits. It includes projections for revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability, along with a breakdown of assumptions and methodology used. It also provides a realistic assessment of the risks and challenges associated with your business and outlines the strategies to mitigate them. A well-prepared financial model in your business plan can significantly increase your chances of securing funding as it demonstrates your business’ financial viability and growth potential.
  • Facilitates financial management and monitoring : A financial model is not just for external stakeholders; it is also a valuable tool for internal financial management and monitoring. It helps you track your actual financial performance against your projections, identify any deviations, and take corrective actions if needed. It provides a clear overview of your business’ cash flow, profitability, and financial health, allowing you to proactively manage your finances and make informed decisions to achieve your financial goals. A well-structured financial model helps you stay on top of your business’ financials and enables you to take timely actions to ensure your business’ financial success.
  • Enhances business valuation : If you are planning to sell your business or seek investors for an exit strategy, a robust financial model is crucial. It provides a solid foundation for business valuation as it outlines your historical financial performance, future projections, and the assumptions behind them. It helps potential buyers or investors understand the financial potential of your business and assess its value. A well-prepared financial model can significantly impact the valuation of your business, and a higher valuation can lead to better negotiation terms and higher returns on your investment.
  • Supports strategic planning : Your financial model is an integral part of your strategic planning process. It helps you align your financial goals with your overall business strategy and provides insights into the financial feasibility of your strategic initiatives. For example, if you are planning to expand your business, enter new markets, or invest in new technologies, your financial model can help you assess the financial impact of these initiatives, including the investment required, the expected return on investment, and the timeline for achieving profitability. It enables you to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of your business and ensures that your financial goals are aligned with your overall business objectives.
  • Enhances accountability and transparency : A robust financial model promotes accountability and transparency in your business. It provides a clear framework for setting financial targets, measuring performance, and holding yourself and your team accountable for achieving financial results. It helps you monitor your progress towards your financial goals and enables you to take corrective actions if needed. A well-structured financial model also enhances transparency by providing a clear overview of your business’ financials, assumptions, and methodologies used in your projections. It ensures that all stakeholders, including investors, lenders, employees, and partners, have a clear understanding of your business’ financial performance and prospects.

In conclusion, a well-prepared financial model is a crucial component of your business plan. It provides a roadmap for financial success, demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders, helps with financial decision-making, assists in securing funding, facilitates financial management and monitoring, enhances business valuation, supports strategic planning, and enhances accountability and transparency in your business. It is not just a set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand, analyze, and optimize your business’ financial performance. Investing time and effort in creating a comprehensive and robust financial model in your business plan is vital for the success of your business and can significantly increase your chances of achieving your financial goals.

Growthink logo white

template business plan excel free

Create a business plan

You've been dreaming of starting your own business. You've started with some concrete steps, and you're ready to put your proposal together. But how do you start, and how do you know when you have the right information?

How to get it done

Create a business plan with templates in Word:

Your browser does not support video. Install Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash Player, or Internet Explorer 9.

Start with a template

Download these templates from the Office Templates site to create your plan:

Fill in your Business plan .

Analyze your market with the Business market analysis template .

Detail your financials in a Financial plan .

Divide up the work and track deliverables with this Business plan checklist .

Wrap up with this Business startup checklist .

Need a little help?

Learn how to:

Start a document from a template .

Apply themes to change your plan's look.

Related resources

Related article

Must follow steps for starting a successful business

Buy Microsoft 365

Get Microsoft 365

Get help setting up

Training and in-person help

Facebook

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

template business plan excel free

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

template business plan excel free

Microsoft 365 training

template business plan excel free

Microsoft security

template business plan excel free

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

template business plan excel free

Ask the Microsoft Community

template business plan excel free

Microsoft Tech Community

template business plan excel free

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Access our library of 130 Business Templates

Wow you’ve unlocked access to our library of 130 business templates.

Get started by checking out some of our top business templates:

Featured business templates

template business plan excel free

Weekly Schedule Template

Tracking employees’ work time and wages is easy with this free weekly schedule template.

template business plan excel free

Monthly Report

Provide a professional, concise summary of project activities with this monthly report template.

template business plan excel free

One Page Business Plan

Need to write a business plan but don’t know where to begin? Download our free 1-page business plan ...

73 Free Excel Templates & Examples

All excel business templates..

Showing 1 - 15 of 73

template business plan excel free

Action Plan

template business plan excel free

Balance Sheet Template

template business plan excel free

Blank Invoice Template

template business plan excel free

Board Meeting Agenda Template

template business plan excel free

Business Budget

template business plan excel free

Business Goal-Setting

template business plan excel free

Cash Book Template

template business plan excel free

Cash Receipt Template

template business plan excel free

Commercial Invoice Template

template business plan excel free

Communication Plan Template

template business plan excel free

Competitive Analysis Template

template business plan excel free

Contact List

template business plan excel free

Contractor Invoice Template

template business plan excel free

Explore Template Collections

template business plan excel free

Customer Service

template business plan excel free

Spreadsheets

template business plan excel free

Get all Excel templates and more.

Free Business Plan Template

One of the reasons that so many small businesses fail is that they don't do the necessary up front work to create an accurate and realistic business plan. Creating a business plan doesn't guarantee success, but the process of writing a plan is critical for any successful new business. It isn't our goal to try to tell you everything you need to know about creating a business plan. Instead, our goal is to make the process easier by providing a professionally designed business plan template that you can edit easily using Word and Excel .

Business Plan Template

Business Plan Template

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

Authors : Jon Wittwer and Jim Wittwer

Update (7/22/2016) : We've added a basic break-even analysis worksheet to the companion Excel workbook.

Description

This template provides a business plan outline with sample questions, tables, and a working table of contents. It was created for newer versions of Word and Excel (Office 2007 or later) so that you can easily change the fonts and color scheme and the file will be compatible with the mobile and web-based Word & Excel apps.

It is best to use Excel for financial statements, data tables and charts. So, we have provided a companion Excel workbook with these sample financial statements and other tables and graphs that you can copy and paste into your Word document.

The companion workbook combines many of the different spreadsheets you can find on Vertex42.com, but customized specifically for inclusion in a business plan.

Using the Business Plan Template

Editing headings and table of contents.

Word allows you to assign format Styles to text and paragraphs, and we've designed the template to use these Styles for defining headings, sub-headings, and figure captions.

If you want to add a new section so that the Table of Contents updates correctly, just add a new heading in the body of the document and assign it the Heading 1 or Heading 2 style.

To update the Table of Contents, go to the References tab and within the Table of Contents group of buttons, click on Update Table and then "Update entire table."

Copy/Paste From Excel to Word

For simple tables, you can use Copy/Paste (Ctrl+c / Ctrl+v) to copy a table from Excel to Word. This will typically paste the data as a formatted and editable table in Word, though none of the formulas will be functional within Word (and the table will not be linked to Excel). If you don't want the table to be editable in Word, you can "Paste as a Picture" using Paste Special or by choosing the "Picture" option when you right-click in Word to paste the table.

Important : When you paste a chart object into your business plan, make sure to "Paste as a Picture" because pasting the chart as an embedded object means that the entire spreadsheet becomes embedded in your Word document (even though what you see is only the chart).

If you want to insert a table into Word as a "Linked Object" so that when you edit Excel, the table in Word will update automatically, you may have a more difficult time preserving the formatting of the original. However, at the least the entire spreadsheet won't be embedded within your business plan Word document.

More Related Templates

Thumbnail - Business Startup Costs Template

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

  • Write Your Business Plan at SBA.gov - Anybody starting a business should become familiar with the SBA (small business association). SBA.gov also has an online tool for creating a business plan .
  • YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Business Wales (3 minutes) - This video offers a quick overview and tips for the essential parts of a business plan.
  • YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Berkeley-Haas (71 minutes) - This presentation offers both the venture capitalist and entrepreneur perspective on how to write a business plan that can successfully attract funding.
  • Write Your Business Plan at Entrepreneur.com - A book written by the staff of a company that should know what they are talking about.
  • Sample Business Plans at bplans.com - Finding a business plan for similar businesses in your industry is a great way to get ideas for what to include in your plan. This site is a great resource for not only finding sample plans, but also for creating a business plan online using their step-by-step approach.

Other Free Business Plan Templates

  • Business Planning Template Gallery at SCORE.org - This nonprofit organization (supported by the SBA) has provided expertise and free mentorship for millions of small business owners. They also have a useful collection of templates.
  • Develop Your Business Plan at business.gov.au - This Australian Government site provides a really good business plan template for Word, including a detailed guide, questions to answer, and sample financial statements.

Follow Us On ...

Business Templates by Vertex42.com

Related Templates

Thumbnail - SWOT Analysis Template

Financial Statements

template business plan excel free

14 Best Excel Templates for Business in 2024 (Free & Premium)

  • Last updated October 5, 2023

Let’s talk about Excel templates. These pre-made spreadsheets help you improve productivity quickly. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into the world of Excel templates, equipping you with the knowledge and tools to streamline your tasks, boost productivity, and make informed decisions.

From understanding what Excel spreadsheet templates are to exploring specialized templates for various industries, we’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a seasoned Excel user or just starting, our friendly yet professional approach will simplify complex concepts and empower you to harness the full power of Excel templates.

What Are Excel Templates?

We provide a host of spreadsheet templates for our readers. And Excel templates are no exception. These pre-designed spreadsheets created to simplify various tasks and processes. They serve as starting points, offering predefined structures, formulas, and formatting. These templates are designed to save you time and effort by eliminating the need to build spreadsheets from scratch.

Key Features of Excel Spreadsheet Templates

  • Structured Layout: Templates come with organized rows and columns tailored to the specific task or use case. For instance, a budget template might include categories for income, expenses, and savings.
  • Predefined Formulas and Functions: Excel spreadsheet templates often include formulas and functions that perform calculations automatically. For example, a mortgage calculator template may already have formulas for calculating monthly payments and interest.
  • Formatting and Styling: Templates feature consistent design, including fonts, colors, and cell borders. This makes your data visually appealing and easy to read.
  • Placeholder Data: Templates often contain placeholder data or instructions to guide you in entering your information. These placeholders help you understand how to use the template effectively.
  • Customizability: While templates provide a structured framework, they are highly customizable. You can modify them to suit your specific needs by adding or removing columns, changing labels, or adjusting formulas.

Common Uses of Excel Templates

  • Budgeting: Excel templates for budgeting help individuals and businesses manage their finances effectively by tracking income and expenses, projecting future financial goals, and analyzing spending patterns.
  • Project Management: Project management templates assist in planning, tracking, and managing projects. They often include Gantt charts, task lists, and progress trackers.
  • Data Analysis: Excel offers templates for data analysis, such as pivot tables, allowing you to quickly summarize and analyze large datasets.
  • Accounting: Accounting templates help businesses maintain accurate financial records, including ledgers, income statements, and balance sheets.
  • Inventory Management: Inventory templates help businesses track stock levels, monitor product sales, and manage inventory turnover.

Types of Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates come in various categories, each designed to address specific needs and tasks. Here are some of the most common types of Excel templates:

Financial Excel Templates

Financial templates are geared towards managing finances, budgeting, and financial analysis. You can make your own cash flow template , or use one that’s already made. Common financial spreadsheets include:

  • Budget Templates: These templates help individuals and businesses create and manage budgets, ensuring that income and expenses are balanced. Check out our top budget templates for Google Sheets .
  • Financial Models: Financial modeling templates are used for forecasting financial performance, especially in business planning and investment analysis.
  • Income Statements: Templates for income statements track revenues and expenses to determine profitability.
  • Balance Sheets: These templates provide a snapshot of a company’s financial position by displaying assets, liabilities, and equity.

Project Management Excel Templates

Project management templates are essential for planning, executing, and monitoring projects. For example, we covered our favorite project status report templates . Other common templates include:

  • Gantt Charts: Gantt chart templates visually represent project schedules, showing tasks, timelines, and dependencies.
  • Project Timelines: These templates offer a simplified view of project milestones and deadlines.
  • Task Tracking Templates: Task tracking templates help teams assign, track, and manage tasks to keep projects on schedule.

Data Analysis Excel Templates

Data analysis templates are invaluable for individuals and businesses working with data. Key templates include:

  • Pivot Tables: Pivot table templates simplify data summarization and analysis, allowing users to create interactive reports.
  • Data Visualization Templates: Templates for charts and graphs help transform raw data into visual representations for easier understanding.
  • Statistical Analysis Templates: Statistical analysis templates include tools for performing statistical tests and calculations.

Personal and Business Excel Templates

Personal and business templates cover a wide range of tasks. We have an article that covers payment receipt templates . Other common personal and business spreadsheets include:

  • To-Do List Templates: These templates help you stay organized by listing tasks and priorities.
  • Invoice Templates: Invoice templates streamline the invoicing process for businesses, including itemized lists and payment tracking.
  • Business Plan Templates: Business plan templates provide structured frameworks for creating comprehensive business plans, helping startups and established companies alike.

Whether you’re managing finances, overseeing a project, analyzing data, or organizing personal tasks, Excel templates offer a time-saving solution to enhance your productivity.

Top 14 Excel Templates for Business

Now, let’s delve into the top Excel templates that can significantly boost your productivity across various domains. We’ll explore each template, highlighting its key features and benefits.

Financial Management Excel Templates

1. financial model.

The Financial Model Excel template is a versatile tool designed to help businesses of all sizes and types manage their finances effectively. Whether you’re a business, a startup , or operating in specific niches like SaaS , E-Commerce , or Marketplace , this template offers comprehensive financial projections, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. It’s essential for budgeting, forecasting, and making informed financial decisions.

template business plan excel free

  • Accurate Projections: Generate precise financial projections for different business scenarios, aiding in strategic planning.
  • Scenario Analysis: Easily assess the impact of various decisions on your financial health by running multiple scenarios.
  • Investor-Ready: Impress investors and stakeholders with professional financial reports and insights.
  • Data Visualization: Utilize charts and graphs to visualize financial trends and make data-driven decisions.

Price: $74-139 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

2. Profit and Loss Statement

The Profit and Loss Statement Excel template is tailored to specific business models, including startups , marketplaces , SaaS , and E-Commerce ventures. It helps you track your revenues, costs, and expenses to calculate your net profit or loss accurately. With clear and customizable categories, you can gain a deep understanding of your business’s financial performance.

template business plan excel free

  • Business-Specific Tracking: Choose a template that aligns with your business model for precise financial insights.
  • Expense Categorization: Easily categorize expenses for better cost management and identification of cost-saving opportunities.
  • Year-over-Year Comparison: Track your financial performance over time to identify growth trends or areas that need improvement.
  • Tax Preparation: Simplify tax preparation by neatly organizing your income and expenses.

Price: $74 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

3. Revenue Forecasting Tool

The Revenue Forecasting Tool Excel template is indispensable for businesses focused on revenue growth. With different versions tailored to Marketplace , SaaS , E-Commerce , and Agency models, it enables you to project your future revenues based on historical data, market trends, and growth strategies. This tool empowers you to set realistic revenue targets and make informed decisions to achieve them.

template business plan excel free

  • Data-Driven Projections: Utilize historical data and market insights to generate accurate revenue forecasts.
  • Goal Setting: Set achievable revenue targets and track progress towards your financial goals.
  • Scenario Planning: Assess how changes in pricing, marketing, or sales strategies impact revenue.
  • Informed Decision-Making: Make strategic decisions backed by comprehensive revenue projections.

Price: $46 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

Budgeting and Tracking Excel Templates

4. zero-based budget template.

Zero-based budgeting is a meticulous approach to budgeting where you allocate every dollar of your income to expenses, savings, or investments. The Zero-Based Budget Excel template simplifies the zero-based budgeting process, ensuring that your budget accurately reflects your financial priorities and goals.

template business plan excel free

  • Financial Clarity: Gain a clear understanding of where your money goes and prioritize spending according to your goals.
  • Savings and Investments: Systematically allocate funds for savings, investments, and debt reduction.
  • Expense Tracking: Monitor daily expenses to identify areas for potential savings.
  • Emergency Fund Planning: Create a buffer for unexpected costs by including an emergency fund category.

Price: $4.99

5. Inventory and Sales Tracking Template

Managing inventory and tracking sales is crucial for businesses, especially those in retail or e-commerce. The Inventory and Sales Tracking Excel template streamlines inventory management, allowing you to efficiently track stock levels, sales, and product performance.

template business plan excel free

  • Real-Time Inventory: Monitor inventory levels in real-time, ensuring you never run out of stock or overstock products.
  • Sales Analysis: Analyze sales data to identify top-performing products and optimize your product offerings.
  • Cost Control: Keep tabs on inventory costs and prevent financial losses due to mismanagement.
  • Data-Driven Decision-Making: Use sales insights to make informed decisions about restocking, promotions, and pricing strategies.

Price: $19.99

6. Capital Expenditure Planning Template

Capital expenditures (CapEx) are essential for businesses looking to grow and invest in assets like equipment, technology, or infrastructure. This free CapEx Excel template simplifies the planning and tracking of capital expenditures, ensuring efficient allocation of resources.

template business plan excel free

  • Streamlined Planning: Plan and prioritize capital expenditures in a structured manner.
  • Budget Control: Stay within budget by tracking expenses against planned allocations.
  • ROI Assessment: Evaluate each capital expenditure’s return on investment (ROI) to make informed decisions.
  • Asset Management: Keep a comprehensive record of your business’s assets and their depreciation.

Price: Free!

Investment and Financial Analysis Excel Templates

7. simple investment template.

The Simple Investment Excel template is perfect for individuals or businesses looking to analyze potential investments. It assists in evaluating the financial feasibility of investments, calculating returns, and making informed investment decisions.

template business plan excel free

  • Investment Evaluation: Assess the attractiveness of various investment opportunities.
  • Risk Analysis: Consider the risks associated with each investment and their impact on returns.
  • Return Calculations: Calculate potential returns, including net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).
  • Decision Support: Make well-informed investment choices based on financial analysis.

8. Mortgage Calculator with Amortization Table

Mortgages are a significant financial commitment. This Mortgage Calculator Excel template simplifies mortgage calculations, helping individuals and homeowners understand their loan terms, amortization schedules, and total interest payments.

template business plan excel free

  • Loan Clarity: Understand your mortgage terms, including interest rates, monthly payments, and loan duration.
  • Amortization Schedule: View the full amortization schedule, tracking principal and interest payments over time.
  • Interest Savings: Explore strategies for paying off your mortgage early to reduce interest costs.
  • Financial Planning: Incorporate mortgage payments into your long-term financial planning.

9. CLV vs. CAC Analysis Template

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) are critical business metrics. The CLV vs. CAC Analysis Excel template simplifies the calculation and analysis of CLV and CAC, aiding in strategic marketing and growth decisions.

template business plan excel free

  • Customer Profitability: Determine the profitability of acquiring and retaining customers.
  • Marketing Efficiency: Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by comparing CAC to CLV.
  • Retention Strategies: Identify opportunities to increase CLV through customer retention and loyalty programs.
  • Data-Driven Marketing: Allocate marketing budgets more efficiently based on CLV and CAC insights.

Data Analysis and Metrics Tracking Excel Templates

10. cohort analysis template.

Cohort analysis is a powerful method for examining user behavior over time. The Cohort Analysis Excel template simplifies the process, helping businesses gain insights into customer retention, engagement, and more.

template business plan excel free

  • User Segmentation: Group users into cohorts based on signup date or other criteria for focused analysis.
  • Retention Insights: Identify trends in user retention and pinpoint when users drop off.
  • Product Improvement: Use cohort analysis to inform product improvements and marketing strategies.
  • Churn Reduction: Develop strategies to reduce customer churn based on cohort analysis findings.

11. MRR Dashboard Template

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is a vital metric for subscription-based businesses. The MRR Dashboard Excel template provides a comprehensive dashboard for tracking MRR, analyzing trends, and making data-driven decisions.

template business plan excel free

  • MRR Overview: Get a real-time overview of your MRR, including new revenue, lost revenue, and net MRR growth.
  • Churn Analysis: Identify reasons for churn and implement strategies to reduce it.
  • Growth Tracking: Monitor your subscription business’s growth and set goals for MRR expansion.
  • Data Visualization: Visualize MRR trends with charts and graphs for easier interpretation.

12. User Engagement Dashboard Template

User engagement is critical for online businesses. The User Engagement Dashboard Excel template provides a user-friendly dashboard for tracking user engagement metrics, analyzing user behavior, and optimizing user experiences.

template business plan excel free

  • Comprehensive Metrics: Track key engagement metrics such as session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
  • Segmentation: Analyze user engagement based on demographics, devices, or referral sources.
  • Content Performance: Identify high-performing content and optimize the user journey accordingly.
  • Conversion Optimization: Implement strategies to improve user engagement and conversion rates based on insights.

Business Planning and Management Excel Templates

13. software license management tool.

The Software License Management Excel tool simplifies the process for businesses managing software licenses. It allows you to track software licenses, renewal dates, and compliance, ensuring efficient software management.

template business plan excel free

  • License Tracking: Easily keep track of all software licenses in use across your organization.
  • Renewal Alerts: Identify license renewals timely to prevent interruptions.
  • Cost Control: Avoid unnecessary software purchases and optimize license utilization.
  • Compliance Assurance: Ensure compliance with software licensing agreements to avoid legal issues.

14. Workforce Planning Tool

Effective workforce planning is crucial for businesses of all sizes. The Workforce Planning Excel template streamlines the process by helping you manage employee information, staffing levels, and workforce optimization.

template business plan excel free

  • Employee Database: Maintain a centralized employee information database, including roles, qualifications, and contact details.
  • Staffing Analysis: Analyze staffing levels and plan for hiring, training, or restructuring as needed.
  • Cost Projections: Estimate labor costs and budgets for workforce expansion or reduction.
  • Scenario Planning: Model various workforce scenarios and their financial implications.

These Excel spreadsheet templates cover a wide range of business and financial needs, making them invaluable tools for improving productivity, making informed decisions, and achieving your goals. Whether you’re a financial analyst, business owner, or simply looking to better manage your finances, Excel templates offer a user-friendly and robust solution.

Best Practices for Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates are powerful tools that can significantly enhance your productivity , but it’s essential to follow best practices to make the most of them. Here are some tips and strategies to help you use Excel templates effectively.

Choose the Right Template

Selecting the appropriate template for your specific task is the first step to success. Consider the following factors when choosing a template:

  • Task Complexity: Ensure the template aligns with the complexity of your task. Simple tasks may require basic templates, while more complex tasks need advanced templates.
  • Customizability: Look for templates that allow customization. Templates that are too rigid may not suit your unique needs.
  • Industry or Use Case: Many templates are designed for specific industries or use cases. For financial tasks, for instance, choose templates tailored to your industry, such as retail, healthcare, or real estate.
  • Scalability: If your task may grow in complexity or data volume, opt for a template that can scale with your needs.

Understand Formulas and Functions

Excel templates often come with built-in formulas and functions to automate calculations. To use these templates effectively, it’s crucial to understand how these formulas work.

  • Learn the Basics: Familiarize yourself with common Excel functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP, and more. These are the building blocks of many templates.
  • Review Formulas: Take time to review the formulas used in the template. Understand how they calculate results and what data they depend on.
  • Customize Formulas: If needed, customize formulas to suit your specific requirements. Modify cell references or add new calculations as necessary.

Input Data Accurately

Accurate data input is essential to obtain meaningful results from Excel spreadsheet templates.

  • Double-Check Data: Ensure all data entered into the template is accurate and error-free. A slight mistake can lead to significant inaccuracies in calculations.
  • Use Data Validation: Implement data validation rules to prevent incorrect data entry. Excel can prompt users when data doesn’t meet specified criteria.
  • Consistent Formatting: Maintain consistent formatting throughout the template. This includes date formats, number formats, and currency symbols.
  • Document Data Sources: Keep track of your data sources, especially if you’re pulling data from external sources. This documentation can help troubleshoot discrepancies later.

Regularly Save and Backup

Excel templates represent valuable work, so protecting your data is essential.

  • Frequent Saving: Save your work regularly to prevent data loss in case of unexpected software crashes or power outages.
  • Version Control: Maintain version control by saving different iterations of your template. Use meaningful file names and dates to track changes.
  • Backup Files: Implement a backup strategy. Regularly create copies of your Excel files and store them in a secure location, whether it’s a cloud service or an external drive.

Understand Template Limitations

Excel spreadsheet templates have limitations, and it’s essential to be aware of them.

  • Data Volume: Excel may not handle very large datasets efficiently. Consider using a database or specialized software for extensive data management.
  • Complexity: Templates have limits in terms of complexity. You might need to consider custom software or consulting with a specialist for more advanced or intricate tasks.
  • Data Security: Be cautious when handling sensitive or confidential data within Excel. Implement password protection and encryption where necessary.

Customize for Your Needs

While templates provide a structured starting point, don’t hesitate to customize them to better suit your unique requirements.

  • Add or Remove Fields: Include additional or remove unnecessary fields to streamline data entry and reporting.
  • Format and Styling: Adjust the template’s formatting and styling to match your preferences and branding guidelines.
  • Automate Repetitive Tasks: Excel allows you to automate repetitive tasks using macros. Learn how to create and use macros to save time.

Stay Updated and Educated

Excel is a continually evolving software, and staying updated with the latest features and best practices can benefit your productivity.

  • Software Updates: Keep your Excel software up-to-date to access new features and security patches.
  • Online Resources: Explore online resources, spreadsheet tutorials , and forums to expand your Excel skills and troubleshoot issues.
  • Advanced Training: Consider advanced Excel training courses or certifications to become an Excel power user.

By following these best practices, you can harness the full potential of Excel spreadsheet templates, streamline your tasks, and make more informed decisions. Excel templates are versatile tools that can save you time and effort, but mastering them requires a combination of knowledge, practice, and attention to detail.

Get Started with the Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle

Ready to take control of your finances and make smart financial decisions? Our Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle is the ultimate solution to simplify financial management, investment analysis, and mortgage planning.

template business plan excel free

This bundle includes five powerful templates that can help you achieve your financial goals with ease:

  • Cryptocurrency Portfolio Tracker: Keep track of your cryptocurrency investments, monitor real-time market prices, and analyze your portfolio’s performance effortlessly.
  • Inventory and Sales Tracking Spreadsheet Template: Optimize your business operations with this template. Efficiently manage inventory, track sales, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Simple Investment Template: Make informed investment choices by analyzing potential returns and risks. This template simplifies investment planning for beginners and experts alike.
  • Extra-Payment Mortgage Calculator: Take control of your mortgage payments and reduce the total interest you pay. This tool helps you plan extra payments to pay off your mortgage faster.
  • Mortgage Calculator Spreadsheet with Amortization Table: Understand your mortgage terms, visualize your amortization schedule, and make sound financial decisions regarding homeownership.

Purchasing these templates individually would cost you more than $69, but with the Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle , you can access all of them at a fraction of the price. Save over 40% off the list price and embark on your journey to financial success today!

Price: $39.99

Excel templates are your secret weapon for accomplishing tasks faster and more efficiently. With the right template at your fingertips, you can conquer financial challenges, manage projects like a pro, and analyze data with ease. The best part? You don’t need to be an Excel expert to reap the benefits. These templates are designed to simplify your life and make complex tasks feel like a breeze.

So, whether you’re tracking expenses, planning a project, or diving into data analysis, remember that Excel spreadsheet templates are your trusty companions on the journey to productivity and success. Embrace them, customize them, and watch your tasks transform from daunting to doable. Excel templates are your shortcut to getting things done, and the possibilities are endless. Start using them today and take control of your tasks, one spreadsheet at a time!

Most Popular Posts

template business plan excel free

How To Highlight Duplicates in Google Sheets

a yearly calendar template

Google Sheets Calendar Templates: The 10 Best for 2024

Copy and Paste the code in the code editor

How to Make Multiple Selection in Drop-down Lists in Google Sheets

IF CONTAINS Google Sheets Formulas

Your Guide to IF CONTAINS Google Sheets Functions

Hady ElHady

Hady ElHady

Related posts.

How To Create an Excel Drop Down List (2 Simple Ways)

  • Chris Daniel
  • February 27, 2024

How To Set Print Area in Excel: An Easy 2024 Guide

  • February 20, 2024

Master the Excel Break Links Feature in 5-Minutes [Easy Guide]

  • February 16, 2024

How To Freeze Multiple Rows in Excel (Easy 2024 Guide)

  • February 8, 2024

Thanks for visiting! We’re happy to answer your spreadsheet questions. We specialize in formulas for Google Sheets, our own spreadsheet templates, and time-saving Excel tips.

Note that we’re supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission at no extra cost to you.

Like what we do? Share this article!

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office

20 minute read

52 Free Excel Templates to Make Your Life Easier

Devan Ciccarelli

Devan Ciccarelli

Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Pocket Email

template business plan excel free

Join the Excel conversation on Slack

Ask a question or join the conversation for all things Excel on our Slack channel.

Nothing beats the time-saving awesomeness of the perfect Excel template.

Whether you’re managing a team of employees or a busy household, being able to simply plug in your data and go means your work gets done faster, your projects run smoother, and you’re the most organized person in the room.

But finding the right template can be time-consuming on its own.

Luckily, you can get started ASAP because we’ve compiled a list of 52 free Excel templates to help make your life easier today.

Want to learn more?

Take your Excel skills to the next level with our comprehensive (and free) ebook!

Our list has you covered with template picks spanning 7 categories:

Project management

Money management, planning ahead, buying a house, personal weight loss, business management, business planning.

Skip ahead to the sections you're interested in or check each one out to see what you’re missing.

Looking for more templates? Check out these free downloadable Word resume templates and PowerPoint templates .

To kick things off, let’s start with 7 project management templates your team can’t afford to go without.

1. Timeline template

timeline template

This helps your team stay on the same page throughout the course of your project. If you don’t have time to create your own project timeline, don’t sweat it. Use this template to create one quickly.

2. Gantt Chart template

Gantt Chart template

Each milestone also has a summary of what needs to be done so there’s no question as to what everyone on your team should be working on and when those deliverables are due.

For the best results, create a general timeline to look at for quick answers, such as when something is due, and your Gantt Chart to see the details of the deliverables before they’re due.

3. To-do list template

Hold your team accountable. Once you have your general timeline created and your Gantt Chart laid out, you’ll need a way to keep your team in the loop with the status of certain deliverables. This to-do list template will help you do just that.

to-do-list template

With this template, you can add the project tasks, a status update, the priority level, a due date, who’s in charge, and any relevant notes to ensure that everyone on the team knows what’s going on.

And if any issues come up, you can use this next template.

4. Issue tracking template

Issue tracking template

This issue tracking template helps you keep a log of what went wrong, when it occurred, who handled the problem, and any relevant notes that may be helpful.

Remember, it’s better to identify the issues and document them now than it is to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again because you failed to identify a common thread.

5. Weekly timecard template

6. project tracking template.

Project tracking template

7. KPI tracking template

KPI tracking template

In this next section, I’ll show you the best templates to help you manage your money.

8. Money management template

9. personal budget template.

Level up your Excel skills

Become a certified Excel ninja with GoSkills bite-sized courses

10. Income and expense template

Income and expense template

11. Family budget planner template

12. household budget template, 13. college budget template.

For students, there’s also this helpful college budget template that tracks where most of your funds are going. Then you’ll know what to expect and how to plan ahead each semester (for the most part).

College budget template

14. Holiday spending budget template

15. travel budget template.

Travel budget template

16. Kids money management template

17. savings goal template, 18. wedding budget template.

Wedding budget template

19. Get out of debt template

Get out of debt template

20. Portfolio management template

Portfolio management template

Up next, I’ll show you how a little planning ahead will make your life smooth sailing down the road.

21. Meal plan template

Meal plan template

22. Home remodel budget template

Home remodel budget template

23. Party planning template

Parties can also increase your spending for the month. Let this party planning template make sure your party stays within your budget.

Party planning template

Purchasing a house is another important milestone that can quickly spiral out of your budget and control.

Fortunately, the templates in our next section will help alleviate some of the financial stress that comes with such a major purchase.

24. Home expense calculator template

25.  home buying checklist template.

Home buying checklist template

26. Mortgage calculator template

But before you decide to put in an offer on the house of your dreams, use this mortgage calculator template to see if your mortgage payments are something you can even afford.

Mortgage calculator template

Templates can also be helpful when you’re trying to lose or maintain your current weight. I’ll show you two great ones to use for this next.

27. Weight loss tracker template

Weight loss tracker template

28. Couple weight loss tracker template

To add to that, grab a partner or spouse and track both of your weight loss journeys with this weight loss template . You can motivate each other to succeed.

Couple weight loss tracker template

Up next, let’s talk about the best Excel templates for managing your business.

29. Basic invoice template

Couple weight loss tracker template

30. Service invoice template

Service invoice template

31. Sales invoice template

Sales invoice template

32. Account statement template

Account statement template

33. Packing slip template

Packing slip template

34. Price quote template

Price quote template

35. Purchase order template

Once your customer decides to accept your price quote, you can then create a purchase order thanks to this template .

Purchase order template

36. Sales receipt template

Sales receipt template

37. Rent receipts template

Rent receipts template

38. Home office expense tracking template

Home office expense tracking template

39. Computer repair invoice template

Computer repair invoice template

40. Time card template

Time card template

41. Weekly timesheet template

Weekly timesheet template

42. Weekly timesheet with breaks template

Weekly-timesheet-with-breaks

43. Free payroll calculator template

Free payroll calculator template

44. Proft and loss statement template

Proft and loss statement template

Now that you have templates for the technical aspects of operating your business, let’s go over a few to use if you’re just starting out or want to take your business to the next level.

45. Competitive analysis template

Competitive analysis template

46. Startup business planning template

Startup business planning template

47. Financial plan projection template

Financial plan projection template

48. On-page SEO template

On-page SEO template

49. Marketing calendar template

Marketing calendar template

50. Marketing editorial calendar

marketing-editorial-calendar-template

51. SWOT analysis template

SWOT analysis template

52. Event planning template

Event planning template

Don’t waste time creating your own templates; use these free Excel ones instead

You’re already busy enough, why add to your stress and overflowing to-do lists?

Instead of spending countless hours creating your own templates, use one of the free Excel templates on our list and you’ll make all the messy, overwhelming parts of your life that much easier.

Whether you’re starting a business or managing your personal finances, this list of 52 Excel templates has you covered.

Ready to become an Excel ninja? We got you – no matter where you are on the skill spectrum.

Check out our Basic and Advanced Excel course and level up today!

Loved this? Subscribe, and join 439,361 others.

Get our latest content before everyone else. Unsubscribe whenever.

Devan Ciccarelli

Crafting fluff-free content is Devan’s jam. When she’s not writing for GoSkills, you’ll find her outside reading, soaking up the sun, or hiking her next adventure.

Excel Challenge 38: Data Lookup From Multiple Sources

Recommended

Excel Challenge 38: Data Lookup From Multiple Sources

Take this Excel challenge by showing us what to do when XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP alone isn't enough to extract the values you want.

Using VBA Range Object in Microsoft Excel

Using VBA Range Object in Microsoft Excel

Learn how to use Excel VBA Range object for manipulating cell ranges to streamline your spreadsheets.

Excel Challenge 37: Keeping Track of Inventory

Excel Challenge 37: Keeping Track of Inventory

Use Excel to keep track of inventory with this challenge, guided by Microsoft MVP Deb Ashby.

© 2024 GoSkills Ltd. Skills for career advancement

Templates, Forms, Checklists for MS Office and Apple iWork

  • Search for:
  • Apple Numbers
  • Apple Pages
  • Software Testing
  • White Paper Templates
  • Business Process Design
  • Software Development
  • Writing Tips
  • Action Plan Writing
  • Business Plan Writing

No products in the cart.

Return to shop

Business Plan Templates (40-Page MS Word + 10 Free Excel Spreadsheets)

Download this 40-page MS Word Business Plan template and 10 free Excel spreadsheets  to write your next business plan. Includes sample guidelines and interactive spreadsheets.

Sections include Marketing Plan, Market Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Sales Forecast, Development Plan, Operational Plan, Financial Plan, 12-Month Profit & Loss, Projected Cash Flow, Balance Sheet, Break-Even Analysis, Personal Financial Statement, and Exit Strategy.

Download Now for only $19.99 – Buy Here!

Business Plan Template: Blue Theme

Business plan template: red theme.

You get two templates in the zip file. One blue theme, the other red. The red theme of the MS Word template has the exact same content as the blue theme. You can change the color scheme by updating the styles.

NB: Let me know if you need any help with this.

Executive Summary

Products and Services

Customer Demographics

Competitive Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Sales Forecast

Operational Plan

12 Month Profit & Loss Projection

Projected Cash Flow

Balance Sheet

Break-even Analysis

Business Plan: Free Excel Templates

Some of the Excel spreadsheets include a Balance Sheet, Break-even Analysis, Cash Flow, Competitive Analysis, General Demographic Profile, Personal Financial Statement, Profit and Loss Projections, and Sales Forecast.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary 2 Company Description 2.1 Mission Statement 2.2 History 2.3 Markets and Products 2.4 Objectives 2.5 Current Situation

3 Products and Services 3.1 Description of Products/Services 3.2 Production Process 3.3 Distribution/Service Delivery 3.4 New Products

4 Marketing Plan 4.1 Market Analysis 4.1.1 Research Findings 4.1.2 Growth Projections 4.2 Market Trends 4.3 Product 4.4 Customer Demographics 4.5 Competition 4.6 SWOT Analysis 4.7 Marketing Strategy 4.7.1 Positioning 4.7.2 Promotion 4.8 Price Comparison 4.9 Customer Service Plans 4.9.1 Retaining Customers 4.9.2 Customer Complaint Handling 4.10 Sales Forecast

5 Development Plan 5.1 Current Status 5.2 Development Plans 5.3 Development Timetable 5.4 Development Risks

6 Operational Plan 6.1 Current Premises 6.2 Current Premises Financial Details 6.3 Equipment, Vehicles & Fittings 6.4 Insurance Details 6.5 Production 6.6 Future Location 6.7 Legal Environment 6.8 Personnel 6.9 Inventory 6.10 Suppliers

7 Management and Organization 7.1 Professional and Advisory Support 7.2 Key People Details 7.2.1 Key Person 7.2.2 Key Person 7.2.3 Total Salary Costs 7.2.4 Number of Employees

8 Personal Financial Statement 8.1 Methods of Bank Finance 8.2 Assets as Security 8.3 Repayment for Borrowings

9 Financial Plan 9.1 12-Month Profit and Loss Projection 9.2 Projected Cash Flow 9.3 Opening Day Balance Sheet 9.4 Break-Even Analysis 9.5 Exit Strategy

10 Appendices 10.1 Glossary of Terms

Business Plan Template: Contents & Format

The Business Case templates are in Microsoft Word and Excel format (.doc & .xls).

The template pack includes the following documents:

Product Specifications

File Format : The templates are in  Microsoft Word   (.docx) and  Excel  format (.xlsx).

File Size:  The Download file is 2 MBs.

Opening the Files:  You don’t need any special software to unzip the files. To unzip the files, right click on it, then select Extract , and save it to your computer.

Getting Started:  Depending on your MS Office settings, the files may say Read Only when you open them. If this occurs, click  File ,  Save As  and save the files. There are no security settings on any of the files.

Images:  All of the images in the templates are copyright free.

  • How does the order process work ?
  • How can I Pay with my Credit Card (instead of PayPal)?
  • What’s the license agreement?

Who are your Customers?

Here is a sample list of our  customers .

Since 1998, Klariti provided products and services to Accenture, AIG, Bearing Point, Cap Gemini, Cisco, Disney, Ernst & Young, GE, HBO, IBM, J.P. Morgan, KLM, KPMG, Lehman Brothers, LEVI’S, MacDonalds, Macy’s, Mayo Clinic, McCormick, McGrawHill, MEGA, Mesirow , Mitre, NHL, NTL, OmniVision, Oracle, OshKosh, PennWest Energy, Pepico, Performance Technologies, Philips, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, PV Cycle, Raytheon, Reuters, Roche, Rogers, SAAB, Sabre Holding, Safeway, Sagem Morpho, Sara Lee, Shaw, Shell, Siemens, Sikorsky, Sobeys, SpeakEasy, SunPower, Sydney Opera House, Symantec, TATA, Tetra, ThyssenKrupp, TNT, Toyota, Travellers, TYCO, UC Davis, Verizon, Visteon, Vodafone, Wachovia Securities, Wal Mart, Whirlpool, WIPRO, Zurich.

Technical Support

I am  here  to help you with any questions. You can contact me directly if you need any helping using these templates.

What file formats do the templates work in?

The files work in  MS Word  97, 2003, 2007, Office 2010, Office 2016, Windows 7, XP, Vista, and  Apple iWork  (if you have Word for Mac), and  Google Docs .

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

EXCEL TEMPLATES

Popular Keywords

Total Results

No Record Found

Home » Budget » Business Plan

Download Business Plan Template In Excel

  • Budget , Business management , Excel Templates

Kickstart Your Business Success with Our Free Excel Business Plan Template

Charting a path to success for your business can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to organizing and managing the myriad elements that constitute a business plan. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce our free, comprehensive Business Plan Excel template. With multiple, integrated sheets for every facet of your planning needs, this template streamlines your strategic process, saving you time and effort.

What Is Included in Our Sample Business Plan Template in Excel?

Our Excel business plan template is meticulously designed and includes the following components:

  • Sales Planning / Forecasting Template : This template enables you to plan product-wise and year-wise sales. By analyzing trends over the previous two years, you can forecast sales for the coming year and make informed business decisions.
  • Profit and Loss Template : This sheet will help you track your revenues, costs, and expenses to determine your business’s profitability over a period of time.
  • Balance Sheet Template : It provides a snapshot of your company’s financial position at a particular moment, illustrating what the company owns (assets) and owes (liabilities), and the amount invested by shareholders (equity).
  • Cash Flow Template : With this, you can manage your cash position by tracking the inflow and outflow of cash in your business. This template helps in monitoring your liquidity and understanding if you have enough cash to cover your expenses.
  • Budget Template : This facilitates the allocation and tracking of financial resources, ensuring you don’t overspend and stay on the right financial track.
  • Break-Even Analysis Template : This crucial template calculates the point where your total cost equals your total revenue. Understanding your break-even point can help guide pricing strategy, monitor efficiency, and make profitable business decisions.

How to Use the Excel Business Plan Template?

Using our comprehensive Excel business plan template is simple:

  • Download the Template : Start by downloading our free Business Plan Excel template.
  • Input Your Data : Enter your business data into each sheet. Each section comes with clear instructions on what information is needed.
  • Analyze and Plan : Use the data you’ve entered to analyze your current business situation, make projections, and develop strategic plans.
  • Update Regularly : As your business evolves, so should your business plan. Regularly update the data in the template to keep your plan relevant and responsive to your business’s changing circumstances.

Why Use the Excel Business Plan Template?

Our Excel business plan template offers a host of benefits:

  • Comprehensive : It covers every aspect of your business plan, eliminating the need for multiple documents or programs.
  • Easy to Use : The template is designed to be user-friendly, making it easy for anyone, regardless of their familiarity with Excel.
  • Customizable : The template can be modified to suit the specific needs and nature of your business.
  • Effective Visualization : The template includes graphs and charts, transforming your data into a visual format that’s easier to understand and present.
  • Free : Our template is completely free, making it a cost-effective solution for business planning.

In conclusion, our Excel business plan template simplifies the planning process by consolidating all elements of a business plan into a single, comprehensive document. Whether you’re drafting your first business plan or refining an existing one, this template can be an invaluable tool. So, download our free Excel business plan template today and embark on a strategic journey to business success!

Users of This Free Business Plan Template

The Excel Business Plan Template is designed for a wide variety of users who need to develop a structured and strategic approach to their business planning. Here’s a list of individuals and entities who could greatly benefit from using this template:

  • Entrepreneurs and Startups : If you’re in the initial stages of starting a business, this template can help you plan, analyze, and forecast various aspects of your business such as sales, finances, and cash flow.
  • Small Business Owners : For existing small businesses, this template can help monitor performance, manage finances, and plan for future growth.
  • Financial Analysts and Managers : These professionals can use this template to gain insights into the financial health of a business, plan budgets, and conduct break-even analysis.
  • Freelancers and Solopreneurs : Even if you’re a one-person business, this template can help keep track of your finances, forecast your revenue, and manage your cash flow efficiently.
  • Consultants and Business Advisors : These individuals can utilize the template to assist their clients in developing business plans, improving financial management, and setting strategic goals.
  • Non-profit Organizations : Even though their goals might not be profit-oriented, non-profit organizations can also benefit from this template to manage their finances, plan budgets, and conduct break-even analysis for their fundraising events or projects.

Remember, the key to leveraging this tool effectively is to customize it to the unique needs and circumstances of your business or project. No matter your industry or the size of your business, our Excel Business Plan Template can be a valuable tool in your strategic planning toolkit.

Download this Business Plan template in Excel Format

Our easy to use editable Excel templates and save your significant amount of time and effort. Here’s how to download and use one of our templates:

Download this free Excel Template : Once you’ve browsed through our collection of templates and find the one that best fits your needs. Once you’ve found the template you want, click on the download button.

Replace sample data with your actual data: Once the template is downloaded, open it in Excel. You’ll see that it is already set up with sample data. To start analyzing your own data, simply replace the sample data with your actual data.

Customize the template: Our templates are completely editable, which means you can customize them to fit your specific needs. For example, you can change the formatting, add or remove columns, or create new charts and graphs.

Use the Excel template: Once you’ve fed in your data and customized the template, you’re ready to start using it for data analysis. Use the various tools and features of Excel to analyze and visualize your data, and make informed business decisions.

Save and share: Once you’ve finished working on the template, save it to your computer and share it with other members of your team or stakeholders as needed.

Click Download Button To Get Business Plan Excel Template

Instruction :

All Excel templates and tools are sole property of xlsxtemplates.com. User can only download and use the excel templates for their Personal use only. All templates provided by XLSX templates are free and no payment is asked. However, you are not allowed to distribute or share in any other website for sole purpose of generating revenue from it.

 You can also download and use our 1000 Best PowerPoint Presentation Templates and  500 Resume Samples  from  PPTXTemplates.com   Completely Free. All our templates are designed by Professionals

  • Tags business plan , business plan example , business plan layout , business plan step by step , business plan template , business plan template free , business planner , excel , excel budget template , excel business financial plan template , excel business planner template , excel project plan template , excel template , excel templates , excel templates for business , excel templates free download , how to write a business plan , project plan in excel , sample business plan

Business Plan Template

Sample Business Plan Template in Excet

Excel Template Category

Business management, data analysis, decision matrix, educational, event budget, excel addins, excel chart, excel planners, excel templates, federal income tax, financial calculator, financial management, financial statement, gantt chart, gst templates, health and fitness, home & personal, human resource, inventory management, invoice templates, list & checklist, personal finance, project management, sales & marketing, social media, timesheet & payroll, download free editable excel templates | popular templates.

Insurance Quote Template

Insurance Quote

Introduction: Streamlining Insurance Quotations An insurance quote is a vital document in the insurance industry, serving as a preliminary estimate of premiums for potential clients.

Freelance Quotation Template

Freelance Quotation

Introduction: Mastering Freelance Quotations In the world of freelancing, creating an effective quotation is crucial for outlining the scope and cost of your services to

Fencing Quotation

Fencing Quotation

Introduction: Navigating Fencing Service Quotations A fencing service quotation is an essential tool for businesses in the fencing industry. It provides potential clients with a

Event Planning Quote

Event Planning Quotations

Introduction: Excelling with Event Planning Quotations An event planning quote is a critical document for event planners, detailing proposed services and costs for organizing an

Construction Quote Template

Construction Quote

Introduction: Optimizing Construction Quotations A construction quote is a fundamental document in the construction industry, serving as a formal proposal of costs for construction services

Cleaning Quote

Cleaning Quote

Introduction: Perfecting Cleaning Service Quotations Creating an effective cleaning service quotation is crucial in the cleaning business. It serves as a formal proposal outlining the

Free editable professional Excel templates can be a useful tool for businesses , organizations, and individuals looking to streamline their data management and reporting processes. These templates can provide a pre-designed and pre-formatted framework for storing and organizing data, as well as for creating charts, graphs, and other visualizations to help communicate that data more effectively.

One advantage of using professional Excel templates is that they are often designed by experienced professionals who understand best practices for data management and visualization. This means that the templates are likely to be well-organized, easy to understand, and aesthetically pleasing, which can make working with them more efficient and enjoyable.

Another advantage is that these templates are often fully editable, allowing users to customize them to meet the specific needs of their organization or project. This can include adding or deleting rows and columns, changing the formatting and layout, and adding custom formulas and functions .

Some examples of professional Excel templates that may be available for free include budgeting templates for personal or business use , project management templates for tracking tasks and deadlines, and sales tracking templates for analyzing and forecasting sales data. There are also a wide variety of templates available for specific industries, such as real estate, marketing , human resource , Payroll management and among others.

Overall, free editable professional Excel templates can be a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their data management and analysis skills. By providing a pre-designed and customizable framework for storing, organizing, and visualizing data, these templates can help users save time and make more informed decisions.

Free Excel Templates

Welcome to Excel Templates – your ultimate destination for all things related to Excel! We pride ourselves on being a comprehensive, 100% free platform dedicated to providing top-notch, easily editable Excel templates, step-by-step tutorials, and useful macro codes. With fresh templates uploaded daily, we aim to meet every conceivable Excel need you may have. Whether you’re a student, a business professional, or someone looking to make sense of their data, our range of templates has you covered. Dive into the world of Excel Templates today and transform your number-crunching experience into an effortless journey of discovery and efficiency. Join our growing community and elevate your Excel game now.

  • Basic Excel Tutorials
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel Shortcuts
  • Advance Excel Tips
  • Finance Tips
  • Excel Macros Codes
  • Pivot Table Tips

DMCA Policy

Privacy Policy

 © 2023 xlsxtemplates all rights reserved

Free Startup Business Plan Templates and Examples

By Joe Weller | May 6, 2020

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn

Link copied

In this article, we’ve rounded up a variety of the top, professionally designed startup business plan templates, all of which are free to download in PDF, Word, and Excel formats.

Included on this page, you’ll find a one-page startup business plan template , a business plan outline template for startups , a startup business planning template with a timeline , and a sample startup business plan .

Startup Business Plan Template

template business plan excel free

Download Startup Business Plan Template - Word

Word | Smartsheet

This startup business plan template contains the essential components you need to convey your business idea and strategy to investors and stakeholders, but you can customize this template to fit your needs. The template provides room to include an executive summary, a financial overview, a marketing strategy, details on product or service offerings, and more.

One-Page Startup Business Plan Template

One Page Business Plan For Start Up Template

Download One-Page Startup Business Plan Template

Excel | Word | PDF

This one-page business plan is ideal for startup companies that want to document and organize key business concepts. The template offers an easy-to-scan layout that’s ideal for investors and stakeholders. Use this plan to create a high-level view of your business idea and as a reference as you flesh out a more detailed roadmap for your business.

For additional resources, visit " Free One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide ."

Simple Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Template for Startups

Simple Fill In The Blank Business Plan Template

Download Simple Fill-in-the-Blank Business Plan Template for Startups

This comprehensive fill-in-the-blank business plan template is designed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of building a startup business plan. This template comes with a customizable cover page and table of contents, and each section includes sample content that you can modify to fit the needs of your business. For more fill-in business templates, read our  "Free Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Templates"  article.

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Lean Business Plan Templates for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

This Lean business plan template takes a traditional business plan outline and extracts the most essential elements. Use this template to outline your company and industry overview, convey the problem you are solving, identify customer segments, highlight key performance metrics, and list a timeline of key activities.

Business Plan Outline Template for Startups

Simple Business Plan Outline Template

Download Business Plan Outline Template for Startups

You can use this business plan outline as a basis to create your own business plan. This template contains all the elements of a traditional business plan, including a title page, a table of contents, and information on what to include in each section. Simplify or expand this outline based on the size and needs of your startup business.

Startup Business Planning Template with Timeline

Simple Business Planning Template with Timeline

Download Startup Business Planning Template with Timeline

Excel | Smartsheet

As you create your business plan, this business planning template doubles as a schedule and timeline to track the progress of key activities. This template enables you to break down your plan into phases and provides space to include key tasks and dates for each task. For a visual timeline, shade in the cells according to each task’s start and end dates. The timeline ensures that your plan stays on track.

Business Plan Rubric Template for Startups

template business plan excel free

Download Business Plan Rubric Template for Startups

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

If you’re starting a business and want to keep all your ducks in a row, use this rubric to evaluate and score each aspect of your startup business plan. You can tailor this template to the needs of your specific business, and can also highlight areas of your plan that require improvement or expansion. Use this template as a tool to make sure your plan is clear, articulate, and organized. A sharp, insightful, well thought-out plan will definitely get the attention of potential investors and partners.

For additional resources to help support your business planning efforts, check out “Free Startup Plan, Budget, and Cost Templates.”

What’s the Best Business Plan Template for Startups?

The template you choose for your startup business depends on a number of factors, including the size and specific needs of your company. Moreover, as your business grows and your objectives change, you will need to adjust your plan (and possibly your choice of template) accordingly. 

Some entrepreneurs find it useful to use a Lean business plan template design in order to jot down a business concept and see if it’s feasible before pursuing it further. Typically one to three pages, a Lean business plan template encourages you to highlight core ideas and strategic activities and remain focused on key points.

Other entrepreneurs prefer a template with a more traditional business plan design, which allows you to go into greater detail and ensure you include every detail. A traditional plan can range from 10 to 100 pages and cover both the high-level and granular particulars of your overall concept, objectives, and strategy.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but the following section outlines the minimum that your business plan template should include in order to gain buy-in from potential investors.

What to Include in a Startup Business Plan

Whether you choose to use a template to develop your startup business plan or decide to write one from scratch, you need to include the following elements:

  • An overview of your company and the industry in which it operates
  • The problem you are solving and the proposed solution
  • A description of your product or service offerings, including key features
  • The existing alternatives that customers use and your competitive advantage
  • The target customer segments and the channels you will use to reach them
  • The cost structure and revenue streams associated with your business
  • A financial plan, including sales and revenue projections (ideally 3-5 years)
  • If applicable, the financial requirements to get your business running, including how you will source and allocate funds

Each of the following sections provides an example of a business plan that you can use for reference as you develop your own.

One-Page Lean Business Plan Example

This Lean business plan example displays a visually appealing and scannable one-page illustration of a business plan. It conveys the key strategies you need to meet your main objectives. Each element of this concise plan provides stakeholders and potential investors with links to resources that support and expand upon the plan’s details, and it can also serve as an investor pitch deck.

One Page Business Plan Example

Startup Business Plan Sample

This business plan sample contains all the aspects of a standard business plan. Using a fictional food truck business as the basis for a startup business plan, this sample will give you all the ideas you need to make your plan outstanding.

Basic Business Plan Sample

Download Startup Business Plan Sample - PDF

When the time comes that you need more space to lay out your goals and strategies, choose from our variety of  free simple business plan templates . You can learn how to write a successful simple business plan  here . 

Visit this  free non-profit business plan template roundup  or of you are looking for a business plan template by file type, visit our pages dedicated specifically to  Microsoft Excel ,  Microsoft Word , and  Adobe PDF  business plan templates. Read our articles offering  free 30-60-90-day business plan templates  to find more tailored options.

Top 10 Tips to Create a Startup Business Plan

Putting together a business plan can be overwhelming and time consuming, especially if you aren’t sure where to begin. Below, we share tips you can use to help simplify the process of developing a startup business plan of your own. 

  • Use a business plan template, or begin with a business plan outline that provides all the elements of a standard plan to get your ideas down on paper in a structured manner. (You can choose from the selection of templates above.)  
  • Remove sections from your outline that aren’t relevant or that aren’t necessary to launch and operate your business.
  • Compile the data you have gathered on your business and industry, including research on your target market and product or service offerings, details on the competitive landscape, and a financial plan that anticipates the next three to five years. Use that information to fill in the sections of your plan outline. 
  • Get input and feedback from team members (e.g., finance, marketing, sales) and subject matter experts to ensure that the information you’ve included in the plan is accurate.
  • Make certain that the objectives of your plan align with marketing, sales, and financial goals to ensure that all team members are moving in the same direction.
  • Although this section of the plan comes first, write the executive summary last to provide an overview of the key points in your business plan.
  • Prepare a pitch deck for potential clients, partners, or investors with whom you plan to meet in order to share vital information about your business, including what sets you apart and the direction you are headed. 
  • Who are the founders and management executives, and what relevant experience do they bring to the table?
  • What is the problem you are solving, and how is your solution better than what currently exists? 
  • What’s the size of the market, and how much market share do you plan to capture?
  • What are the trends in your market, and how are you applying them to your business?
  • Who are your direct competitors, and what is your competitive advantage?
  • What are the key features of your product or service that set it apart from alternative offerings, and what features do you plan to add in the future?
  • What are the potential risks associated with your business, and how do you plan to address them?
  • How much money do you need to get your business running, and how do you plan to source it?
  • With the money you source, how do you plan to use it to scale your business?
  • What are the key performance metrics associated with your business, and how will you know when you’re successful?
  • Revisit and modify your plan on a regular basis as your goals and strategies evolve.
  • Use a work collaboration tool that keeps key information across teams in one place, allows you to track plan progress, and captures updates in real time.

Successfully Implement Your Startup Business Plan with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

All Formats

Plan Templates

18+ free business plan templates.

A business plan acts as a blueprint of your company and covers all the important aspects of your business, thereby also hinting how your business can successfully grow. If the business planning isn’t done properly, it can lead to quite expensive corrective measures later on. Not only internally, but business plan templates are also used externally. They are indispensable during fundraising. They help to jump-start your business and maximize your chances of raising capital.

template business plan excel free

Plan Template Bundle

plan template bundle

  • Google Docs

Construction Business Plan Template Bundle

construction business plan template bundle 788x510

Education Business Plan Template Bundle

education business plan template bundle 788x510

Free Business Operational Plan Template

free business operational plan template

  • Editable PDF

Free Business Sales Action Plan Template

free business sales action plan template

Free 30 60 90 Day Business Plan Template

free 30 60 90 day business plan template

> Why Use Business Plan Templates?

Business plan template.

business plan template

Simple Business Plan Template

simple business plan template

Sample Business Plan Template

sample business plan template

One Page Business Plan Template

one page business plan template

Sample Business Plan in Word

sample business plan in word

Simple Real Estate Business Plan Template

simple real estate business plan template

Editable Startup Business Plan Template

editable startup business plan template

Salon Business Plan

salon business plan

Printable Restaurant Business Plan

printable restaurant business plan

Business Continuity Plan

business continuity plan

Simple Business Development Plan

simple business development plan

Business Plan Financial Projections Template

business plan financial projections template

Business Plan Spreadsheet Template

business plan spreadsheet template excel

Business & Financial Plan Excel Template

business financial plan template excel

Business Action Plan Excel Template

business action plan template excel

Business Plan & Budget Excel Template

business plan budget template excel

Who Would Benefit from the Business Plan Templates?

More in plan templates, business plan guidelines template, business plan layout template, basic business financial plan template, simple startup business plan template, business plan executive summary template, market analysis template in business plan, business plan startup cost template, small business plan financial template, business plan chart template.

  • 7+ Financial Plan Templates
  • 10+ Operational Plan Templates
  • 9+ Training Plan Templates
  • 5+ Shooting Schedule Template
  • 11+ School Counselor Lesson Plan Templates in PDF | Word
  • 9+ Interdisciplinary Lesson Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
  • 10+ Business Continuity Plan Templates in Google Docs | Ms Word | Pages | PDF
  • 18+ Compensation Plan Templates in Google Docs | MS Word | Pages | PDF
  • 10+ Executive Bonus Plan Templates in PDF
  • 8+ Facility Management Plan Templates in PDF
  • 10+ Diversity Recruitment Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
  • 11+ Audit Corrective Action Plan Templates in MS Word | Excel | PDF
  • 9+ Recruitment Agency Marketing Plan Templates in PDF
  • 10+ Recruitment Marketing Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
  • 10+ Student Recruitment Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word

Upmetrics

Business Planning

Financial Forecasting

AI Assistance

See How Upmetrics Works  →

Strategic Planning

Entrepreneurs & Small Business

Accelerators & Incubators

Business Consultants & Advisors

Educators & Business Schools

Students & Scholars

  • Sample Plans

Business Plan Course

Small Business Tools

Strategic Canvas Templates

E-books, Guides & More

  • WHY UPMETRICS?

Customers Success Stories

Free Business Plan Template for Excel

Ajay Jagtap

  • October 31, 2023

Business Plan Templates for Excel

With 1 in 8 people using Excel, I’d be hard-pressed to believe that anyone has never used it at some point in life.

While we have all used it at least once—be it for school homework, college assignments, or travel planning—we never really got the hang of it.

(Excel formulas are tough!)

Preparing a business plan from scratch using Excel is not a joke; we get that. That’s why we created this business plan template in Excel .

So, no more worrying about Excel formulas or plan structure—download the document and follow the instructions in the article for successful business planning.

Sounds good? Let’s start with understanding the pros and cons of using Excel for planning:

Pros and Cons of Using Excel for Business Plans

Before we head to discussing the Excel business plan template, let’s understand the pros and cons of using Excel for business planning:

  • Free to use:  MS Excel is 100% free for all its users, making it a cost-effective choice.
  • Data Analysis:  Excel is a powerful tool for performing various financial and data analyses and calculations.
  • Collaboration: Collaborating with your team while working on a project using Excel is easier.
  • Lack of automation: Excel may not help create dynamic business plans with automated features.
  • Limited presentation:  Excel cannot create an appealing business plan like a business plan software.
  • Complex formulas: Excel’s formulas are complex and require a significant learning curve to master.

So these were the pros and cons. Let’s cut to the chase and discuss the key components of our free business plan Excel template.

Key Components of Our Excel Business Plan Template

It’s a fact—you cannot use Excel to create the entire plan from scratch, no! Excel is a powerful tool for complex calculations and analyses; let’s use it for that only.

So, we’ll use this business plan Excel template only to perform complex financial analyses and calculations—to prepare financial projections.

Following are the critical components of a good business plan template you must include in your financial plan:

1. Income Statement

The income statement is one of the key financial statements of your financial plan that highlights its profit and loss over a given period of time.

The critical components of your income statement include—revenue/sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), operational costs, EBITDA, interest, and others.

Say goodbye to old-school Excel sheets & templates

Build your business plan faster and easier with AI

Plans starting from $7/month

template business plan excel free

2. Balance Sheet

Your balance sheet is a statement that reports your company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity, providing a snapshot of its financial position at a specific period of time.

The statement helping you calculate financial ratios includes the following:

  • Assets—e.g. Inventory, cash, property.
  • Liabilities—e.g. Accounts payable, loans, salaries to be paid.
  • Owners equity—e.g. Capital investment/contribution.

3. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement of your financial plan is the projection of your cash in and outflows over a certain period of time.

As one of three key components of your financial plan, the cash flow statement summarizes the amount of cash or cash equivalents entering or leaving your company.

4. Break-Even Analysis

A break-even analysis helps you determine the number of units you need to sell to cover all fixed and variable costs.

The break-even point is considered a measure of safety margin, and anything you sell beyond the point will result in profit.

While your balance sheet already highlights the assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity, assets are considered critical for investors to assess the company’s financial health. So, our simple business plan template (Excel) has a separate sheet for business assets.

6. Accounts Payable & Receivable

The accounts payable refer to the amount due to vendors or suppliers for services or goods received, whereas accounts receivable represent the money due to the company.

The increase or decrease in your accounts payable or receivable can be seen in your cash flow statement.

7. Working Capital

Working capital is the subtraction of your current liabilities from your current assets. As a critical element in identifying your company’s health, it helps investors understand if it has enough capital to pay employees and fund operations to meet short-term goals.

Download the Financial Forecast Template In Excel

We discussed all the critical statements to be covered in your financial plan. Now what? It’s time for you to download the financial forecast template and start preparing your financial plan.

Unlike other free Excel templates, this template has all the reports with the suggested revenue streams, expenses, and other details.

You can directly download and use the template to forecast cash flow, create balance sheets, and prepare income statements that provide detailed information about your revenue and expenses. So what are you waiting for?

How to Use an Excel Business Plan Template

We’re hoping you’ve already downloaded the business plan template. So, the question arises: How can this Excel template be used to prepare realistic forecasts?

Let’s get this over with:

Understand the template structure

Before you start planning, you must understand the structure of the financial portion of your business plan. Get a thorough review of the template and understand:

  • What critical statements does it include?
  • What are the revenue streams?
  • What are considered to be assets and liabilities?
  • What does the taxation structure look like?

And others. Once you thoroughly understand the structure, you can move ahead with the next step.

Analyze historical data

Financial forecasting is about assumptions—a lot of them, but accurate ones. If you’re a total stranger to financial forecasting, analyzing historical data will help you get off on the right foot.

Analyze the historical data and try to gain insights about your business financials:

  • Monthly revenue over the last year?
  • How much you’re spending on day-to-day operations?
  • What is your sales growth rate? How fast is it increasing over time?

And others. These historical figures will be of massive help in the next step.

Make pre-assumptions

As I said before, financial forecasts heavily rely on certain assumptions like sales forecasts, operational expenses, revenue growth, and others.

So, in this step, you’ll make assumptions about these variables based on the historical data to make them realistic and accurate.

Prepare key financial reports

Once you have made pre-assumptions, it’s time to prepare forecasts. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a lot of numbers; start by preparing critical financial reports that include—a cash flow statement, balance sheet, and income statement.

Other statements of your plan rely heavily on these reports, so the process will become much easier after having prepared these three beforehand.

Monitor and track progress

After preparing your financial reports, the next step is timely monitoring these reports and tracking progress.

You can compare your assumptions with actual results to see if your projections are accurate and relevant to the changing market trends.

Analyzing metrics like customer acquisition rate, acquisition costs, net profit, and gross margin will help track progress.

If you follow these steps rigorously, you can surely make a decent plan to support your business strategies and achieve financial goals.

Still, it was just about financial planning. What about the entire business plan? Excel is a no-go for business planning; let’s see why.

How Excel may not be the best choice for business planning?

Since Excel doesn’t offer all the necessary features for business planning that a business plan software like Upmetrics would, it is not the tool to be used to create a comprehensive business plan.

Following are a few reasons why Excel may not be a better choice for business planning compared to a tool like Upmetrics:

  • Limited features: Since it is not designed specifically for planning, it has limited business planning features compared to software like Upmetrics. A business planning software may include features like business plan builder, financial forecasting, and pitch deck creator.
  • Limited collaboration: Everyone knows Excel isn’t the tool with the best collaboration features. Business plan software offers collaboration features, allowing multiple team members to work on a business plan simultaneously.
  • No Automation: Upmetrics comes with many automation features like AI assistant and financial forecasting tool, helping entrepreneurs and small businesses save time and reduce human errors.
  • No customizable templates: Upmetrics has 400+ business plan examples and templates that make it easier for new users to get started, which has not been the case with Excel.

These were just a few of many reasons why a planning tool is a better alternative than Excel to create a comprehensive plan to support their business strategy.

Improve Your Business Financial Plan with Upmetrics

I’d surely have recommended Excel for financial planning if you had asked maybe a decade ago.

Today? There’s no way Excel stands a chance when competing with a cutting-edge AI business planning solution like Upmetrics.

Upmetrics simplifies business planning with its library of business templates, financial forecasting tool, and AI-powered assistant, making it a much more efficient alternative to Excel.

What are you waiting for? Start planning today!

template business plan excel free

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i create a business plan in excel.

It’s challenging to draft an entire business plan in Excel. However, you can use Excel to create the financial portion of your plan using a free business plan Excel template. A ready-made template is always better and faster than preparing your financial reports from scratch.

Are there any alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan?

Yes, there are a few alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan. However, using a business plan software like Upmetrics would be a better alternative to creating a business plan than others.

Why should I use an Excel template for my business financial plan?

You cannot certainly master Excel formulas in one day, and preparing advanced financial reports from scratch means you must be very good at accounting, budgeting, and Excel sheets and ready to spare some intense hours.

So, considering the complexity of Excel—using a ready-made template seems like a great starting point for budding entrepreneurs with no financial planning experience.

Are there any free business plan templates available in Excel?

Although it’s tough to create the entire business plan in Excel from scratch, Upmetrics offers a free business plan Excel template to help you gain inspiration and make the financial portion of your business plan.

Can I share my financial plan online with others using Excel?

Yes, you can share your financial plan online with others using Excel. To share your document with others, simply click on the “Share with People” option and enter their email addresses, and you have shared the doc.

About the Author

template business plan excel free

Ajay is a SaaS writer and personal finance blogger who has been active in the space for over three years, writing about startups, business planning, budgeting, credit cards, and other topics related to personal finance. If not writing, he’s probably having a power nap. Read more

Upmetrics logo

Reach Your Goals with Accurate Planning

No Risk – Cancel at Any Time – 15 Day Money Back Guarantee

trustpilot reviews

Popular Templates

Ready to kickstart your business planning.

small business plan cta

– Don’t Miss It

Add function and flair with Excel templates

Whatever you use excel for, there are customizable design templates that'll help you get started on your next project. find templates that'll jumpstart your work the next time you need to crunch some numbers., planners and trackers.

Stay on top of all the important details with easily customizable templates for planners and trackers. From inventories to budgets and client meetings, find a template to keep it all organized.

template business plan excel free

Whether you're creating editorial calendars, promotional calendars for customers, or something for yourself, keep life on track with helpful and easily customizable calendar templates.

template business plan excel free

While a schedule won't give you more hours in the day, it will keep those hours organized. Find templates for class schedules, sports teams, and more to help you stay on time.

template business plan excel free

Branded invoice templates bring a professional touch to your billing. Use easily customizable templates to bring your personal style or business branding to your invoices.

template business plan excel free

Financial management

From budgets to loan calculators, find templates that help take the guesswork out of accounting and money management.

template business plan excel free

Start with the best Excel templates

FIRE estimator modern simple

A hassle-free way to create custom, useful Excel spreadsheets

Create custom budgets, invoices, schedules, calendars, planners, trackers, and more with easily customizable Excel templates. You don't need to be an expert in design or Excel. Here's how:

template business plan excel free

1. Find the perfect Excel template

template business plan excel free

2. Customize your creation

template business plan excel free

3. Show it off

Let's create an excel spreadsheet, frequently asked questions, what is a template in excel.

A template for Excel is a pre-built spreadsheet or workbook that's already formatted, organized, and populated with formulas tailored for its purpose. If you need to organize or plan something, there's probably an Excel spreadsheet or workbook template perfect for the task. You can use pre-built Excel templates for time management, budgeting, project planning , and much more.

What kind of Excel templates are there?

There's an Excel template for practically any number-related document you'll need. Planning an event with a budget? Find a budget template for your needs. Want to stay organized with your everyday tasks? Customize an Excel calendar that you can print and write on or type directly into. Does your business need to send an invoice to a customer? Use an Excel invoice template that you can add your logo and business colors to. If you need to stay organized and see a lot of information at once, using an Excel template is the way to go.

What can I use Excel templates for?

You can use Excel templates to unlock the full functionality of your spreadsheets. Excel is way more than rows and columns: You can use it to organize your personal life, your professional tasks , manage your time , boost your productivity, and more. See what you can do with Excel when you start with a customizable template.

Popular categories

Modern resume

  • 18 min read

Top 10 Free Excel Business Budget Templates for 2023

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates

What Is Budgeting?

Why is budgeting important, how to create a budget template, how to make a monthly budget template, why use a template for budgeting, how to use an excel budget template, top free excel business budget templates, 1. business case excel template, benefits of using a business case excel template, 2. p&l statement excel template, benefits of using a p&l statement excel template, 3. revenue forecasting excel template, benefits of using a revenue forecasting excel template, 4. balance sheet excel template, benefits of using a balance sheet excel template, 5. income statement excel template, 6. startup business budget excel template, 7. expense-tracking excel template, 8. cash runway excel template, 9. unit economics excel template, 10. operating budget excel template.

A business budget is an essential tool for any business, no matter how big or small. It helps you stay on track with your finances and ensure that all areas of your organization run efficiently. With a budget in place, you can quickly identify areas where costs are getting out of control and make adjustments before they become problematic.

Creating a budget can be daunting, especially if you are unfamiliar with Excel. Thankfully, many free Excel business budget templates are available that make it easy to set up your own budget. These templates provide an easy-to-follow format that allows you to quickly input your income and expenses so you can get started right away.

Budgeting is a process of predicting and managing your income and expenses. It helps you plan out how much money you will need to cover your business costs for the month or year ahead. With budgeting, you can track spending, identify areas where you may be overspending, and make adjustments as needed to stay within your budget.

Budgeting is essential for any business, as it allows you to plan ahead and ensure your organization is on the right track financially. Without a budget, setting goals and tracking progress can be challenging. A budget also helps you identify areas where costs are getting out of control so you can take corrective action before they become too costly.

When creating a budget template, it's essential to include all the categories and items relevant to your business. This includes revenue sources, fixed costs such as rent or utilities, variable expenses like advertising or travel, and any other relevant items. Once you have identified these categories, you can enter them into an Excel spreadsheet. It's important to remember that budgeting can be complex, and you should always consult a professional if you need help.

Once all the information has been entered into your template, it's time to begin tracking income and expenses. This will give you an accurate picture of how much money is coming in and going out each month. As the months progress, you can easily adjust your budget if it becomes necessary. This way, you'll always have an accurate picture of your financial situation and be able to adjust accordingly.

Using a free Excel business budget template, you can quickly and easily create a comprehensive budget that will help keep your finances in check. Once you're comfortable with the budget, you can modify it as needed to accommodate any changes in your business. With a bit of time and effort, you can have an adequate budget in place that will keep your business running smoothly.

Creating a monthly budget template is similar to creating a one-time budget. Start by identifying all the relevant categories and items to your business. Once you have all the information gathered, enter it into an Excel spreadsheet. You can then use this template to track your monthly expenses and income. As the months pass, adjust your budget based on new developments or changes in your business.

Using a template for budgeting provides several benefits. It allows you to quickly create accurate and up-to-date budgets, allowing you to make informed decisions about your finances. Additionally, templates make it easy to track expenses and income so you can adjust as needed. Finally, free Excel business budget templates can save time and money as you won't need to hire a professional to help with budgeting.

Using an Excel budget template is a great way to get started creating your business budget. All of the free templates provided here include a simple format that's easy to use and understand. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your Excel budget template:

  • Start by entering all your income sources, such as sales revenue, interest income, and other sources of revenue.
  • Next, enter your expenses, such as payroll, rent, supplies, and other operating costs.
  • Make sure to include taxes and other overhead costs in your budget.
  • Set up a timeline for budgeting so you can stick to it throughout the year.
  • Run reports and analyze the data in your budget. This will help you identify areas where costs are getting out of control or where there may be opportunities to save money.

By taking the time to create an accurate and up-to-date business budget, you can ensure that your organization runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. With the help of free Excel business budget templates, you can quickly and easily create a budget that works for your organization.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Business Case Excel Template

A business case excel template helps businesses easily analyze and evaluate different scenarios to inform decision-making. This type of template includes pivoting tables, graphs, financial projections, and other valuable data that can help you make the best possible decisions for your organization. Business cases are often used to compare various investment or product opportunities to determine which one is the most profitable.

There are many benefits to using a business case excel template, such as:

  • Streamlining the decision-making process by providing relevant data and insights that help inform decisions.
  • Creating an organized structure for analyzing different scenarios and options.
  • Consolidating data into one place to make it easier to analyze and compare.
  • Generating various reports that can be used to track performance and make informed decisions.
  • The ability to customize the template for specific needs or goals.

Creating a business case template in Excel can help you analyze data and make informed decisions that will benefit your organization.

Download the Business Case Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Profit and Loss PL Statement Excel Template

A Profit and Loss (P&L) statement Excel template is a spreadsheet that helps businesses analyze their financial performance and make informed decisions. This type of template includes tables and graphs that can be used to track income, expenses, and profits over a period of time. It also provides insight into cash flow and profitability.

Using a P&L statement Excel template provides several benefits, such as:

  • Giving an overview of the business's financial performance over some time.
  • Breaking down income and expenses into categories to make it easier to analyze.
  • Being able to track profit margins, cash flow, and other vital metrics.
  • Generating reports that can be used to inform decision-making.
  • Analyzing different scenarios to identify areas for improvement.

By using a P&L statement Excel template, businesses can quickly and easily analyze their financial performance and make informed decisions that will benefit the organization.

Download the P&L Statement Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Revenue Forecasting Excel Template

A revenue forecasting Excel template helps businesses predict future financial performance by analyzing historical trends and data. This type of template includes a variety of graphs, charts, and tables that can be used to analyze past performance and make projections for the future. Revenue forecasting is often used to set business goals and inform strategic plans.

Using a revenue forecasting Excel template has many benefits, such as:

  • Allowing businesses to develop reliable projections and estimates based on past performance.
  • Identifying trends and insights that can inform decision-making.
  • Generating various reports and dashboards that can be used to track performance.
  • Establishing goals and benchmarks that can be used to measure success.

Download the Revenue Forecasting Excel Template for Free.

Top Business Budgeting Software Tools

The best picks for business budgeting software tools to monitor your financial performance and ensure your business is using its resources efficiently.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Balance Sheet Excel Template

A balance sheet Excel template is a spreadsheet that helps businesses track financial transactions and analyze the organization's overall health. This template includes several sections, such as assets, liabilities, and equity. A balance sheet provides an overview of a company's finances, showing how much money it has in cash, investments, or debts.

Using a balance sheet excel template has many benefits, such as:

  • Allowing businesses to analyze and compare financial data easily.
  • Creating an organized structure for tracking assets and liabilities.
  • Generating various reports that can be used to measure performance.

By creating a balance sheet excel template, businesses can quickly and efficiently track their financial data and make informed decisions about their organization's finances.

Download the Balance Sheet Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Income Statement Excel Template

An income statement Excel template helps businesses analyze and track their financial performance. This template includes several sections, such as revenue, expenses, and net income. An income statement provides an overview of a company's profitability, showing how much money it has earned or lost over a given period.

Download the Income Statement Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Startup Business Budget Excel Template

A startup business budget Excel template helps businesses manage their finances and plan for the future. This template includes several sections: revenue projection, expenses, and cash flow. Companies can use a startup business budget template to analyze their financial performance accurately and determine the best course of action for their organization.

Download the Startup Business Budget Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Google Sheets Templates and Financial Models

Top Free Google Sheets Templates and Financial Statements to help you manage your business financials, monitor performance, and make informed decisions.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Expense Tracking Excel Template

An expense-tracking Excel template or an expense-tracker Excel template helps businesses track and analyze their spending. This template includes several sections, including expenses by category, total costs, and monthly averages. By using an expense tracking template, businesses can quickly and easily identify areas of overspending or unnecessary expenses so they can make better decisions about their finances.

Download the Expense-Tracking Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Cash Runway Excel Template

A cash runway Excel template is a type of spreadsheet that helps businesses track their cash flow and analyze the short-term financial health of the organization. This template includes several sections, such as cash inflows, outflows, and balances. A cash runway provides an overview of a company's ability to pay its expenses and manage liquidity, showing how much cash is available to the organization at any given time.

Download the Cash Runway Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Unit Economics Excel Template

A unit economics Excel template is a spreadsheet that helps businesses analyze the profitability of individual products, services, or customer segments. This template includes several sections, such as revenue per unit, cost per unit, and operating profit per unit. Using a unit economics Excel template, businesses can accurately analyze the profitability of different product lines and identify potential areas for improvement.

Download the Unit Economics Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Excel Business Budget Templates Operating Budget Excel Template

An operating budget Excel template helps businesses track and manage their expenses. This type of template includes several sections, such as fixed costs, variable costs, and capital investments. An operating budget provides an overview of a company's expected expenses over a given period of time, helping the organization make smart decisions about its finances.

Download the Operating Budget Excel Template for Free.

Using the top free Excel business budget templates is an effective way for businesses to create and maintain financial plans. From business cases to revenue forecasting and balance sheets, these templates help businesses stay organized and make informed decisions that benefit their organization.

Hady has a passion for tech, marketing, and spreadsheets. Besides his Computer Science degree, he has vast experience in developing, launching, and scaling content marketing processes at SaaS startups.

Layer is now Sheetgo

Automate your procesess on top of spreadsheets.

  • Contact sales

Start free trial

12 Free Project Planning Templates for Excel and Word

ProjectManager

Without a plan, projects are in trouble. Project planning is one of the first and most important aspects of project management. Using project planning templates can help you schedule tasks, estimate budgets and allocate resources.

Project management software does more than a static Excel or Word template, but using these free 12 project planning templates for Excel and Word is a decent substitute. Download one or all to start your next project on the right foot.

Why Use Project Planning Templates?

Project planning templates are an important part of project management. They organize your tasks, help you write a project charter, come up with an accurate budget and so much more. Even if you’re using project management software, project planning templates can help you with everything from decision making, such as with our free RACI matrix template, to identifying project deliverables, with our free work breakdown structure template.

You can even use project planning templates to help you manage your project and track progress and risks. They provide a consistent project documentation process, which can then be archived and retrieved to inform future planning. Project planning templates help reduce work as they’re preformatted so you don’t always have to start from scratch.

But using project planning templates is, at best, only a starting point. To ensure your plans are well-managed during project execution, you’ll want to upgrade to project management software.

ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that helps you plan projects and manage and track them in real time. We have multiple project views, from kanban boards to tasks lists, sheet and calendar views, but project managers typically plan their projects on our powerful Gantt charts.

Unlike templates, our Gantt charts organize your tasks, add resources and costs and link all four types of task dependencies to avoid costly delays. Gantts can filter for the critical path to identify essential tasks and set a baseline to track your planned progress against actual progress in real time. That’s how you deliver on time and within budget. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager's Gantt chart light mode

12 Best Project Planning Templates

If you’re not ready to use project management software, these 12 project planning templates for Excel and Word can help you get your project planned properly. They cover all the bases, from creating a timeline to chart your tasks to having a risk register to prepare your team for issues that inevitably arise in every project.

1. Project Plan Template

A project plan is a big endeavor. Our free project plan template for Word helps you organize the various project management documentation needed to prepare your project for success. You get to address the planning basics, such as defining your project scope, identifying milestones and breaking the project down into manageable phases and tasks.

Project plan template by ProjectManager

Then you can create a project schedule, including task dependencies, project assumptions and constraints. There’s also a section that addresses the project budget, risk and change management, which is essential to stay on track. Included is a risk log and the process you’ll use for change management to avoid delays.

2. Project Charter Template

A project charter is an important project planning document. It provides high-level information on the project to ensure stakeholders are aware of the project deliverables, milestones and the roles and responsibilities of the project team. It also explains the reason for the project, including how the project plan and project team will be structured to meet the project goals.

Project charter template by ProjectManager

Using our free project charter template for Word will define the project vision and scope for everyone involved. It’s presented to the project sponsor in a neat, organized and easy-to-digest fashion. From the executive summary to the appendix, everything is collected to show how to achieve the project’s goals. The project charter template defines the project and shows the plan that will outline the milestones, tasks, dependencies and resource management plan .

3. Project Budget Template

All projects cost money. Being able to accurately estimate those costs and make a realistic project budget can make the difference between a healthy profit margin and losing money on the project. That’s why using our free project budget template for Excel is such a vital part of any project planning template offering. It can help you monitor project expenses and avoid cost overruns.

Project budget template

The free project planning template lets you list all your tasks and subtasks, including who’s assigned to each. Then you can estimate the labor, materials and other costs , such as travel, equipment, food and more. There’s also a column to track the actual costs for each of these categories to monitor the budgeted versus actual costs. A final balance column shows if you’re in the red.

4. Work Breakdown Structure Template

Work breakdown structure template

A work breakdown structure is a hierarchical chart that incrementally breaks down the project into deliverables and the tasks that are needed to complete those deliverables. Our free work breakdown structure template for Excel is a customizable project planning template made up of two sheets, one that has a task list and the other a tree diagram to help you identify not only deliverables and tasks but dependencies, resources and more.

5. Project Timeline Template

Another powerful project planning template is a timeline. It’s a visual representation of your schedule laid out from start to finish. On the project timeline , you can plot your project tasks, due dates, milestones and more. Use our free project timeline template for Excel to start your project scheduling process.

Project timeline template

When you open our free project planning template for making timelines, you’ll see that it’s divided in half. On the left is a spreadsheet where you can list all the project tasks in one column, their start date in another and the end date in yet another. The last column notes the duration of the task in days. As you’re doing this, a timeline on the right will automatically populate to show you the entire project in one place.

6. Project Scope Template

The project scope outlines your project, so this project planning template is extensive. It’s a detailed document that shows the project’s activities, resources, timelines and deliverables. It lists your key stakeholders, the processes you’ll be using in the project, assumptions and constraints, all so you can understand what’s in and out of scope for the project.

Project scope template

Our free project scope template for Word is very thorough, though you can add to it as suits your project needs. We have space for project managers to explain the need for the project, what’s in and out of scope, its business objectives, deliverables and cost estimates and much more.

7. RACI Matrix Template

RACI is an acronym for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. A RACI matrix , often referred to as a diagram or chart, is a tool that ensures that all project stakeholders are on the same page and working together, making it an important project planning template.

ProjectManager's RACI template for Excel

Our free RACI matrix template for Excel helps you identify and define everyone involved with the project. The template lists all the project stakeholders across the top row and tasks down the left side of the template. Then just add R, A, C or I to define who is responsible for what.

8. Resource Plan Template

Resources are part of any planning process and, therefore creating a resource plan is an essential part of the project planning phase. You need to identify and plan everything needed to execute your project, and the most important resource is your team. Our free resource plan template for Excel helps you align resources with your project schedule and budget.

Resource plan template

Our free resource plan template helps you organize tasks by team members and the department in which they work. You can also estimate the planned effort for each task, the team member’s rate of pay and the total cost for the duration of that work. There’s also a calendar to schedule the team’s work.

9. Risk Register Template

Risks, whether good or bad, are unexpected events in a project. Regardless, you need to plan for them. A risk register allows you to list all your project risks, their potential impact, priority level and more. You can use it throughout the project life cycle to track any risks that might occur.

Risk tracking template

The template allows you to add an ID number to each risk to track it. Then you can describe the risk and note the potential impact on the project. Following that, you’ll add the response if that risk becomes an issue in the project. You can also note the risk level to prioritize it and who on the team is responsible for dealing with that issue if it arises in the project.

10. Project Calendar Template

Calendars are one of many ways to plan a project. As a project planning template, calendars can provide a monthly overview of the assignments and deadlines of the project. Use our free project calendar template for Excel to plan your project on a calendar grid.

Project calendar template

When you open our free project calendar template, you’ll find 12 sheets, one for each month of the year. The calendar has color coding to indicate the task and which phase it belongs to. We’ve created some examples, which you can use or change to suit your project, as the template is customizable.

11. Action Plan Template

An action plan is a plan. It charts the steps necessary to achieve whatever goals you have in mind. It’s a project planning template that can help you define your project timeline and resources.

Action plan template

Using our free action plan template for Excel gives you space to list your tasks ad note the phase in which they’ll take place and who’s assigned to that task. There’s a column to mark its status to help you track the task, as well as a place to add start and end dates, resources and their associated costs.

12. Project Milestone Template

You can collect project planning templates without touching on milestones , which are part of the project planning phase. They’re used to indicate important dates on a project timeline, often showing the end of one phase and the beginning of the next, which helps with tracking progress.

ProjectManager's milestone template

You can open our free project milestone template in our software and import your project plan from Excel or create your own in the free template. The milestones are represented on the Gantt chart timeline as diamond icons. Our software gives you access to the Gantt chart and multiple project views, but more on that in the next section.

ProjectManager Helps With Project Planning

If you’ve used the milestone template in ProjectManager, then you can see the advantages of project management software over static project planning templates. Templates must be manually updated and aren’t great for collaboration.

ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that helps you plan, manage and track your projects in real time. Everything you can do with the above project planning templates you can do better in our software. We’ve already shown how our powerful Gantt chart helps you organize tasks, resources and cost when building a project plan, schedule and budget. Here’s what else our tool can do.

Manage Resource and Labor Costs

Resources are part of any project planning process. Our software makes it easy to assign team members to tasks by allowing you to set up their availability in advance. You can note each team member’s vacation time, PTO and even global holidays for those with remote teams.

Once everyone has been assigned, toggle to the color-coded workload chart, which makes it easy to see team allocation at a glance. If some are overallocated, you can re-allocate those resources to balance the team’s workload and keep them working at capacity and productivity without eroding morale. During project execution, our secure timesheets streamline payroll and help you track labor costs to stay on budget.

ProjectManager's team page

Track Project Progress, Time and Costs

There’s more than one way to track project costs once the project has moved into its execution, monitoring and controlling phases. For a high-level view, project managers can use real-time dashboards , which automatically collect data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts. You can see how the project is progressing against your plan, compare costs against your budget and much more. If you’re managing multiple projects, use our portfolio dashboards.

ProjectManager's dashboard

For more details, use our reporting features. Customizable status and portfolio reports capture your project in time, but there are also reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more, all of which can be filtered to show only the data you want to see. Then share them with stakeholders to keep them updated.

Related Project Planning Content

Project planning is a big subject and we have many more articles that discuss all aspects of it from making a project plan to explaining what an implementation plan is. Check out a sample of our project planning content below.

  • Project Planning: How to Make a Project Plan
  • The Ultimate Guide to Resource Planning
  • How to Execute a Plan Successfully
  • What Is a Work Plan? How to Make a Work Plan In 7 Steps
  • What Is an Implementation Plan?

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in between. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to plan and deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

IMAGES

  1. Free Business Plan Template for Word and Excel

    template business plan excel free

  2. Business Plan Template Excel

    template business plan excel free

  3. Free Business Plan Templates in Excel

    template business plan excel free

  4. Business Plan Template Excel Free Download

    template business plan excel free

  5. Business Plan Templates (40-Page MS Word + 10 Free Excel Spreadsheets

    template business plan excel free

  6. business plan spreadsheet template excel

    template business plan excel free

VIDEO

  1. Video Tutorial

  2. How Can I Use an Excel Template for Preventive Maintenance Scheduling?

  3. ఈ idea 💡తో తమలపాకులతో ప్లేట్లు స్పూన్లు తయారు చేసుకుంటూ నెలకి 2 lacks సంపాదిస్తున్న ఇద్దరు యువకులు#

  4. Business Plan in Excel

  5. Business Plan in Excel

  6. ✅ Projects Work Plan Template Excel

COMMENTS

  1. Free Business Plan Templates in Excel

    Business Plan Template in Excel. This Excel business plan template has all the traditional components of a standard business plan, with each section divided into tabs. This template includes space to provide the executive summary, target audience characteristics, product or service offering details, marketing strategies, and more.

  2. 10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

    7. ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template. ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template. The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality.

  3. Free Business Plan Excel Template [Excel Download]

    Download the template here: Business Plan Excel Template. The template is easy to customize according to your specific business needs. Simply input your own financial data and projections, and use it as a guide to create a comprehensive financial plan for your business. Remember to review and update your financial plan regularly to track your ...

  4. Free business plan templates

    Powerful business plan templates. Plan for the future, no matter what your business plans are or the size of your business with these designs and templates. Whether it's just one big project or an entire organization's worth of dreams, these templates will keep you and your company on track from ideation to completion. Category.

  5. Business Plan Financial Templates

    Visit this free non-profit business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. If you are looking for a business plan template by file type, visit our pages dedicated specifically to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Adobe PDF business plan templates.

  6. Create a business plan

    Start with a template. Download these templates from the Office Templates site to create your plan: Fill in your Business plan. Analyze your market with the Business market analysis template. Detail your financials in a Financial plan. Divide up the work and track deliverables with this Business plan checklist.

  7. Free Simple Business Plan Templates

    Try Smartsheet for Free. In this article, we've compiled a variety of simple business plan templates, all of which are free to download in PDF, Word, and Excel formats. On this page, you'll find a one-page business plan template, a simple business plan for startups, a small-business plan template, a business plan outline, and more.

  8. 73 Free Excel Templates & Examples

    A collection of professionally designed templates available for Excel. Download, customize, and send in minutes. ... Download our free 1-page business plan ... Download template : One Page Business Plan Learn more : One Page Business Plan. All Excel business templates. ...

  9. Free Business Plan Template for Word and Excel

    This template provides a business plan outline with sample questions, tables, and a working table of contents. It was created for newer versions of Word and Excel (Office 2007 or later) so that you can easily change the fonts and color scheme and the file will be compatible with the mobile and web-based Word & Excel apps. It is best to use ...

  10. 33 Excel Templates for Business to Improve Your Efficiency

    These handy Excel templates will save you precious time when creating business documents. 1. Timeline template. Time is a resource that can't be gained back, which is why it's essential to track it. This timeline template by Vertex42 gives you an overview of the milestones and events that team members should be aware of. 2. Gantt chart ...

  11. 14 Best Excel Templates for Business in 2024 (Free & Premium)

    6. Capital Expenditure Planning Template. Capital expenditures (CapEx) are essential for businesses looking to grow and invest in assets like equipment, technology, or infrastructure. This free CapEx Excel template simplifies the planning and tracking of capital expenditures, ensuring efficient allocation of resources.

  12. Write your business plan

    Learn how to write a business plan quickly and efficiently with a business plan template. Content. Business plans help you run your business. ... There are different ways to develop a lean startup template. You can search the web to find free templates to build your business plan. We discuss nine components of a model business plan here:

  13. 52 Free Excel Templates to Make Your Life Easier

    46. Startup business planning template. Every great business starts with two things: a good product and a solid business plan. While I can't help you with the product itself, I can offer you this free Excel template which shows you everything you need to include in your business plan. 47. Financial plan projection template

  14. Business Plan Templates: 26 FREE Samples

    Get unlimited eSignatures. Create, manage, and eSign documents for only $19 per month. Create your success roadmap with a laundromat business plan template, designed to arrange the essentials of the laundry business. Empower your path to long-term success with our 5-year business plan template.

  15. Business Plan Templates (40-Page MS Word + 10 Free Excel Spreadsheets

    Business Plan: Free Excel Templates. Some of the Excel spreadsheets include a Balance Sheet, Break-even Analysis, Cash Flow, Competitive Analysis, General Demographic Profile, Personal Financial Statement, Profit and Loss Projections, and Sales Forecast. Download Now for only $19.99 - Buy Here!

  16. Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

    This section of your simple business plan template explores how to structure and operate your business. Details include the type of business organization your startup will take, roles and ...

  17. Download free Sample Business Plan template in Excel

    Download the Template: Start by downloading our free Business Plan Excel template. Input Your Data: Enter your business data into each sheet. Each section comes with clear instructions on what information is needed. Analyze and Plan: Use the data you've entered to analyze your current business situation, make projections, and develop ...

  18. Free Startup Business Plan Templates

    Get free Smartsheet templates. In this article, we've rounded up a variety of the top, professionally designed startup business plan templates, all of which are free to download in PDF, Word, and Excel formats. Included on this page, you'll find a one-page startup business plan template, a business plan outline template for startups, a ...

  19. Excel Business Plan Template

    Free Download. Check out and download this high-quality 30-60-90 day business plan that lets you make a plan so that you have a concrete vision for your business. This is easy to edit and customize, so you won't have trouble making changes to it. Avail this plan template in Word now!

  20. Excel Business Plan Template

    We can select the template as per our needs. To open a third-party template, click Open > Browse and select the template we downloaded from a source. Let us suppose we have selected a business template from the inbuilt templates. We'll click on "create" to make the template ready. Now, the template is ready for use.

  21. Free Business Plan Template for Excel

    Excel is a powerful tool for complex calculations and analyses; let's use it for that only. So, we'll use this business plan Excel template only to perform complex financial analyses and calculations—to prepare financial projections. Following are the critical components of a good business plan template you must include in your financial ...

  22. Excel design templates

    You don't need to be an expert in design or Excel. Here's how: 1. Find the perfect Excel template. Search spreadsheets by type or topic, or take a look around by browsing the catalog. Select the template that fits you best, whether it's a planner, tracker, calendar, budget, invoice, or something else. 2.

  23. Top 10 Free Excel Business Budget Templates for 2023

    Download the Business Case Excel Template for Free. 2. P&L Statement Excel Template. Download the P&L Statement Excel Template for Free. A Profit and Loss (P&L) statement Excel template is a spreadsheet that helps businesses analyze their financial performance and make informed decisions.

  24. 12 Free Project Planning Templates for Excel and Word

    Our free project scope template for Word is very thorough, though you can add to it as suits your project needs. We have space for project managers to explain the need for the project, what's in and out of scope, its business objectives, deliverables and cost estimates and much more. 7. RACI Matrix Template.