Vending Machine Route Profit Tracker Spreadsheet
This spreadsheet works out what each vending machine has earned against what it cost to buy and install, and how many months it needs to pay for itself.
Most vending sheets total what a machine took last month and subtract what the stock cost, which stops exactly where the interesting question starts. Until a machine has earned back the money you spent buying and installing it, it is not making you anything — it is handing you back your own.
What is in it
- Seven linked tabs, from Start Here through to a one-screen Overview.
- Setup — five figures: mileage rate, cashless fee, what an hour of your servicing time is worth, the payback you will accept, and the date to count to.
- Machines — 30 rows: machine cost, install and fit-out, what the site takes, and the date it went in.
- Visits — 400 rows, one per service call: miles, minutes on site, what you took out, how much was cashless, restock cost and anything binned out of date.
- Per Machine — every visit added up: net, net per visit and net per mile.
- Payback — what a machine cost against what it has earned so far, with a verdict in plain words.
Who it is for
Vending operators running their own route, and anyone else servicing machines on other people’s premises for a share of the take: office coffee, honesty boxes, amusement machines, laundry.
The worked example
The worked route runs six machines over eighteen months, 111 service visits and 2,288 miles. $23,019.07 came out of the machines; restock took $10,014.92 of it, site commission $1,785.53, driving $1,532.96, cashless fees $480.88 and stock thrown away $710.00, leaving $8,494.79 — a 36.9% margin, $76.53 a visit and $3.71 a mile. The machines cost $16,770.00 to buy and install, so 50.7% is back and $8,275.21 is still outstanding.
Machine by machine the answers separate completely. A drink machine that cost $2,550.00 has taken $1,217.11 in nine months over thirteen trips and 442 miles, and after commission, restock, driving and $130.00 of stock binned it is $51.52 behind — the file’s verdict is that it never pays back at this rate. Meanwhile a second-hand combo bought for $1,450 and refurbished for $340 pays for itself in 15.5 months, sooner than any new machine on the route: $7.80 a mile at the auto body shop against −$0.12 at the office park.
How it works
Compatible with Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install.
The download has two workbooks: one with the example above already filled in, so you can see what every column expects, and the same file completely blank for your own figures. A plain-English guide comes as a PDF. WhatsApp’tan sipariş ver — $9
Orders are taken on WhatsApp: message me and I’ll send the payment details, then the files as soon as the payment is confirmed.
A look inside the file
Questions people actually ask
How do I work out whether a vending machine has paid for itself yet?
You enter what the machine cost to buy and install and the date it went in, then log each service visit — miles, minutes on site, cash taken, cashless share, restock cost and anything binned out of date — and the file compares what it cost against what it has earned, with a plain verdict. In the worked route a drink machine in an office park cost $2,550.00 and took $1,217.11 in nine months, but after commission, restock, 442 miles of driving, cashless fees and waste it is $51.52 behind, so the file says never at this rate — pull it out. The cheapest machine on the route, a second-hand combo at $1,450.00 plus $340.00 of refurbishment, pays for itself in 15.5 months.
Is it worth it for a small route, and does it work if I lease my machines?
Yes to both — it holds 30 machines and 400 service visits, which is several years of a small route, and it works from the first machine. If you lease, put the deposit and fit-out in as the cost and the monthly lease in as a restock line, or leave the cost at zero and use it purely as a profit-per-machine tracker. The worked route is six machines over eighteen months: $23,019.07 taken, $8,494.79 net, a 36.9% margin, $76.53 a visit and $3.71 a mile.
What do I put down if I service two machines on the same trip?
Put the miles on one row and zero on the other, or split them between the two — the drive is a real cost and it has to sit somewhere. That column is what produces the net-per-mile figure, which is where the surprises are: $7.80 a mile at the auto body shop against −$0.12 a mile at the office park, same route, same week, same van. Your own time is reported separately, as what the route pays you an hour on site against what you said your hour is worth.
What do I need to open it — is it Excel only?
No — it is a .xlsx workbook that opens in Excel 2016 or newer on Windows and Mac, in Google Sheets through File then Import then Upload, and in LibreOffice. There are no macros, no add-ons, nothing to install, no account to create and no subscription. You download the file and it is yours.
Does it connect to my machines or tell me what to stock?
No — it is not telemetry, it is connected to no machine, no payment processor and no wholesaler, and nothing syncs or logs in. It is not a route planner and not a planogram or product-mix tool, though it does show you what you threw away, which is usually the same conversation. It is not tax or accounting advice.
Need it built around your business?
This file assumes machines you own outright, a site commission as a percentage of the take, and your own van doing the servicing. If your route is arranged differently — leased machines with a monthly rental instead of a purchase price, a micro-market where there is no single machine to attribute the take to, or a subcontractor you pay per visit — I can build the same payback arithmetic around the way you actually run the route.
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