Deposit & Stage Payment Tracker Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet that separates the money in your bank that is yours from the money you are holding against work you have not done yet.
A deposit makes the balance look healthy and the year look profitable, and it is neither — it is a promise to do work, written on a bank statement. Nothing you already own tells you how much of that you are carrying, because a bank balance is one number and it does not come with labels on it.
What is in it
- Setup — two numbers, and your payment schedule written down twice.
- Jobs — 120 rows, nine things typed per job.
- Money In — 500 rows, one per payment received.
- By Stage — how far ahead of the work your own terms actually run.
- By Customer — whose money you are holding, and how much of it.
- What You Owe In Work and Overview — every job ranked with a running total, and the position on one screen.
Who it is for
Anything paid for before it is delivered: weddings and events, joinery, garden and landscape, kitchens, coaching packages, courses, bespoke making, printing, holiday lets, retreats. Cancelled jobs are handled too — set the status and a job still holding money with no work left to do on it becomes a refund rather than a liability.
The worked example
30 jobs are filled in, worth $1,329,400, of which $978,171 has been received but only $720,209 earned. The bank statement says $312,000 — and $265,339 of that is held against unfinished work, which is 85% of the balance. What is actually yours is $46,661.
Finishing everything on the books will cost $351,147, so the gap is −$85,808. On 18 jobs the money held no longer covers the finishing, 3 are close, 4 are still covered, and 3 run the other way entirely — more work done than money received. In the worked schedule, by “materials ordered” 55% of the money has been taken against 20% of the work: thirty-five points ahead.
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. Order on WhatsApp — $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 how much of the money in my bank is actually mine?
Against every job, compare what you have received with what you have earned; the difference is money held on account, and it belongs to the customer until the work is done. In the worked book a $312,000 bank balance was $265,339 theirs and $46,661 yours — 85% of the balance. Setup also asks you to write your payment schedule down twice, the share of money taken by each stage against how much of the job is really finished by then: by "materials ordered" that is 55% of the money and 20% of the work, thirty-five points ahead.
Is this only for builders?
No — it fits anything paid for before it is delivered: weddings and events, joinery, garden and landscape, kitchens, coaching packages, courses, bespoke making, printing, holiday lets, retreats. The file holds 120 jobs and 500 payments received, and the stages are your own payment schedule rather than anybody else's.
How do I know how much of the work is done?
You estimate it, and the file says so plainly — being roughly honest about it is far more useful than the alternative, which is quietly assuming the money and the work moved together. Nine things go in per job and one row per payment received. Cancelled jobs get a status: the file then stops charging them a cost to finish, which makes what you hold a refund rather than a liability.
Does it work in Google Sheets, and is there anything to install?
Yes — the file is built as .xlsx, so it opens in Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, goes into Google Sheets through File → Import → Upload, and works in LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install and no subscription. You download a file and it is yours. It holds 120 jobs and 500 payments received, with the worked book of work filled in, a blank copy and a plain-English PDF guide.
Is this accounting software, and what about deposits I have already spent?
No — it is not accounting, bookkeeping or VAT software, not invoicing, quoting or a payment processor, not project management, and nothing syncs or logs in; deposit protection rules vary by trade and country, so check yours. It will not un-spend a deposit, but it will tell you how many jobs are in that position and what the total comes to: in the worked book eighteen of thirty jobs no longer had enough held against them to finish the work, a gap of −$85,808.
Need it built around your business?
This one assumes fixed-price jobs with a named stage payment schedule. If yours is different — retention held back until the end, customer money that has to sit in a separate account, or work invoiced against measured progress rather than named stages — I can build the same picture around your own terms.
All other templates are listed on the Excel & Google Sheets Templates page.