Bookkeeping
Lesson
Spreadsheets can be intimidating, but they’re not impossible to understand. Today we’re going to learn to love them, because basic accounting can make or break a business. If we lose track of expenses or overestimate a revenue stream, we might end up questioning where all the money has gone.
Understanding Financial Statements and Accounting: Crash Course Entrepreneurship #15
Project Description
This activity allows students to learn how to create an expense tracker for their home expenses in Excel through a hands-on, practical approach. It also teaches them how to use dropdown lists and summarize data, which are useful skills for managing expenses in a startup.
- Download the Expense Tracker Template here.
Instructions
- Find the link above to download the expense tracker template.
- Watch the tutorial video above carefully to understand the steps involved in creating the expense tracker and follow along using your home expenses. If you need help to know what they are you can ask your parents, if you have your own expenses that you are aware of then use that data.
- Set Up Expense Categories: Go to the “Suggested Categories” tab in the template to get ideas for expense categories. Enter these categories in the designated area on the “Summary” tab of the template.
- Enter Individual Expenses: Switch to the “Expense” tab in the template. Enter each expense with a date, amount, and category. Make sure to select the category from the dropdown list based on the categories you entered in the “Summary” tab.
- Use the Expense Tracker: Explore the different features of the expense tracker template, such as automatic category dropdown lists and category summaries on the “Summary” tab.
- Customize the Expense Tracker (Optional): If you need more than ten categories, click the “+” button above the categories on the “Summary” tab to expand the list to 20 categories. You can also customize the template further to suit your needs.
- Reflect on Learnings: After completing the activity, reflect on what you learned about creating an expense tracker in Excel. Think about how you can use this skill to track expenses for your startup or personal finances.