You keep the books of a small business and you want to end the month with a trial balance that balances, an income statement and a balance sheet, and to catch any entry that does not add up before it reaches the reports. This free Excel workbook lets you record journal entries once and builds everything else from them.
The problem it solves
In a trial balance, total debits must equal total credits. When they do not, the search begins: which entry, which line, which account? The same figures are also retyped into a profit statement and a balance sheet, where they can drift. Here the journal is the single source and every report is computed from the same trial balance, so the figures cannot disagree.
A short definition: the trial balance lists every account with its closing balance, debit or credit, and the two totals must be equal. Equal totals show that the entries are internally balanced; they do not prove that each entry was posted to the right account.
What is inside
- Chart of accounts: up to 200 accounts with a code, name, type (assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses), a group for the statements and an opening balance. A warning appears if the group does not suit the type.
- Journal: up to 3,000 lines with date, entry number, account code, description and the amount in the debit or credit column. A line check and an entry check sit beside each row, and the count of unbalanced entries shows at the top.
- Ledger: choose an account code and its movements appear in order with the balance after each one, starting from the opening balance.
- Trial balance: opening balance, period movement and closing balance (debit or credit) per account, with totals and a check that says whether it balances.
- Income statement: revenue down to gross profit, operating profit and net profit, with each item as a share of revenue.
- Balance sheet: current and fixed assets, liabilities, equity and the period profit, with a check that it balances.
A worked example
The example is sample data for a small trading business in October 2026, with 25 accounts and 22 journal entries.
- Closing balances in the trial balance include cash 32,350, bank 60,630, customers 20,000, inventory 35,200 and equipment 52,000 on the debit side, and accumulated depreciation 9,500 and suppliers 33,000 on the credit side. Both columns total 233,750.
- Income statement: sales of 34,000 less sales returns of 1,000 give net revenue of 33,000. Cost of goods sold is 19,800, so gross profit is 13,200. Operating expenses (salaries, rent, utilities, depreciation, advertising, transport) are 12,650, leaving operating profit of 550. Interest income of 250 and bank charges of 120 bring net profit to 680.
- Balance sheet: current assets 148,180 plus fixed assets net of depreciation 42,500 give total assets of 190,680. Liabilities of 56,000 (33,000 current and 23,000 long-term), capital 130,000, retained earnings 4,000 and the period profit of 680 also total 190,680.
- Try the alert: the notes in the file suggest changing the credit of entry 21 to 340. The sheet then shows "entry unbalanced" and the trial balance is out by 60. Change it back to 400 and everything balances again.
- The chart of accounts has one account, maintenance expenses, placed in the wrong group on purpose so you can see the group warning. An account with the wrong group stays out of the statements until you correct it. The last journal entry is also a practice entry with deliberate input mistakes.
Why these features matter
- Errors surface at the entry. You are told which entry is out and by how much, rather than discovering a difference at the end.
- One source for all reports. Ledger, trial balance and statements cannot disagree, because they share the same figures.
- Contra accounts handled. Accumulated depreciation has a credit balance and is deducted from assets.
- Bad accounts do not slip through. A wrong group, a duplicate code or an unknown account code is flagged.
- It works in Excel 2016 and later, Google Sheets and LibreOffice, is free and needs no sign-up.
Using the online version
The template page (in Arabic) opens directly on this example. Edit the white input cells in the page and the grey calculated cells update immediately; try the unbalanced-entry experiment above. You can import your own .xlsx file made from this template, export your work to .xlsx, or download the original Excel file. Your data stays in your browser and is not sent to the server. All templates are listed at /templates.
Common mistakes, and when a sheet stops being enough
- Putting opening balances on income and expense accounts: opening balances belong on balance-sheet accounts only.
- Typing account codes as text: write codes as numbers.
- Treating a balanced trial balance as proof of correct books: an entry posted to the wrong account still balances.
A workbook depends on the person who writes the entries and checks them. When you want double entry posted automatically, periods closed and statements drawn straight from the entries, that is ProfAcc. If invoicing rules are part of your decision, read E-invoicing in Egypt, and for the wider choice see Odoo or a custom system.
FAQ
What do I do when it says the trial balance is unbalanced? Look in the entry check column of the Journal for the entry marked unbalanced and make its debit equal its credit. If none is marked, check lines showing "code not found", because their amounts do not enter the trial balance.
How do I add an account? Write its code and name in the first empty row of the chart of accounts and choose its type and group. It then appears in the trial balance and in the account-code lists.
Where do opening balances go? In the chart of accounts, in the opening debit or credit columns, for balance-sheet accounts only. Their totals must be equal.