Free Grant Tracking Templates (Excel & Google Sheets)

Not every nonprofit needs dedicated grant management software. If you're managing a few grants and want to stay organized, spreadsheet templates are a good starting point.

A workbook is an operating schedule, not a second general ledger. Keep posted cash, receivables, liabilities, revenue, and expenses in your approved accounting system; reconcile spreadsheet actuals to that system on a defined cadence. Use the workbook for award metadata, approved budgets, deadlines, commitments, allocation support, and funder-format reporting.

Download the free grant tracking workbook. It includes ready-to-use Grant Overview, Budget, Expenses, and Reporting Calendar sheets with sample data and formulas. Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets if you prefer to work there.

The sections below explain how each sheet works and how to customize it for your organization.

When Spreadsheets Work

Spreadsheets are appropriate when:

• Your active-grant volume fits a controlled manual process
• Grants have budget structures your workbook can represent accurately
• You have staff capacity for manual data entry
• Reporting requirements are basic
• You're just getting started with grants

When to Move Beyond Spreadsheets

Consider dedicated software when:

• Grant volume, complexity, or number of editors exceeds your workbook controls
• Manual tracking effort is material or growing
• Review finds recurring or material reporting errors
• Auditors or funders identify documentation or control gaps
• You need budget vs. actual refreshed automatically from accounting data

Template 1: Grant Overview Tracker

Track all your grants in one place.

Structure

Column	Description
Grant Name	Descriptive name
Funder	Foundation/agency name
Award Amount	Approved spending budget used by the workbook; add a separate Award Ceiling column or schedule when the executed maximum differs
Start Date	Grant period start
End Date	Grant period end
Status	Active/Pending/Closed
Spent to Date	One defined measure from expense tracking, such as reviewed eligible spend
Remaining	Award Amount minus the same defined spend measure
% Spent	Spent to Date ÷ Award Amount
Next Report Due	Upcoming deadline
Notes	Key information

Sample Data

All names, dates, amounts, percentages, and classifications in the sample tables are fictional illustrations, not benchmarks or recommended thresholds.

Grant Name	Funder	Award	Start	End	Status	Spent	Remaining	%
Youth Programs 2024	Gates Foundation	$100,000	1/1/24	12/31/24	Active	$65,000	$35,000	65%
Education Initiative	Ford Foundation	$75,000	7/1/24	6/30/25	Active	$20,000	$55,000	27%
Health Access	State DOH	$150,000	10/1/24	9/30/25	Active	$12,000	$138,000	8%

Formulas to Include

• Remaining: =AwardAmount-SpentToDate; if the award ceiling differs from the approved spending budget, add and use an Approved Budget field instead
• % Spent: =SpentToDate/AwardAmount under the workbook's simplified assumption that Award Amount is the approved spending budget
• Days Remaining: =End Date-TODAY()
• Conditional formatting: Define internal warning points based on the grant period, commitments, forecast, and award terms; do not treat a generic spend percentage as a compliance threshold

Template 2: Grant Budget Tracker

Track budget vs. actual for a single grant.

Structure

Create one sheet per grant with these columns:

Column	Description
Budget Category	Personnel, Supplies, etc.
Budgeted Amount	Approved budget
Spent to Date	Reconciled book expense, allocated expense, or eligible/reportable expense—choose and label one
Encumbered	Committed but not paid
Available	Budget - Spent - Encumbered
% Used	(Spent + Encumbered) ÷ Budget

Sample Budget Tracker

Category	Budget	Spent	Encumbered	Available	% Used
Personnel	$50,000	$32,000	$0	$18,000	64%
Fringe Benefits	$15,000	$9,600	$0	$5,400	64%
Travel	$5,000	$2,100	$500	$2,400	52%
Supplies	$8,000	$4,200	$300	$3,500	56%
Contractual	$15,000	$10,000	$5,000	$0	100%
Other	$7,000	$1,500	$0	$5,500	21%
Total Direct	$100,000	$59,400	$5,800	$34,800	65%
Indirect (15%)	$15,000	$8,910	$870	$5,220	65%
Grand Total	$115,000	$68,310	$6,670	$40,020	65%

Key Formulas

• Available: =Budget-Spent-Encumbered
• % Used: =(Spent+Encumbered)/Budget
• Indirect: Apply the approved agreement's rate to its defined base (for example, an approved modified total direct cost base), not automatically to all direct costs

Template 3: Expense Log

Track individual expenses charged to grants.

Structure

Column	Description
Date	Transaction date
Vendor	Who was paid
Description	What it was for
Amount	Dollar amount
Grant	Which grant
Budget Category	Which budget line
Check/Reference #	Payment reference
Documentation	Y/N - receipt on file

Sample Expense Log

Date	Vendor	Description	Amount	Grant	Category	Ref #	Docs
1/15/24	Office Depot	Program supplies	$245.00	Youth Programs	Supplies	1234	Y
1/18/24	Delta Airlines	Staff travel to conference	$450.00	Youth Programs	Travel	CC-001	Y
1/22/24	ABC Consulting	Evaluation services	$2,500.00	Youth Programs	Contractual	1235	Y

Using the Expense Log

1. Import or enter grant expense detail from the accounting system; do not treat the log as proof that an item was posted, paid, allocated, or allowable
2. Use data validation for Grant and Category columns
3. Create pivot tables to summarize by grant/category
4. Link to budget tracker using SUMIFS formulas

Linking to Budget Tracker

In your budget tracker, use SUMIFS to total expenses that match both the grant and budget category:

=SUMIFS(ExpenseLog[Amount],ExpenseLog[Grant],"Youth Programs",
        ExpenseLog[Category],"Supplies")

Template 4: Reporting Calendar

Track funder reporting deadlines.

Structure

Column	Description
Grant	Grant name
Report Type	Progress/Financial/Final
Period Covered	Reporting period
Due Date	Deadline
Status	Not Started/In Progress/Submitted
Submitted Date	When submitted
Notes	Requirements, portal info

Sample Calendar

Grant	Report Type	Period	Due Date	Status	Submitted
Youth Programs	Q1 Progress	Jan-Mar	4/15/24	Submitted	4/10/24
Youth Programs	Q2 Progress	Apr-Jun	7/15/24	In Progress	-
Education Init	Semi-Annual	Jul-Dec	1/31/25	Not Started	-
Health Access	Annual FFR	Full Year	12/31/24	Not Started	-

Automation Tips

• Conditional formatting: Red for overdue; choose a due-soon window that allows enough time for preparation and review
• Calendar integration: Export dates to Google/Outlook calendar
• Illustrative reminder formula: =IF(Due Date-TODAY()<ReviewWindow,"Due Soon",""), where ReviewWindow is your internally selected lead time

Optional companion: Funder report outline

The downloadable workbook does not include a separate narrative-report sheet. Use this outline in the funder's required document or portal, and use the workbook's reviewed financial summary as supporting data.

Structure for narrative funder reports.

Sections to Include

1. Executive Summary

• Grant name and period
• Key accomplishments
• Financial summary
• Challenges and solutions

2. Program Progress

• Activities completed
• Participants served
• Outcomes achieved
• Progress toward goals

3. Financial Summary

Category	Budget	Spent	Remaining
(Pull from budget tracker)

4. Challenges & Adjustments

• Issues encountered
• How addressed
• Budget modifications (if any)

5. Next Period Plans

• Planned activities
• Anticipated spending
• Upcoming milestones

Using the Downloaded Workbook

In Excel

1. Download the workbook
2. Replace the sample grants, budgets, expenses, and deadlines with your own data
3. Copy the Budget sheet when you need a separate budget view for another grant
4. Extend formulas and dropdown ranges as you add rows
5. Protect formula cells after customizing the workbook

In Google Sheets

1. Download the Excel workbook
2. Upload it to Google Drive
3. Choose Open with > Google Sheets
4. Replace the sample data and confirm the imported formulas
5. Share with team members using the appropriate permissions

Spreadsheet Best Practices

Data Entry

• Be consistent — Same format every time
• Use dropdowns — Prevent typos in grant/category names
• Enter promptly — Don't let data pile up
• Include references — Check numbers, invoice numbers
• Separate statuses — Posted, paid, allocated, reviewed, and funder-eligible are different facts

Organization

• Design for grant periods — A grant may cross fiscal years; preserve cumulative history and provide fiscal-year views rather than automatically starting over
• Archive completed grants — Don't delete, move to archive
• Backup regularly — Cloud storage recommended
• Version control — Include date in filename

Reporting

• Reconcile on a defined cadence — Complete this before each external report and often enough for the organization to detect material errors in time; document timing, allocation, and eligibility differences
• Document variances — Note any differences
• Save report copies — Keep submitted versions

Minimum controls

• Assign an owner and reviewer; do not let the preparer approve their own reconciliation.
• Restrict edit access, protect formulas and validation lists, and retain version history.
• Tie each reporting period to a dated accounting-system export or report and retain that evidence.
• Review duplicate transactions, missing periods, sign conventions, formula ranges, and broken links.
• Keep receipts, invoices, payroll support, allocation methodology, approvals, and award amendments outside the workbook in the controlled document repository.
• Treat donor identity and acknowledgment records as a separate governed dataset; an expense or grant workbook is not an authoritative donor system.

Limitations of Spreadsheets

Be aware of these challenges:

Challenge	Impact
Manual data entry	Time-consuming, error-prone
No native accounting sync	Actuals are only as current as the latest reconciled import or report
Collaboration needs controls	Simultaneous edits help, but ownership, permissions, and review still need to be explicit
Limited change evidence	Platform version history may help, but it is not a complete approval or accounting audit trail
Doesn't scale	Gets unwieldy with many grants
Manual integration	Export, import, and reconciliation work remains

When to Upgrade

Consider grant management software when:

• Spreadsheet maintenance is material or growing
• You're finding errors in reports
• Grant volume or complexity exceeds your workbook controls
• Multiple people need access
• You want QuickBooks integration

If QuickBooks Online is staying, compare grant accounting software for QuickBooks with a controlled workbook before choosing a grant-finance layer or replacing your accounting system.

Measure the actual pilot result; software does not automatically pay for itself or replace reconciliation and review.

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Download the free Excel and Google Sheets-compatible workbook and replace the sample data with your grants.

How GrantLink supports this today

For exact funder forms, upload the workbook on the grant Details tab under Excel Templates. GrantLink stores the sponsor template with the grant so generated workbook outputs can reuse the same file structure.

Add grants manually or from uploaded grant documents. Per-grant Expenses and Money received QuickBooks Online links replace organization-wide grant matching; expense links backfill and auto-allocate eligible linked activity, with Ledger, Todos, and manual allocation as exception paths. Money received does not necessarily mean cash. QuickBooks Online remains the accounting source of truth, allocations do not inherently rewrite QuickBooks Online, and any supported write requires explicit permission and workflow. Settings > QuickBooks Mapping is for restriction-release accounts only.