How to use Google Sheets & Excel expense guide daily

You don’t need to be a CFO to get daily expenses under control. With the right workflows, your “expense sheet” becomes a living dashboard that updates itself.

Below are three tiers of approaches—from fully manual to AI-agent driven—so you can start simple and grow into automation.

1. Manual and Traditional Methods

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Method 1: Download a ready-made Excel expense template

1. Open Excel on your computer.
2. Go to File → New.
3. In the search bar, type “expense” or “budget”.
4. Browse templates like Personal Budget or Expense Tracker and choose one that has a daily or transaction-level sheet.
5. Click Create to download and open it.
6. Customize categories (e.g., Rent, Groceries, Ads, Software) in the template.
7. Each day, open the file and add new rows for every transaction.

Microsoft has a full guide on using templates here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-budget-in-excel-with-a-template-ecfdc708-9162-49ee-aee6-4a12bbd620b6

Method 2: Use a Google Sheets daily expense template

1. Go to https://sheets.google.com and log in.
2. Click Template gallery at the top.
3. Look for templates under Personal or Finance such as Monthly budget or Expense tracker.
4. Click to create a copy in your Drive.
5. Rename the sheet to something like Daily Expenses 2026.
6. Adjust the columns (Date, Description, Category, Amount, Payment Method, Notes).
7. Enter transactions daily.

Google’s help on using templates: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292?hl=en

Method 3: Import bank CSVs into Sheets or Excel

1. Log into your bank or card portal.
2. Export transactions for the day or week as CSV.
3. In Excel: open your expense template, go to Data → Get Data → From Text/CSV, select the file, and load it into a staging sheet. Microsoft docs: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/import-or-export-text-txt-or-csv-files-5250ac4c-663c-47ce-937b-339e391393ba
4. In Google Sheets: open the sheet, click File → Import → Upload, choose the CSV, and insert into a new tab. Docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9143382?hl=en
5. Copy-paste or use formulas (like =FILTER) to move new rows into your main daily log.

Method 4: Evening “receipt inbox” ritual

1. Keep all receipts in a single place (a physical envelope or a folder in your email).
2. Set a 10–15 minute block at the end of each day.
3. Go through each receipt and type it into your Google Sheets or Excel template.
4. Mark processed receipts as Logged so nothing gets double-counted.

Pros of manual methods: full control, no setup complexity. Cons: time-consuming, easy to forget a day, error-prone when you’re tired.

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2. No-Code Automation with Tools

Method 5: Auto-log email receipts into Google Sheets

Use a no-code tool like Zapier or Make to push email data directly into your sheet:

1. Create a dedicated email label/folder like “Expense Receipts”.
2. In Zapier, set a trigger: New email in Gmail with label “Expense Receipts”.
3. Add an action: Create Spreadsheet Row in Google Sheets.
4. Map fields: Date = email date, Description = subject line, Amount = extract from body (many tools offer text parsing), Category = fixed or based on keywords.
5. Point this to your daily expense sheet.

This turns every tagged email receipt into a clean row without touching the keyboard.

Method 6: Log card transactions into Excel via automation

If your bank offers webhook-style feeds or connects to tools:

1. Use a no-code platform that supports your bank or accounting tool (e.g., QuickBooks → Excel connectors).
2. Trigger: New transaction.
3. Action: Add row to an Excel table stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.
4. Make sure your template is formatted as a Table in Excel so new rows append nicely.

Microsoft explains using Excel as a connected data target here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/connect-excel-to-an-external-data-source-5fdc1fd6-2dce-4d38-9b8a-5a3ddf5b9183

Method 7: Use Google Forms as a mobile expense logger

1. Create a Google Form with fields: Date, Description, Amount, Category, Payment Method.
2. Under Responses, click the Sheets icon to tie responses to a Google Sheet.
3. Keep the form bookmarked on your phone.
4. Every time you spend money, open the form and submit one entry in under 30 seconds.
5. Your daily expense sheet is auto-filled with structured data.

Pros of no-code methods: less manual typing, near real-time logging, works for teams. Cons: still fragmented; you must maintain Zaps/Scenarios, and you’re limited to apps with good integrations.

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3. Scaling with an AI Computer Agent (Simular)

Once you’re sick of stitching tools together, an AI computer agent can behave like a tireless assistant who lives inside your desktop and browser.

Method 8: Agent that downloads statements and fills your Excel template

1. Define the workflow once: open browser, log in to bank, navigate to statements, download the latest CSV, open your Excel expense workbook, import the CSV into a staging tab, copy cleaned rows into the main daily log, save and close.
2. In Simular Pro, you record or describe this full workflow. The agent interacts with your OS, browser, and Excel just like a human.
3. Schedule it to run daily at a set time.
4. Review the sheet occasionally; every row is transparent and editable.

Pros: Works even with banks that have no APIs, production-grade reliability over thousands of clicks. Cons: Initial setup takes more thought; best run on a stable desktop environment.

Method 9: Agent that reads receipts and logs into Google Sheets

1. Store receipt PDFs or images in a folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, or local).
2. Specify the routine: open folder, open each new file, read the vendor, date, and amount, then switch to your Google Sheets expense tracker and type the row into the next empty line.
3. The Simular agent uses its vision and reasoning to interpret the screen, so it doesn’t rely on rigid coordinates.
4. At the end, it can send you a short summary (e.g., “Today: 7 expenses, total $312.40”).

Pros: Handles unstructured data (screens, PDFs) and multiple apps; highly flexible. Cons: Requires some initial testing to ensure it handles edge-case receipts.

Method 10: Multi-account, multi-sheet automation at scale

1. If you manage finances for several entities—personal, side project, agency—create a standard Google Sheets or Excel template for each.
2. Configure a Simular Pro agent to:
   • Rotate through each account’s bank portal.
   • Download the relevant statements.
   • Open each matching sheet or workbook.
   • Append daily transactions and categorize them based on your rules.
3. Integrate via webhook so another system (like your CRM or reporting stack) can trigger the agent after end-of-day reconciliations.

Pros: Massive time savings, consistent processes across entities, transparent run logs you can audit. Cons: Best suited once you have a stable daily expense model you’re happy to scale.

These three layers let you start with simple downloads and end with a full AI-powered bookkeeping assistant that never forgets a transaction.