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A worksheet is most valuable when it helps you make a real decision. These original, formatted Excel workbooks open in Microsoft Excel and compatible spreadsheet applications. Each includes highlighted input cells, inspectable formulas, a worked example and instructions. The separate PRINT VIEW sheet links to your entered values and presents wide tables in readable sections on Letter landscape pages.
Choose a downloadable worksheet
CASH FLOW · 13 WEEKS
Freelancer cash-flow tracker
Plan 13 weeks of opening cash, money actually received, bills, business expenses and cash moved to tax reserves. The Excel workbook calculates weekly closing cash and carries it into the following week; the CSV supplies blank columns for manual calculations.
WORKBOOK PREVIEW · 13-WEEK CASH FLOW
| Week | Opening | Money in | Money out | Closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,200 | $0 | $1,400 | $2,800 |
| 2 | $2,800 | $0 | $0 | $2,800 |
Illustrative only · closing cash is calculated from the entered amounts.
Direct CSV download (no scripts)
13 weekly input rows in both formats · USD · Excel includes formulas
BORROWING · OFFER COMPARISON
Loan-offer comparison
Record how much cash you receive, disclosed APR, rate, fees, scheduled installment and checked date. Helps prevent comparing a low payment with an incomplete total cost.
WORKBOOK PREVIEW · TWO FICTIONAL OFFERS
| Term | Monthly | Total paid* |
|---|---|---|
| 24 months | $376.59 | $9,188.11 |
| 36 months | $265.71 | $9,715.72 |
* $8,000 principal, 12% nominal annual rate and $150 separately paid fee. Not lender offers or disclosed APR.
Direct CSV download (no scripts)
Excel: 10 offer rows, with A, B and C prelabelled. CSV: 3 offer rows. No lender recommendations. In the formatted Excel workbook, cash cost above usable proceeds equals total modeled repayment plus separately paid fees minus cash actually received; it is not a disclosed APR or finance charge.
Fee example: A fictional $1,000 loan at 12% nominal interest over 12 months has about $1,066.19 in scheduled payments. If $50 is withheld, usable proceeds are $950, the separately paid fee is $0, and modeled cash cost above usable proceeds is $116.19. If the $50 is instead paid separately, usable proceeds are $1,000 and total paid including the fee is $1,116.19; modeled cash cost is again $116.19. Do not enter the same $50 as both withheld and separately paid. The direct CSV is a blank recordkeeping template without calculated formulas.
COLLEGE AID · SCHOOL COMPARISON
Financial-aid offer worksheet
Separate grants and scholarships from student loans, other financing and work-study eligibility. Compare annual cost of attendance with gift aid before identifying a funding gap.
WORKBOOK PREVIEW · GIFT AID VS NET PRICE
| School | Cost | Grants | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | $29,000 | $18,000 | $11,000 |
| B | $22,000 | $9,000 | $13,000 |
Fictional annual values. A student loan does not reduce net price; work-study is earned later.
Direct CSV download (no scripts)
Excel: 10 school rows, with School A, B and C prelabelled. CSV: 3 school rows. Check the award year. Enter net loan proceeds after withheld fees. Excel shows the funding gap before work-study and a separate remainder after potential earnings. Record earned, accessible wages once as confirmed nonborrowed funds and remove that amount from potential earnings. The fictional example assumes $5,500 gross loans with $0 withheld fees, giving $5,500 net proceeds. CSV is editable without formulas.
DIGITAL SECURITY · ACTION LOG
Payment-fraud response log
Track when you contacted a provider using verified channels, steps taken and follow-up dates. Avoid collecting sensitive account numbers or private credentials in this file.
WORKBOOK PREVIEW · REDACTED INCIDENT LOG
| Contact route | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Official provider app | Reported issue | Follow-up |
| Verified bank contact | Requested review | Pending |
Fictional examples. Never record passwords, account numbers or one-time codes.
Direct CSV download (no scripts)
Excel: 25 blank response-log rows. CSV: 8 blank rows. Both are for your own follow-up records.
RESEARCH DATA · PRIMARY SOURCE
Reproduce our Federal Reserve analysis
Download the original three-row extract from the Federal Reserve G.19 series used in the consumer-credit research report.
WORKBOOK PREVIEW · VERIFIED FEDERAL RESERVE DATA
| August | Total credit ($B) | Revolving share |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5,055.8 | 26.51% |
| 2025 | 5,058.6 | 25.86% |
| 2026 | 5,196.8 | 26.02% |
Source: Federal Reserve G.19 historical seasonally adjusted outstanding levels (October 7, 2026).
Direct CSV download (no scripts)
Source values in $ millions · source date October 7, 2026
WORKED EXAMPLES
See how a completed decision works
Prefer to learn from numbers before using a blank template? Our Worked Financial Cases explain timing, borrowing trade-offs and common misinterpretations using explicit fictional inputs.
Printing: Select the PRINT VIEW worksheet and print the active sheet on Letter landscape paper. It splits the wide planning table into clearly labelled parts while retaining links to every source column. Instructions and snapshots have separate portrait layouts. Preview first and adjust row heights if your own notes are long; printing the entire workbook also prints the editable tables and examples.
Choose Excel for formatted worksheets, reusable formulas and worked examples. Choose Direct CSV for a single editable table without formulas or styling. Both downloads stay on your device. If one format cannot be prepared, try the other.
How to use each worksheet correctly
| Worksheet | How to calculate | Avoid this mistake |
|---|---|---|
| 13-week cash flow | Closing cash = opening cash + client payments received + other receipts − bills paid − business costs − transfers to the separate tax reserve. In Excel, enter first-week opening cash in C6 and the week-start date in B6; closing cash and later opening balances calculate automatically. The “Invoices paid $” column records money clients have paid to you. In CSV, calculate the closing and carry-forward figures yourself. | This worksheet tracks operating cash and excludes the separate tax-reserve account. Enter each outflow once. A transfer to that excluded reserve reduces operating cash; a later tax payment from the excluded account must not be deducted here again. Record tax paid directly from operating cash once on its payment date. |
| Loan offers | Compare actual lender disclosures, installment × term, cash received and fees. If fees are financed or deducted, note how they change proceeds and APR. | Do not treat an illustrative nominal rate as the legally disclosed APR, or assume lower payments always mean lower cost. |
| College aid | Net price = cost of attendance − grants/scholarships. Identify the remaining funding gap separately and record which loans/earnings might help cover it. | Loans are not gift aid. Work-study is generally earned through employment, not automatically credited to tuition upfront. |
| Fraud action log | Use RESPONSE LOG rows 6–30 in Excel, or the 8 provided CSV rows. Record your communications and timeline through verified official contact routes. The Excel snapshot counts the statuses you enter. | Do not add passwords, full card numbers or unredacted private documents. A status count does not establish a refund or a safe transaction. |
| Federal Reserve data | Both formats contain three August observations in millions of U.S. dollars. Excel also calculates revolving share and changes between published balance levels. | G.19 excludes loans secured by real estate. Published-level changes include data breaks and are distinct from the Fed’s break-adjusted growth rates. Read the release footnotes and technical Q&A. |
Example workflow: a 13-week freelancer cash forecast
- Start with the amount of accessible cash you really have at the beginning of the first week.
- Enter cash you expect to receive before each week’s essential obligations. Run a second cautious version excluding uncertain invoice payments.
- List actual bill due dates, business spending and amounts moved into a separate tax reserve.
- Compute ending cash for each week; investigate any negative week even if the 13-week total appears positive.
- Update the sheet as payments arrive, and keep records of changes rather than overwriting your only copy.
For an interactive summary, open the Income Stability Planner, Invoice Delay Calculator, or Safe-to-Spend Planner. The Decision Lab models installment borrowing scenarios.
Source checking and limitations
These downloadable Excel workbooks are practical organizational aids, not official forms, tax returns, lending disclosures, completed spreadsheets or professional advice. For U.S. student-aid definitions consult Federal Student Aid; for self-employed recordkeeping consult the IRS recordkeeping guidance; for consumer protection consult the CFPB. The original G.19 extract follows the Federal Reserve historical series.
Make the worksheet part of a decision—not just a download.
See our clearly labeled worked examples, compare with the interactive calculator, and learn where the numbers come from in Research & Data.
Choose the worksheet that answers your next question
The useful starting point is a decision, not a spreadsheet format. Each template records a different kind of evidence. Choose one, complete its source fields, and check the result against documents you already have.
- “Will I run short before my next payment arrives?” Use the 13-week cash-flow tracker. Enter cleared opening cash, realistic collection dates and bills due by week. A profitable month can still contain a negative week.
- “Which loan offer actually costs less?” Record usable proceeds, the lender’s disclosed APR, total payments, fees and due dates in the loan comparison. The workbook’s illustrative monthly-payment formula does not replace a lender’s Truth in Lending disclosure.
- “Which school is more affordable after gift aid?” Compare the same academic year and living-cost assumptions. Keep grants and scholarships separate from loans and wages you may earn later.
- “What have I already done about suspicious activity?” The fraud response log preserves a non-sensitive timeline of verified contacts, dispute references and follow-up dates. Do not store passwords, full account numbers or verification codes.
- “Can I reproduce a published statistic?” The Federal Reserve workbook supplies source observations and formula-based comparisons; it does not forecast your personal debt or determine loan eligibility.
Worked cash-timing check: the monthly total can hide a shortage
Fictional assumptions: A freelancer starts week 1 with $1,200 of accessible cash. Bills of $800 fall due in week 1 and $700 in week 2. A confirmed $1,500 client payment does not clear until week 3; assume no other activity.
- Week 1 closing cash = $1,200 − $800 = $400.
- Week 2 closing cash = $400 − $700 = −$300. This is the earliest modeled cash gap, even though the later receipt exceeds it.
- Week 3 closing cash = −$300 + $1,500 = $1,200, assuming no further bills. A positive week-3 figure does not retroactively fund week 2.
- If the customer actually pays $300 early in week 2 and the remaining $1,200 in week 3, the modeled week-2 gap closes to $0. Any desired safety buffer would require more cash.
Try both timelines in separate copies of the cash-flow template, label expected payments separately from cleared payments, and ask what action is possible before each bill is due. This is an original illustration, not a payment forecast or instruction to take on debt. For an interactive estimate, use the Invoice Payment Delay Impact Calculator, then check the actual dates in your cash-flow worksheet.
Excel versus direct CSV: know what each download contains
Formatted Excel (.xlsx) includes formatted tabs, editable inputs, workbook formulas and separate worked examples. The blank planning tab is where you enter your own figures; the snapshot summarizes that tab. Direct CSV (.csv) provides one editable table without formulas, formatting or automatic recalculation. Its links remain available when JavaScript is disabled. Use the format-specific row counts shown beside each download.
Before relying on an output: Verify that your date range, units and source documentation match; check that all necessary rows are included; recompute a sample row by hand; save a local copy; and keep sensitive records out of shared files. If either file fails to download, use the displayed column headings to recreate the worksheet manually rather than assuming the calculations occurred.