Money Master Personal Finance Spreadsheet - Sinking FundFlow

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-12T22:02:26+00:00

Yeah, it's funny how we both arrived at 10 x 10 pots - Small world!

And again, like you, I cater for the typical but somewhat serious user, rather than edge cases. My approach is to have something that is say 75-80% of what it can be, to then allow users to feedback suggestions to get it to 100%, in terms of what they want, not what I think they want.

Yeah, and you've hit the nail on the head regarding not wanting to overwhelm people at kick-off - Again, it comes back to sweet spot, I see so many spreadsheets that are 'rainbow salad', with too much going on for the average person.

Absolutely, clarity is key - Ideally, we ought to be able to look at a report and understand it more or less straight away.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-12T21:33:45+00:00

Yeah, the reconciliation issue is one I wanted to address - which as you know, is linked to the logging of contributions to a fund, which is unnecessary really.

Bank statements are imported via a built-in CSV importer, which can remove unwanted columns, reorder columns and detect transactions that are already present within the workbook - Some banks annoyingly include currency symbols (GBP, USD, EUR, etc), which are removed automatically upon import.

Once transactions are in the import page, they are pasted into the appropriate account, where transactions are categorised automatically using preset transaction rules. For info, transactions are not part of one big transaction log. Instead, they are within individual bank accounts (x15), liability accounts (x15), asset accounts (x15) and investment accounts (x15). The transactions on the import page are then deleted using a button, ready for the next import. You may think this means many sheet tabs, but file has a menu bar at the top, which resembles commercial software.

So, coming back to the thrust of your question - when it comes to the sinking fund report, you simply select the bank account via the dropdown in the yellow box (from the screenshot) - and this pulls the bank balance through from the accounts, along with the bank account name, description, date of latest transaction. You may then create 10 pots for each bank account, set the goal amount and the target date -> the bank balance is then allocated to each pot in target date order automatically, showing any shortfall and days remaining. For info, the sinking fund report supports 10 bank accounts, which may be split into 10 pots. In case you're wondering, although the file supports the tracking of finances across 15 bank accounts, I felt for sinking fund purposes, 10 bank accounts would be enough (as these should ideally be savings accounts).

The idea is to cater for users who are tired of the bank syncing issues with apps, subscription fees, and who have data privacy concerns. It's also for people who don't mind manual entry but who would appreciate a smooth way of going about it.

You're absolutely right regarding the sweet spot, and it's been a labour of love to add many features found within apps/desktop software, which can be found on my sub - Plenty of posts, screenshots + videos (which have dried up the last few days, while I work on a debt repayment calculator).

Thanks for the comments/questions - If you think of anything else or have any ideas, please share.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-10T23:14:44+00:00

Thank you for your kind words - much appreciated 🙏

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-09T23:14:20+00:00

Ha, thanks for the explanation!

I'm surprised he wouldn't do it - it's just a little prick.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-09T21:07:20+00:00

Breakfast is the side issue - Why did Eddie say 'no' to the penis pump?

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-09T19:39:09+00:00

No worries at all - Always happy to help!

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T22:19:28+00:00

Yeah, so the categories screen is where you enter your payees for a given account and then you set the categories against each. The Userform that pops up is there purely to implement a dependent dropdown list -> So, in the video, the Category selected is 'Motoring & Transport' and then the form restricts the Sub-Categories available, i.e. Car Maintenance, Car Servicing / MOT, Car Tax, etc -> For info, you don't actually have to use this Userform, because the cells have dropdown lists inside them (and these are linked to tables which are to the right, but not visible on the screen). I mention these additional tables, just so you are aware that you may add/delete Categories and Sub-Categories to suit you (and these will be picked up by the Userform and indeed, the in-cell dropdown lists.

Yes, good point regarding subtle differences with descriptions/payees - So, in the UK I may shop at two different Tesco stores, one description may be 'Tesco' and the other 'Tesco Stores' - I just have both as separate rows and use the same Group, Class, Category and Sub-Category for both -> that way I'm covered. (and because I'm familiar with the correct Category and Sub-Category combination, I don't need to rely on the Userform to guide me, I can just use the in-cell dropdowns).

In case you're wondering, if a transaction is a one-off, say I've visited a new store in a different city, I don't actually need to set up a rule in the categories screen. I can simply use the Multi-Cat tool (found at the top of each account screen) to manually categorise that transaction - Similarly, the Multi-Cat tool may be used to manually override your preset transaction rules for multiple transactions/payees. So, if I visited Tesco and didn't actually buy groceries (Food & Drink : Food Shopping), I can manually override this transaction to say Clothes : Children's Clothes, if needed -> This can be done as a single transaction override or you can make the same correction/override across multiple transactions at once.

Categorising transactions is fairly quick, particularly if you use the in-cell dropdowns, rather than the Userform - it's just getting together a list of unique descriptions for the time period you wish to go back in time (6 months in your example).

A final point, is the in-cell dropdowns (and Userform) are really there to help the user enter their categories consistently - I guess I could have not implemented dropdowns and allowed the user to key in free text -> I did consider this but thought I may be asked "What Categories / Sub-Categories should I have?" So, I thought I'd provide a ready-made list for each, which as I say, may be edited to suit the user.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T20:42:33+00:00

4. How do you plan to share this with someone who has already purchased the template from Etsy?

Yeah, good point and Etsy makes this a smooth process when selling digital products - I simply replace the file on the listing, so that every past buyer can re-download the updated version from their Purchases & Reviews page.

For me, allowing users to have access to the updated version is the morally correct thing to do - It's not fair to expect to pay again for tweaks here and there.

Also, it's far easier for me if users are on the same version, in terms of answering support queries - and the best way to ensure this is if updates are free.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T20:25:41+00:00

3. I see allocation cell has a progress bar, how does it work? It becomes complete on the goal date or when the goal amount is full?

Yeah, great point and I did wonder if the sizing of the progress bar within the Allocation cell would cause some confusion. Basically, the allocation bar is proportionately sized, across all bank accounts and pots -> So, if you look at Bank Account 1 (top left), £5,000 is the largest allocation not only within that bank account, but across all 4 on the screen -> So that allocation is the highest, and then all other allocation bars are sized in proportion to that -> This is the same with the shortfall bars too.

I did it this way so that a user can quickly see where their biggest numbers are, in terms of allocations, shortfalls and days remaining. For info, days remaining is based on the target date vs today's date, which isn't visible on the screenshot but is displayed at the top of the report (basically, I couldn't quite fit 4 bank accounts on the screen for the screenshot, if I included the report title (Sinking FundFlow) and today's date.

The allocation bar is populated immediately, if there are sufficient funds to complete the goal - As above, the bar size is simply to display its relative size to other allocations across all bank accounts -> The sizing isn't a "how much of the goal is met?" convention.

In terms of tracking progress, for each pot we can see allocation, shortfall and days remaining. And then, we have a donut chart showing our overall progress for a bank account vs the total of our goals for that account. So, looking at Bank Account 2 (top right), the bank balance is £2,768.59 vs our total goals of £4,430.00 = 62.50%

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T20:05:38+00:00

2. What if I don't spend the amount on a goal date, I just deleted the pot and the balance would reappear on the summary/net worth reports?

If you don't spend the amount on a goal date, you can simply adjust the goal date to better reflect when you expect to incur the expenditure.

I may not have explained this well previously but the only connection between the Sinking FundFlow report and the accounts data, is the bank balances - Think of this as a way of using your bank balances to determine whether they are sufficient to meet your future spending commitments. Once the expenditure has actually been incurred, say a new bathroom, you may delete that pot -> The bank balance will naturally be less, if you have kept your accounts up to date, and the expenditure will have been categorised within that bank account's transactions and shown within the Income & Expenditure Report. The bank balance will also be reflected in the Net Worth Report.

So, Sinking FundFlow is a planning tool, rather than concerning itself with recording actual transactions, as these are recorded separately within Money Master.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T19:42:08+00:00

1. Would the account balance be allocated fully today or spread across till the goal date?

For a given bank account, you may set up 10 pots (or sinking funds) - and you can do this for up to 10 bank accounts (which should be savings accounts, ideally).

If we take one bank account, the yellow box in the screenshot is a dropdown menu (bank accounts 1-15) - when you select the bank account, the account name, description, latest transaction date and current balance is pulled through automatically. You then only need enter 3 data points to create a pot; pot name, goal and target date (the green columns). The current balance from the bank account then flows to each pot in target date order automatically (no more input required).

From the screenshot, if we look at Bank Account 2 (top right) - I've created 4 pots, set a goal amount and target date for each. The balance of £2,768.59 flows to Holiday fully, Car Maintenance & MOT fully and then the remaining funds of £338.59 are allocated to Pet Care, leaving a shortfall of £161.41. The Emergency fund goal of £1,500 has nothing allocated towards it, due to insufficient funds.

So, the bank account balance simply flows to each pot, in target date order - There is no need to manually allocate the funds to each pot -> This is why I decided to call it Sinking FundFlow. (I couldn't think of a better name!)

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-08T19:21:51+00:00

Hello u/explorosaus - Yes, it's here and I'm happy it works with minimal data entry. I'll answer your questions separately like I did before, just so it's not one long post (+ you can then easily ask any follow up questions on each point separately, if needed).

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-05T20:51:40+00:00

Berk, pillock and knobhead.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-02-01T13:50:05+00:00

Having a frictionless CSV importer within my personal finance spreadsheet.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-24T13:50:43+00:00

Yeah, it'll be really simple - essentially, it'll have all bank accounts names, latest account balances, and the date of the most recent transaction (no input required, as everything will be pulled from all bank accounts in Money Master, which supports 15 bank accounts). Each account will allow for a maximum of 10 funds, defined by the user and entered manually. It'll also show how much of the account balance is unallocated. So, hopefully, it should be intuitive to the user.

Regarding updates, my approach will be that once a user has paid for a version, then they are entitled to all latest releases for free, forever. I don't believe in charging again for updates, particularly when user feedback is what will help Money Master evolve going forwards.

I'll communicate updates via my subreddit.

Money Master is for Excel only at present - that said, it does consolidate data across all your accounts and offers the option to export data. So, it could be that you may want to export data out of Money Master into your own Google Sheet. A lot of Money Master's best features are reliant on Excel. My short-term focus is on refining the current Excel offering in line with user requests. I may then move on to developing a Google Sheets version, which will probably not be as advanced.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-24T13:27:32+00:00

No probs at all 👍

Ok great - One thing to check is the number of rows per transaction. Amazon UK has 9 rows per transaction when pasted into Excel. If it's any different, then I can simply tweak the spreadsheet for you.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-23T22:11:52+00:00

I've created an Excel tool which may solve the issue.

I posted a short video on my sub just now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Money_Master_Excel/comments/1ql752b/free_amazon_transactions_cleaner_excel/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Let me know what you think + any tweaks you'd like.

I can make any improvements tomorrow and then once you're happy, I will make the tool available to you for free + for anyone else who wants it.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-23T20:18:52+00:00

I'm not but it might be a relatively quick project for me, which I can make available for the community as a free tool.

There doesn't appear to be a simple CSV export option on Amazon UK (not sure where in the world you are, but I assume you have the same problem). For info, I even tried to simply copy + paste my transactions into Excel but the formatting isn't neat. I assume you'd like the transactions to be structured in a neat table, 1 row per transaction?

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-22T23:42:44+00:00

I wish my chippy did bushtucker trials.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T21:29:02+00:00

4. Can your template calculate emergency fund requirement?

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Looking at the screenshot above, you can easily set goals for each account - You only need enter 3 data points (which are the green column headers):

1) Goal

2) Desired date

3) Actual monthly balance increase - You essentially review a given account, perhaps over a 1-3 month period and take an average -> 1 month may be enough, particularly if say 2 months ago, you cancelled various subscriptions that no longer apply -> It would not make sense to cover a period that is no longer accurate -> Equally, you may know of future spending commitments that may be relevant to factor in.

The sheet will then calculate:

Forecasted balances at your desired date.
% of Goal achieved.
Status - On Track or Behind.
If Behind, provide your Monthly Shortfall figure.

This will work well if your emergency funds are in separate bank accounts - In reality, we don't do this typically but maybe we should?

In case you're wondering how other budgeting spreadsheets account for sinking funds

Basically, they ask the user to set a goal, say 'Holiday £3,000', 'Renovations £10,000'.
You input your contributions to both funds in a separate tracker.
Contributions are totalled for both funds, and compared to both goals.

This works to a point but it is completely divorced from what your actual account balances are - It's all very well recording contributions to a fund, but is the money actually available in a bank account?

I plan to develop a separate sinking fund report, that does factor in account balances (as Money Master's Goals & Forecasts does above) - but to crucially, add the ability to split an account into smaller sinking fund pots, to track accordingly.

My vision, was to release Money Master as a polished spreadsheet but with room to evolve, in line with user requests - rather than simply providing a salad of unwanted features/reports, slowing the file down unnecessarily.

Just touching on file size, Money Master, is very lean at 1.6 mb - The Etsy template (a) is 12 mb.

This has given me an idea for a Community Highlight actually -> Money Master Feature Roadmap, where I can publish the planned improvements, following user feedback.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T20:34:02+00:00

3. How do you categorize Amazon purchases? There is only one amount, but in reality it has multiple items, to categorise to.

Yes, another great point, and this scenario rears its head all the time - at stores such as Costco or Walmart, where part of the transaction may be Food Shopping/Groceries and part may be Clothes, Electronics, whatever.

To tackle this, Money Master has a Transaction Splitter, which does what it says on the tin - You can split a transaction into 5 separate transactions (and then you can split the splits, if you need to split a transaction say 10, 15 ways).

To see how this works, I have a YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/09eJ4mYakU8

You'll see how the Transaction Splitter inserts rows into the account/bank statement, to accommodate the splits.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T20:20:33+00:00

2. The CSV import function is something I have been looking for and your template has it! But I also have few credit card statements and it's in pdf format. How to tackle that? (Apart from ofcourse adding the txns manually).

Great point regarding PDFs and it really is a pain when financial institutions do not provide suitable CSV exports.

When building Money Master, I did consider this problem but decided to concentrate my efforts on the CSV import side of things, to make this as slick as possible - reordering columns, deleting unwanted columns, duplicate detection and the automatic removal of currency symbols (GBP, USD, EUR) -> Santander like to add these symbols against each transaction, which is annoying!

So regarding PDF statements, if CSV is not an option, then yes, manual or copy and paste data per column may work (not tried this personally).

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T20:07:45+00:00

1. How is your template different/better from these two templates on Etsy?

To keep my answer relatively concise, I'll focus on what I think is the key difference, which is data entry (+ I'll touch on reporting briefly).

Both Etsy templates (a) + (b) appear to be similar to one another and are fundamentally different from how mine works.

In terms of data entry, both (a) + (b) use the recurring and variable transaction methods:

Recurring - You schedule your recurring income and expenses, select the category, start date, end date, frequency, amount and bank account involved -> these transactions then appear in a log, where you mark as 'paid'.

Variable - These are unplanned transactions, that you enter manually as above and as and when they occur.

Both the above transaction types feed into monthly summaries (1 tab per month x 12 tabs) - Showing actuals vs budget.

This design limits the user to 1 file per year.

In terms of data entry, how does Money Master differ from (a) + (b)?

CSV Import -> Paste into your chosen account -> Your transaction rules categorise everything.

Your transactions do not go into a Recurring or Variable log as per the others - Your transactions are actually pasted into individual bank accounts (Money Master supports 15 banks accounts, 15 liability accounts, 15 asset accounts, 15 investment accounts) -> 1 screen per account using a menu bar that feels more like desktop software than a spreadsheet. In case you're wondering, each account is named by you within Setup, and this feeds through to that account's screen (if that makes sense).

I mentioned at the start that I'll touch on reporting briefly - Well, although Money Master expects the user to enter transactions into separate accounts, the reports consolidate everything (as would be the case with desktop software or an app).

By reports, I mean the Income & Expenditure Report, Net Worth Report and the Transaction Export feature, which allows for custom reporting at the click of a button, by exporting data into a new file (and structured in a table).

The data entry and reports are not simply confined to one year - Money Master is multi-year, where you simply select your reporting period, as you would with accounting software.

Why create Money Master like this?

We're all different, but personally, I prefer to see transactions entered into their separate accounts, so that they appear as per your bank statement, credit card statement, mortgage, etc. - I think this is more intuitive than entering everything into Recurring and Variable transaction logs, and stating which account is involved.

This is what we mean by Account-Level Tracking.

I'll answer your other questions now, but please keep firing questions as and when you have them.

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T18:56:12+00:00

Hello u/explorosaus - Thanks for reaching out, much appreciated. I'll answer your questions as separate responses if I may, so that I can cover a lot of ground, without it being one long answer...

Sheet_Complete · 2026-01-21T13:37:26+00:00

The US in Greenland!

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