One of the best ways to save time while working on Excel document is to use templates. Templates present a collection of styles and formats which are applied to a spreadsheet so that you don’t have to organize it from scratch. Instead of formatting and adjusting the table and data every time you create a new Excel document, you can just use a pre-made template instead. There are a huge number of free Excel templates available for just about every possible type of spreadsheet we could ever need. No matter if we are creating a spreadsheet to calculate our budget, manage invoices, or track our loans, we can be sure that there is a template for that available somewhere online.
And even if you don’t want to search for something that fits your needs, you can create an Excel template which can be used for your own specific needs or the needs of your team. For example, instead of instructing team members on how they need to do something each time, just send them a pre-made Excel template in order to streamline the process. Standardization is necessary in big companies and small ones alike, because it’s needed for effective time management. That’s why templates are so popular.
Creating your own template is very easy.
To create a template, open a regular Excel document, format it to the way you need it to be exactly and then save you work as a template from the drop-down list that appears when you use the “Save as” option.
The new template is ready can be send it to team member or used by you at any given time.
If you want to use an existing template that comes with Excel, go to Open – From Template – and locate a template that fits your needs. The templates differ from one version of Excel to another, but there are many options in all versions of the Microsoft program.
If you don’t want to create a template from scratch, you can modify an existing template.
And if you can’t find anything you want in Excel, there are plenty of online sources and websites that offer free templates that have been create by a variety of Excel users and shared on the Internet.
Some of the best websites with free templates are:
– http://www.exinfm.com/free_spreadsheets.html – A collection of mostly financial Excel templates for creating balance sheets, cash flow models, valuations and more.
– http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/templates/excel-templates-FX102832595.aspx This is probably the largest and probably most complete collection of templates on the Internet. There is little something for everybody here – everything from expense reports to calendars, loan calculators, weight loss trackers, accounting templates and much more.
– http://exceltemplates.net/ – A pretty solid directory of Excel templates that includes financial, engineering, family-related, health, household, retirement and many other types of spreadsheets for all types of needs.
– http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/ – This is a great resources page that has numerous free templates available for various fields. Find the best Excel mortgage calculators, money management, calendar, invoicing and timesheet templates here.
– http://templates.libreoffice.org/template-center – These templates can be modified further and shared at will. They are in the .ods format, but that format can easily be converted to .xls. The choice of templates is good and you can also contribute your own if you are so inclined.
