The executor accounting spreadsheet, done properly

Two free templates — a ledger and an inventory — with the columns a real estate accounting needs, and the method for keeping them. No sign-up; the download links are right here.

Download the ledger template (CSV) · Download the inventory template (CSV)— both open in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.

Why most executor spreadsheets fail at the end

Almost every executor starts a spreadsheet, and almost every spreadsheet has the same problem: it’s a cash-flow list, and an estate accounting isn’t. When the time comes to settle, beneficiaries (or a court) expect a document with a particular shape — opening inventory, receipts, disbursements, gains and losses on anything sold, distributions, and what’s left — that balances to the penny. A list of “money in, money out” has the raw material but not the shape, and rebuilding a year of entries into schedules the night before a family meeting is how executors end up hating the job.

The columns that matter, and why

Date and payee/source on every row — accountings identify who was paid and where money came from, not just amounts.
A type column (money in / money out / sale / distribution) — these become different schedules in the final document, so tag them now.
Category — funeral, administration, debts paid, taxes, income received. The buckets courts and beneficiaries expect.
Principal vs. income — the subtle one. What the estate owned is principal; what that property earns while the estate is open (interest, dividends, rent) is income. Several states’ formats report them in separate columns, and it’s nearly impossible to untangle after the fact.
Sales need two numbers — what it sold for AND what it was valued at, because the accounting reports the gain or loss.
“Paid from my own pocket?” — executors front expenses constantly and then forget to reimburse themselves. Track it or donate it.

The method

Fill the inventory first: everything owned at death, valued as of that day.
One ledger row per event, the day it happens. Keep every receipt.
Monthly, check the arithmetic: opening inventory + money in + gains − money out − losses − distributions should equal what’s actually on hand. If it doesn’t, something wasn’t recorded — find it now, not in a year.

When the spreadsheet stops being enough

The templates above genuinely work — they’re what we’d keep by hand. The honest limits: a spreadsheet won’t check its own balance, won’t reshape itself into your state’s accounting format, and can’t give a co-executor or the estate’s attorney a live read-only view. ExecutorLedger is those three things — guided entry that files everything correctly, books that verify themselves continuously, and exports in the informal and court-style formats — free while you work, $149 once per estate when you export. If the spreadsheet serves you, keep it with our blessing; it’s why the templates are free.