Spreadsheets
Prefer a spreadsheet? So did we, for four years.
The whole system started in Excel and ran there long before there was an app. If you want to see every formula, own the file, and keep it on your own disk with no account and no subscription, these do the entire job.
Why a spreadsheet is a perfectly good answer
You can see the whole machine
Every calculation is visible and every cell is editable. Nothing hides behind a screen someone else designed, and you can trace any number back to what produced it.
It is yours, permanently
One file on your disk. No login, no cloud, no subscription, and no company that can change its terms or shut down. Open it in ten years and it still works.
Change anything
Add a category, restructure a sheet, drop in your own formula. A spreadsheet bends to the way you already think, which is exactly why so many people never leave one.
What you get
- A monthly transaction log, using the category structure we write about in the insights.
- An income statement and a balance sheet that build themselves from that log.
- A net worth sheet that handles accounts in more than one currency.
- Sample data already filled in, so it makes sense the moment you open it, plus an instructions tab explaining every sheet.
Formats
Excel (.xlsx), tested in Microsoft 365 and in Apple Numbers, and it imports into Google Sheets. No macros, so there is nothing to enable and nothing your IT department can block.
Start free
A single-sheet monthly tracker using the same category structure. Enough to run a household for a year, and enough to find out whether this way of working suits you.
Free starter template
One account. The spreadsheets, the app, and nothing else.
The starter template is free. It asks for an account rather than an email address, because the same account is the one you will use in the app, so you never set anything up twice.
- The free starter template, as a download link by email
- The same login for the app when you install it
- New articles roughly weekly, if you want them
Not open yet
Accounts open when the app reaches the App Store. Tell us where to send the starter template and we will email it the moment it is ready.
support@cifrea.comWe store your name and email so the account works. Nothing is sold, shared or used for advertising, and you can delete the account and everything in it at any time.
Check your email.
We have sent a confirmation link. Open it and the template download starts straight away. If nothing arrives within a few minutes, look in spam, then tell us.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
It usually happens at one of three moments. Two people need to enter things at the same time, from their phones. The file grows until nobody but you dares touch a formula. Or reconciling against real bank balances each month turns into a chore instead of a habit. That is what the app is for. Until then, the spreadsheet is not a lesser option. It is the same system.