Project templates free excel

Project management templates in Smartsheet

A project management template is an effective tool for any project — big or small, simple or complex. Even if the deliverables are small, you still need to estimate timing, identify the resources required, and assign tasks to team members. That’s why it’s important to find the right project management solution to help ensure that your next project is delivered on time and on budget.

One solution is Smartsheet, a work execution platform that enables enterprises and teams to get from idea to impact — fast. Top project management leaders rely on Smartsheet to help align the right people, resources, and schedules to get work done.

Use Smartsheet to create consistent project elements, increase speed, and improve collaboration with scalable options that fit individual work preferences. Hold yourself and your team accountable, improve visibility into team priorities, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. See how easy it can be to use a project management template in Smartsheet.

Get free Smartsheet templates

There are hundreds of software tools for project management, but familiarity with spreadsheets and the flexiblity that they provide makes using Excel a very popular solution. The project templates listed here are mostly related to project scheduling. Our Gantt chart template is the most useful project management template that we offer. Anything more complicated would probably require Microsoft Project or other project management software.

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Nothing beats the time-saving awesomeness of the perfect Excel template.

Whether you’re managing a team of employees or a busy household, being able to simply plug in your data and go means your work gets done faster, your projects run smoother, and you’re the most organized person in the room.

But finding the right template can be time-consuming on its own.

Luckily, you can get started ASAP because we’ve compiled a list of 52 free Excel templates to help make your life easier today.

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Our list has you covered with template picks spanning 7 categories:

• Project management
• Money management
• Planning ahead
• Buying a house
• Personal weight loss
• Business management
• Business planning

Skip ahead to the sections you’re interested in or check each one out to see what you’re missing.

Looking for more templates? Check out these free downloadable Word resume templates and PowerPoint templates.

To kick things off, let’s start with 7 project management templates your team can’t afford to go without.

Project management

1. Timeline template

Most of us are used to seeing timelines in history class, but they also work well for project management. Timelines give you a general overview of important milestones and key events that everyone on the team should be aware of.

This helps your team stay on the same page throughout the course of your project. If you don’t have time to create your own project timeline, don’t sweat it. Use this template to create one quickly.

2. Gantt Chart template

Take your project timeline a step further by using this Gantt Chart free Excel template. This gives you a timeline with a bit more detail. You can mark and see at a glance the start and end times of your project, plus all those important milestones to reach until it’s complete.

Each milestone also has a summary of what needs to be done so there’s no question as to what everyone on your team should be working on and when those deliverables are due.

For the best results, create a general timeline to look at for quick answers, such as when something is due, and your Gantt Chart to see the details of the deliverables before they’re due.

3. To-do list template

Hold your team accountable. Once you have your general timeline created and your Gantt Chart laid out, you’ll need a way to keep your team in the loop with the status of certain deliverables. This to-do list template will help you do just that.

With this template, you can add the project tasks, a status update, the priority level, a due date, who’s in charge, and any relevant notes to ensure that everyone on the team knows what’s going on.

And if any issues come up, you can use this next template.

4. Issue tracking template

Unfortunately, all projects have their share of issues. It’s important to document these both for learning purposes in the future and figuring out how to solve the issue in the here and now.

This issue tracking template helps you keep a log of what went wrong, when it occurred, who handled the problem, and any relevant notes that may be helpful.

Remember, it’s better to identify the issues and document them now than it is to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again because you failed to identify a common thread.

5. Weekly timecard template

On top of tracking issues, it’s a good idea to also record how long each step in a project is taking your team so you can price your services accordingly. This weekly timecard for projects will give you a better idea of that.

6. Project tracking template

You can also use this project tracking template to gauge if your projects are running on time and within budget.

7. KPI tracking template

This project KPI tracking template will also help you measure the performance of your projects to ensure you’re hitting the mark every time. After all, you don’t want to learn that you missed your target at the end of a project when it’s too late to do anything about it.

In this next section, I’ll show you the best templates to help you manage your money.

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Money management

8. Money management template

Manage all your finances at a glance. This money management template keeps your finances organized by breaking down your spending into categories such as household, savings, and charitable donations.

9. Personal budget template

Create a personal budget. On top of managing your spending, you should also track your spending in relation to your budget to see where you can cut down. This personal budget template will make that a breeze.

10. Income and expense template

Use this template when you want to compare your income to your expenses. This helps you see if you’re living within your means or not. And if it turns out you aren’t, consider using the personal budget template to fix things.

11. Family budget planner template

What if you’re managing more than just your own finances? For those in charge of a household, a family budget planner template can help you see an overall view of what your family spends money on throughout the year.  

12. Household budget template

Once you have an idea of where your money goes as a family, you can then start using a household budget template to keep things in control and under budget.

13. College budget template

For students, there’s also this helpful college budget template that tracks where most of your funds are going. Then you’ll know what to expect and how to plan ahead each semester (for the most part).

14. Holiday spending budget template

The holidays can be a hard hit financially if you’re not careful. With lengthy wish-lists, it’s important to balance what everyone wants with what you can actually afford. This holiday spending budget helps you do that the easy way.

15. Travel budget template

Dream of traveling to a remote beach far away? Use this travel budget template and you’ll be well on your way to making that dream a reality.

16. Kids money management template

You can also teach your children how to track their allowance, savings, and spending with this helpful money management template for kids.

17. Savings goal template

If your kids (or you) have a savings goal in mind, use this free Excel template. By tracking exactly how much you save each month, you’ll have a better chance of making progress towards your goal.

18. Wedding budget template

Weddings can also be a costly adventure for many. To ensure you don’t go over budget, check out this free wedding budget template.

19. Get out of debt template

And if wedding bells are not in your immediate plans and getting out from under a mound of debt is, this template has your name on it.

20. Portfolio management template

You can also use this portfolio management template to track and maximize how much you earn from your investments.

Up next, I’ll show you how a little planning ahead will make your life smooth sailing down the road.

Planning ahead

21. Meal plan template

Deciding what to eat after a long day at work is never an easy task. To avoid this headache, meal plan ahead of time using this template, which helps you plan your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners before you even start your work week. It even has a convenient place for you to write down your grocery list.

22. Home remodel budget template

If you’re planning to remodel your house, you’d be foolish not to use this free home remodel budget template. With this, you’ll have a much better idea of what this undertaking is truly going to cost you.

23. Party planning template

Parties can also increase your spending for the month. Let this party planning template make sure your party stays within your budget.

Purchasing a house is another important milestone that can quickly spiral out of your budget and control.

Fortunately, the templates in our next section will help alleviate some of the financial stress that comes with such a major purchase.

Buying a house

24. Home expense calculator template

Your first step in the home buying process, even before you go house hunting, is to see how much home you can really afford. This home expense calculator will give you the truth.

25.  Home buying checklist template

Once you have that all figured out, you’re ready for the fun stuff: deciding what you’d like in a house. This home buying checklist gives you a list of features to choose from so you can narrow down the type of house you’re looking for.

26. Mortgage calculator template

But before you decide to put in an offer on the house of your dreams, use this mortgage calculator template to see if your mortgage payments are something you can even afford.

Templates can also be helpful when you’re trying to lose or maintain your current weight. I’ll show you two great ones to use for this next.

Personal weight loss

27. Weight loss tracker template

This free weight loss tracker helps you chart your weight loss journey so you can marvel at how much you’ve accomplished.

28. Couple weight loss tracker template

To add to that, grab a partner or spouse and track both of your weight loss journeys with this weight loss template. You can motivate each other to succeed.

Up next, let’s talk about the best Excel templates for managing your business.

Business management

29. Basic invoice template

When you need to create a simple invoice in order to receive payment from your customer, use this free template.

30. Service invoice template

For service-based businesses, this invoice template has everything you need. You can explain what each charge is and describe the services performed neatly and easily.

31. Sales invoice template

If you’re collecting orders from customers, this sales invoice template has your name on it. With this, you’ll be able to track orders and clearly explain to customers exactly what they’re receiving with their purchase.

32. Account statement template

As your month progresses, you can track your sales orders from customers using this free template to make sure you’re hitting your targets each time.

33. Packing slip template

If you’re shipping goods to customers, use this packing slip template to show your customers a breakdown of their order.

34. Price quote template

Anytime you need to send a customer a price quote, reach for this template and you’ll have a professional one to send over ASAP.

35. Purchase order template

Once your customer decides to accept your price quote, you can then create a purchase order thanks to this template.

36. Sales receipt template

To send a simple sales receipt to your customers, use this free template.

37. Rent receipts template

If you’re renting your home or business to a tenant, use these rent receipts to keep things organized. Come tax time, you won’t have to worry about finding the rent paper trail they’ll be asking for.

38. Home office expense tracking template

Solopreneurs working from home will want to use this home office expense tracker to double check that you’re making the most out of your eligible tax deductions.

39. Computer repair invoice template

And if you happen to be in the computer repair business, use this free invoice template instead of the generic one so you can come across as professional and organized.

40. Time card template

Keeping track of your employee time sheets should be a top priority for any manager. This free time card template does that in less time. Simply have your employees “clock in” each day using this sheet and at the end of the week, you’ll have everything you need to run payroll.

41. Weekly timesheet template

Once you have your employees’ daily log all set, you can then transfer that information to this weekly timesheet template to get a better view of their hours for the month.

42. Weekly timesheet with breaks template

This weekly timesheet also includes breaks in it so you can get a more accurate picture of how many hours your employees are working each week. You can view a simple summary of both regular and overtime hours in the ‘Summary Timesheet’ tab.

43. Free payroll calculator template

Before you run payroll, use this free payroll calculator to calculate your employee’s gross pay.

44. Proft and loss statement template

Finally, you can use this profit and loss template to track income statements, profits, revenues, and costs with an easy-to-use dashboard.

Now that you have templates for the technical aspects of operating your business, let’s go over a few to use if you’re just starting out or want to take your business to the next level.

Business planning

45. Competitive analysis template

Before your idea becomes a business, it is vital to know where you stand in the competitive landscape. This handy competitive analysis template has sections for both qualitative and quantitative information on your competitors. 

46. Startup business planning template

Every great business starts with two things: a good product and a solid business plan. While I can’t help you with the product itself, I can offer you this free Excel template which shows you everything you need to include in your business plan.

47. Financial plan projection template

And if you’re stuck trying to figure out how to plan your finance, this template will be worth its weight in gold.

48. On-page SEO template

Before you launch your business’ website, or if you already have an existing one live, you should use this on-page SEO template to ensure your website is properly set up for search engines. This simple step can help you drive more leads to your website. If you’re looking to up your SEO game, check out these actionable SEO tips for startups.

49. Marketing calendar template

Once you have your business plan in place, conducted market research, and mapped out your customer’s journey, you’re ready to nail down your 12-month marketing plan. This template will make the task much less intimidating.

50. Marketing editorial calendar

On top of your marketing plan, you’ll need an editorial calendar that outlines the type of content and social posts you’ll share with your audience. Use this free template to plan out the next few months of content for your business.

51. SWOT analysis template

As your business grows, it’s essential that your team grows with it. To ensure your team is taking steps in the right direction, use this SWOT analysis for your business every few months.

52. Event planning template

And when it comes time to celebrate your grand opening or a major milestone, be sure to take advantage of this event planning template so yours runs without a hiccup.

Don’t waste time creating your own templates, use these free Excel ones instead

You’re already busy enough, why add to your stress and overflowing to-do lists?

Instead of spending countless hours creating your own templates, use one of the free Excel templates on our list and you’ll make all the messy, overwhelming parts of your life that much easier.

Whether you’re starting a business or managing your personal finances, this list of 52 Excel templates has you covered.

Ready to become an Excel ninja? We got you – no matter where you are on the skill spectrum.

Check out our Basic and Advanced Excel course and level up today!

The 9 Best Project Management Templates for Excel (2023)

The 9 Best Project Management Templates for Excel (2023)

Project managers are known for their decisiveness and time management.

A project’s success depends on how a project manager identifies, plans, and employs the resources available for any given project (especially the timespan).

If you, too, have a complicated project ahead of you that requires sophisticated planning – don’t sail all the way along alone. 😃

Bringing you the best templates, Excel consistently provides a solution for everything. It offers a wide variety of project management templates that make your job all the easier.

To learn what these templates are and how you may use them, continue reading.

Why Project Management in Excel?

There’s no denying the plethora of software for managing projects in the market. A new project management software comes out daily, better than the previous versions.

But even with all the excellence. Not a single software has been able to take the place of Excel project management – and there’s no wonder why.

Microsoft Excel is by far one of the most efficient software for managing tasks. And a huge number of project managers all around the world only use Excel for their work.

Their familiarity with the Excel spreadsheet greatly contributes to the software’s favor. Excel offers so many wonderful project management templates, and a lot of them are for FREE! 🤩

However, know that you can always switch to Microsoft Project software. That is if you prefer more advanced project tracker template options.

Now, let’s see the templates Excel has to offer.

1. Gantt Chart Template

The Gantt Chart template is a very helpful visual tool. It gives you an overview of the project schedule of your team at all times.

A typical example of its use can be a small content creation agency. It needs a system to assign tasks and keep a record of the deliverables. This way, you are never behind schedule.

In the Gantt chart, all the data is represented in color-coded bars. And you can customize them for different teams and individuals by changing the colors, elements, and more.

You can divide the tasks into phases or milestones with a summary of their progress. The chart also offers different layouts, and you can choose any one that suits your needs and appeals to the eye.

Excel has different variations of the Gantt chart template, from simpler ones to advanced charts. One of the most used Gantt chart templates includes the Vertex42 Simple Gantt Chart.

You can get it from Excel templates as well. And if you don’t understand how to create a Gantt chart, try watching this YouTube tutorial.

In addition to the simple template, you can also use the Ultimate Excel Gantt Chart. That is if you are a business that is constantly expanding. This graph can be a bit difficult to understand, but nothing a YouTube video can’t solve.

2. Project Budget Template

Finalizing the budget is the first step toward successful project management. And you wouldn’t want to make any mistake here as it sets the base of the project.

You must keep track of all the expenses from start to end, and the project budget template helps you do just that.

It color-codes Balance when you are exceeding your project’s budget. This is your cue to reconsider the expenses. The best part is that you can set expenses per team, phase, equipment, travel, and others using this.

You can get the all-in-one Project Budget template from the Project Manager. It can even help you set an estimate for all the project resources and costs. The template comes with two sheets, including a how-to guide.

But it isn’t limited to that. You can explore other options. And even customize a project budget template using SmartSheet.

3. Action Item Report Template

The Action Item Report is one of the most useful Excel templates. Every company has a to-do list of items assigned to its team.

The Action template lets you organize the tasks and keep the workflow going swiftly. It lets you set the task status as high, low, or medium and shows each task’s progress in one glance.

You can rank tasks, update deadlines and pay special attention to team members who need help.

It is the perfect template for effective project management. You can get the Action template from Excel or from Vertex 42 – both work wonderfully. 😉

4. Project Dashboard Template

The project dashboard template gives you a bird’s eye view of all the tasks and their statuses.

It gives you a visual representation of where your team stands. And gives you the latest key performance metrics every time.

You can also choose the layout or style you want in your Excel project management template. This makes it easy to understand the project phases.

And the best part is that this Project Dashboard template is 100% free – the only fee is your Email.

5. Multiple Project Tracking Template

Being a project manager is not an easy task. Managing multiple tasks and supervising the team spells difficult. And on top of that, sending daily reports to authorities is enough exertion.

A little help in the form of a reliable project planning timeline template is necessary. It can be a tad bit complex to understand, but once you get a hold of it, you should be able to do it with your eyes closed.

The Multiple Project Tracking Template lets you manage all the tasks in one go. You can add as many projects as you like, manage over 40 tasks at once, and you get all this for free! Isn’t that amazing?

Download yours today and manage your daily tasks with a few clicks only. 😃

6. Status Report Template

There is nothing more embarrassing than being the project manager and not having the correct project details. Luckily, we have the Status Report template to save the day.

It lets you keep an eye on your progress as a team and identify challenges. So you can prepare for the next project while keeping the data compact and concise.

You can also keep strict and clear intel on the workflow. And this is so important while managing different projects.

If you are not already using the Status Report template, you are working blind-eyed. And the resources of the project are subject to threat.

Using the Project Status Report template, you will know where the team members lack and how you can help them. This helps construct more relevant and purposeful follow-ups than simply increasing the bottlenecks.

7. Critical Path Method Template

CPM has a special place when it comes to project management.

With the Critical Path Method, you can pay special attention to tasks that are long overdue. Provide extra resources, and determine which task requires more consideration with increased proficiency.

Usually, you’d need specialized software to keep track of such details. But now all you need is the CPM software.

The best part is that it’s so simple you don’t need to learn any new formulas or terms to perform a critical analysis. Moreover, you can simply copy and paste data acting upon a few guidelines.

The CPM uses a Gantt chart that works like a bar chart. But offers more benefits with increased ease of use and low cost.

Creating and designing a CPM is truly a challenging task. But with this new, free version of Critical Path Method, provided by Vertex42, you can set it up in minutes. 😀

8. Project Timeline Template

Project timelines are great for having an overview of all important tasks. They give you an insight into the project plan that you and your team can follow timely.

This way, there are no communication gaps. And everyone is well aware of their tasks and the deadlines approaching. It really adds to a more peaceful and organized working environment.

You can also customize the template as you like. You change the color bars from 6 different colors. And quickly insert and delete milestones.

Although this template is very resourceful, creating it can be tedious. This is why we’ve brought you the free Project Timeline template that has everything prepared for you. Just erase the existing text and add your own – you’re good to go!

9. Content Calendar Template

If you’re a blogger or a social media person, a content calendar is your go-to tool. And without a calendar, you’re knee-deep in trouble. 😬

But thank God we have Excel to our rescue.

The brilliant Content Calendar template of Vertex42 is tailor-made for your needs. It will take you through all the chaos – from planning content to publishing it.

It will not only help you plan your content but also track its progress and schedule content to post.

Once you get a hold of it, it will really be your best friend in times of urgency. A single glance at your calendar in the morning, and you’re well prepared for the tasks of the day.

And the best part is that it’s free to use, unlike the other expensive, good-for-nothing project management software. So get your free Content Calendar template today!

That’s it – Now what?

This article helped us learn a lot about project management Excel templates. And how they can help you better organize and manage your projects.

But it doesn’t end here. You can choose any project schedule template from the Microsoft Excel templates. And even customize one to fit your needs.

If you are new to Excel, try our Excel course designed specifically for you. Where you learn some core Excel functions like the VLOOKUP, IF, and SUMIF functions.

To become a pro at these functions (and others), enroll in my 30-minute free email course today. 😃

Other resources

Excel has been a major hub of project management templates for years now. And it is improving with each passing day.

All these advancements make it a more reliable software for managing project tasks.

You can use Excel not only for project management but also to create Dashboard, Budget, and Power BI templates.

To read more such interesting articles, head on to our website. See you there! 😉

Kasper Langmann2023-02-23T15:11:55+00:00

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Download the Best and Free Project Plan Template in Excel Format. This free project management template is available in Excel 2007, 2010, 2013,2016 to download. Project Plan Template Excel is the most useful Project Management Template created using Microsoft Excel.

Project Plan Template is another important tool for Project Management System. Project plan helps to understand the project timelines and list of the tasks.

In this topic: You will get free Excel Project Plan Template and clear instructions to create and planning your project activities.

• Excel Template for Project Planning.
• Download: Project Plan Template for free.
• How to create Project Plan Template in Excel?
• How to use Excel Project Plan Template?

This Free Excel Project Plan Template is a Must have Work tracking Planner comes with a Sample Dashboard & Gantt Chart. You can schedule the Tasks and timelines in Microsoft Excel 2007,2010,2013 and 2016 formats.

Project scheduling Template is another important Project Management Template helps effectively Plan and Manage the Project. So, once we are done with the project initiation, we have to send the project plan with clear schedules. And a Project tracker should include all important project details. Also, Project Plan Plan should be clear for your clients and the team members working on that particular project.

Here is a sample and the best project plan Excel template prepared using Excel 2013. This Simple and Example Project Plan Excel Template with Gantt Chart planner will work on Excel 2003,2007,2010, 2013 and 2016.

Following are the example screen-shot and interactive excel online template. you can enter any data see how its working online. This is an excel macro template and Gantt Chart Template, you can freely download at end of this topic.

Project Plan Template Excel Free Download

Here is are the list of Free Excel Project Plan Templates for Planning your tasks, activities, projects, resource and time. You can efficiently mange your projects using our Free Project Plan Excel Templates. You can download the Files below and open it in Excel and Enter your plans. Each of the below template is create for different versions and OS, you can download and streamline your project tracking using most useful project management templates.

Sample Project Plan Template Excel

This is a sample screen-shot of Project Plan Template Excel Free Download. It follows the Interactive Project Plan Microsoft Excel Template. You can download the Free Project Plan Microsoft Excel Template at end of this topic.

Project Plan Template – Free Excel Download – Interactive Excel Template

In this dynamic Project Plan Excel Template, you can change the status in sample data and see how the Template and is dynamically updating the Gantt chart. You can download the example file at end of this topic.

Why do we need Excel Project Plan Template for Project Management

Well, it is simple! Imagine you are a client and you have a project which can be given to any organization to get it done. So, the immediate questions you will think about is – Who will develop my project? And how many days they will take to complete the project? How they will split the work? How many people will work on it? And what is the cost of delivering each milestone?

Also, few organizations follow the standards like ISO standard, and separate business rules and specification. They will prepare the ISO project plan templates and use the same as standard document in their project management.

Answers for all these question will be available in our Free Excel Project Plan Template, you can download the Project Plan Template Excel Free Downloadable File at end this article. The other similar names to the Project plan template are Project Agenda Template, Project proposal template, Project Planner, Project Task Planning Template, Project Task Assignment Template, Project Task Distribution Template and Project Plan Template Free Excel Download, Project Task Scheduler and Project Tracker.

How to Create Excel Project Plan Template for Project Management

Project Plan Templates can be created based on the project requirements. Here are the steps to create Project Plan Templates. The template which we are providing here is for an IT project.
Similarly, You can prepare it for any domain like, real-estate, healthcare, retail,ect. While preparing the Project Plan Templates, you can consider the following points.

• Think about your project and the different tasks which you have to complete to deliver your project
• Divide all tasks in different Main Task. For examples: Project Design, Project Development, Project Testing, Project Documentation and Project Management/ Maintenance
• Identify the lead programmers for this main tasks
• Ask your lead programmer to divide the main task into different sub tasks and distribute to the programmers
• Now you will have the main tasks and sub task to complete in order to deliver the final projects
• Project mangers can think and decide the timelines for each task to deliver the project as per the client request
• Now your project plan template should have: Project Title, Customer Name, Project Manager Name and email, Tasks to complete and respective programmers, tester to work on the project, and their email IDs
• If your customer is new, it is better to to put the technologies which your going to use to develop this projects. And the skill set of your team

Now your project template will look good with the above details. You can use our Project Plan Template in Excel Format – Free Downloadable Template as a base template and change the required fields which you wants to add additionally.

Download Free Project Plan Template – in Microsoft Excel Format

Please click on the button below to ‘ download Free Excel Project Plan Template and enable the macro. You can click on any button to toggle the Gantt. Chart and Grid Table. If you need more powerful features, please check out premium templates features below.

Info: Project Plan and Gantt Chart Template helps you to plan a project timelines and resource. You can change the default data and formula to meet your needs.
Usage: We start planning our projects after initial meetings and agreement. We plan our resource and timelines based on the requirements, deliverable and available team and bandwidth. Project plan template helps to track all the tasks and its progress and status of each task. You can daily update the templates and share with your teams and customer/stakeholders to update the project status and progress. This is the must have tool for every project.

Download – Free Excel Project Plan Template

How to use Free Project Plan Excel Template

Follow the following steps to use our project plan template developed using excel.

• Download the Excel Project Plan Template – ‘Project Plan Template Excel Free Download.xlsx’ file
• Open and Enable macro once the Excel Project Plan Template opened
• Fill the information in the white space (do not change any formulas now): Your Project details, Project Start date, Project Manger, Tasks, Programmers or leads and days required to complete the each sub task.
• You can check the formulas and modify if you want to change anything

Tools & Controls in Excel Project Plan Template

There are Two buttons and a scroll bar to handle with our Excel project plan template.

• Overall Plan: The screen shot which we have shown is the overall project plan. This is the summary of project plan
• Status on Ribbon: You can check the overall progress on ribbon shape, you can format this using built-in excel formatting tools
• Task Grid: Here you can enter list of projects task and the respective programmer and timelines
• Gantt Chart: This will show you the progress pf each task and main tasks. green color indicates the percentage task completed and the red color indicates %task to be completed. You don’t need to develop a separate Gantt chart template. it is already integrated in our Excel Project plan template
• Scroll Bar: By default, template will show you status of the 16 days, Scroll bar will help you to scroll the dates/days behind that

We are proving free Microsoft office templates and creating best excel templates for free. You can use this templates while working on your projects for managing your projects.
I am preparing all project management excel templates or excel macro templates using Microsoft Excel for Windows. These Excel project management templates (Project Plan Template Excel Free Download.xlsx) should work on all the versions of the Microsoft Excel.

Important Fields in Project Plan Excel Template

Here are the key fields required to capture in this Excel Plan Templates. You can use these field to simply manage your projects and resource. You can create predefined list and for entering the tasks quick and easily.

• Task ID: Project Task ID is the unique identification number of a Task. It can be a number or string. It is not a mandatory field, it is provided just for reference.
• Task Name: Project Task Name is a mandatory field. It is short and quick reference of the Activity. This help the teams understand the activity to complete.
• Task Description: Project Task description is elaborated information about a given activity. Team members can refer this to understand what needs to be developed
• Task Assigned To: Task Assigned To is Resource filed who is responsible to work on the task and deliver the outputs.
• Start Date of a Task: Start Date of the Works assigned to a person or start date of an activity execution.
• Task Duration: Task Duration is Number of hours or man-days required to complete an activity.
• End Date of a Task: End Date or Due Date of the Task to be completed.
• Task Complexity: Task Complexity is Level of complexity of a given activity.
• Predecessors: Predecessors are Tasks which we finish before staring an activity.
• Task Priority: Task Priority, we complete the Tasks which are in High Priority. Task Order of the Task which we complete.
• Dependencies: Dependencies are the relationship among tasks helps to order the list of tasks..
• %Progress of Task: %Progress or percentage of work completed or % of Task completed.
• Status of Task: Status Task is Actual Status and Progress of the Task (Open, New, In Progress, Completed, On Hold, Cancelled)
• Planned Hours: Planned hours are Estimated hours by Project Development Teams to complete a task.
• Actual Hours: Actual hours spent to finish the task.
• Task Remarks: Task Remarks are Important notes, remarks and leanings of a task

Format of Project Plan Excel Template

Please note, .xlt and .xltx, .xltm are template file formats and the templates which we are preparing are saving in .xls format to help our readers. You can save Excel templates in Excel 2003 Template format (.xls or .xlt). Or you can save the templates in Excel 2007, Excel 2010 or Excel 2013 (.xlsx or .xltx, .xltm or .xlsm)
All excel spreadsheet templates which we are developing are mostly macro free. However, when we want to provide more interactive features, we are using macros or VBA (Visual Basic Applications for Office) and developing excel macro templates.

Most of these Excel spreadsheet templates are free and printable spreadsheets templates. And all these Microsoft office templates are developed using Excel 2013. Also, available online to test the templates.

Hope this topic ‘Project Plan Template Excel Free Download‘ helps you to understand and create Project Plan Templates using Excel and VBA. We are trying our best to help you in your project management tasks by creating templates.
Feel free to download Project Plan Templates and other Excel Templates available in our blog. Please share your valuable feedback and thoughts with us about our Templates and other stuff in our blog and Forums.

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Related Posts

• Project Plan Template Excel Free Download
  • Sample Project Plan Template Excel
  • Project Plan Template – Free Excel Download – Interactive Excel Template
  • Why do we need Excel Project Plan Template for Project Management
  • How to Create Excel Project Plan Template for Project Management
  • Download Free Project Plan Template – in Microsoft Excel Format
  • How to use Free Project Plan Excel Template
  • Tools & Controls in Excel Project Plan Template
  • Important Fields in Project Plan Excel Template
  • Format of Project Plan Excel Template

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60 Comments

1. carlos
   February 25, 2014 at 2:14 AM — Reply

   How do you add task? the sheet is password-protected. Thanks!

2. PNRao
   February 25, 2014 at 11:34 PM — Reply

   Hi Carlos,

   I will provide the updated template ASAP.

   Thanks-PNRao!

3. Kamal
   March 5, 2014 at 2:04 PM — Reply

   The sheet is still password-protected. Pls assist. Tq

4. Kudin
   March 10, 2014 at 8:36 AM — Reply

   How to set working days (Mon-Friday) inside the plan?

5. Hari Prasad
   March 18, 2014 at 3:03 PM — Reply

   Very useful one for us and the sheet got protected by password,
   can you please share password with us to enable that.

6. Michael
   April 9, 2014 at 8:45 PM — Reply

   Outstanding Template!!!. Just need the sheet password

7. Corey
   April 14, 2014 at 6:32 PM — Reply

   PNRao – would you mind providing the password to remove the protection on the sheet. I absolutely love this template and would like to slightly customize this to be able to use it in my business setting.

   thank you!

8. PNRao
   April 15, 2014 at 10:11 AM — Reply

   Hi Mike and Corey,

   Thanks for your interest, I am working on the new template and can able to make it available in couple of days.

   Thanks-PNRao!

9. Ric
   April 28, 2014 at 8:31 PM — Reply

   love the template, please post the password to make the template usable, thank you.

10. PNRao
    May 4, 2014 at 11:57 AM — Reply

    Hi Ric,

    Thanks for your comments!
    We are working updating all our templates and will be available in couple of weeks.

    Thanks-PNRao!

11. chetan mohan
    May 12, 2014 at 5:37 PM — Reply

    What is the password sir. I can’t add new columns to this without password

12. Kamran
    May 13, 2014 at 6:36 PM — Reply

    Amazing template but I am not able to use it without the password and also I wish there was a way to view the Calendar Week Numbers in the template.

    Could you please share the password and give some insight on how to add Calendar Week Numbers? thanks

    Kamran

13. Jay
    May 13, 2014 at 11:31 PM — Reply

    Please provide the password

14. Prasad
    May 14, 2014 at 7:19 PM — Reply

    Excellent show! Please share the password of macro as need to modify the structure.

15. PNRao
    May 17, 2014 at 8:45 AM — Reply

    Hi All,
    Thanks for your feedback, I can’t share the password due to some reasons. However, you can select entire sheet and copy into a different worksheet and modify as per your requirement. I will work on the updated version and make it available for download ASAP.

    Thanks-PNRao!

16. A+ Great Template but I’m unable to use it without the password. Please help!

17. Eric
    August 12, 2014 at 9:12 PM — Reply
18. Qamar
    August 16, 2014 at 10:33 PM — Reply
19. Martin
    October 31, 2014 at 10:01 PM — Reply

    Very nice template, but useless without a password!!!!

20. PNRao
    November 1, 2014 at 10:48 AM — Reply

    I understand Martin! I am working on something more useful.

    I am sure, new things will exceed your requirements.

    Please bare few more weeks!
    Thanks-PNRao!

21. Ronel
    November 7, 2014 at 1:53 PM — Reply

    Hi this is a very nice template but cannot use if it is password protected

22. Abhi
    November 12, 2014 at 8:59 PM — Reply

    Very nice template, please provide password!!

23. Lewis
    November 18, 2014 at 5:29 PM — Reply

    Is there a way I can expand the columns? my screen is a odd shape. Please provide password via email.

24. Thank you for the template, I believe this will take care of the small scope projects I need to manage. Please reply with password as I need to adjust column and row widths and some otherwise basic customizations.

25. Everardo
    December 4, 2014 at 10:39 AM — Reply

    This is a very nice template; however, I may need to add more subtasks or tasks; could I get the password to modify the sheet? Or how can I add these rows? Thanks!

26. J Barnes
    December 10, 2014 at 1:05 AM — Reply

    Great and helpful tool but I need to increase the data column width and can’t. Do you have the password so I can unprotect the sheet?
    Thank you

27. R Khan
    December 29, 2014 at 8:47 PM — Reply

    Great project plan but unable to amend the width of the columns, please can you provide alternative link or passowrd.

    Thanks
    R

28. VJS
    February 3, 2015 at 11:28 PM — Reply

    What is the password? I need to add tasks.

29. ABM
    February 25, 2015 at 11:06 PM — Reply

    All,

    To use this without password protection on the sheet just follow the below:

    Create a new, blank worksheet. This can be in the current workbook or in a new workbook.
    Display the original worksheet that is protected. The first cell in the worksheet (A1) should be selected.
    Press Shift+Ctrl+End. Excel should select all the used cells in the worksheet. (If it doesn’t, hold down the Shift key and press the arrow keys until you have selected all the worksheet cells.)
    Press Ctrl+C. This copies the selected cells to the Clipboard.
    Display the new, blank worksheet you created in step 1. Cell A1 should be selected.
    Press Ctrl+V. Excel pastes the contents of the Clipboard to the new worksheet.

30. SN
    March 10, 2015 at 3:30 PM — Reply

    Great workbook. Need the password and if there is an updated version. By the way, I’ve got more than 4 main tasks.. how to I add more tasks & its sub-task?

31. SN
    March 11, 2015 at 9:57 AM — Reply

    Hi ABM,

    Copy and Paste only works so much. There are macros errors popping up when I click on the Gantt Chart.

    Can anybody help me on the password and how to add in new tasks that’ll also include the Gantt Chart.

32. Pavel
    March 20, 2015 at 8:03 PM — Reply

    Hey there.
    Rally nice tool…but without the pass it’s totally useless.
    PNRao – can you send us a password, so we can use and comment on the tool.
    Thank u!
    P.

33. PNRao
    March 21, 2015 at 2:27 PM — Reply

    Please copy the worksheet into new worksheet. And modify accordingly.

    We are working on the updated version, and can post it ASAP.

    Thanks-PNRao!

34. Sherisse
    March 25, 2015 at 7:22 PM — Reply

    Was there an answer to the question to be able to set workdays on the sheet instead of including weekends (sat/sun) which are not work days?

35. Bob
    April 1, 2015 at 3:06 PM — Reply

    Copy and paste onto a new workbook.

36. PNRao
    April 1, 2015 at 7:14 PM — Reply

    Hi Sherisse,

    You can copy the sheet into different workbook and change the formula or Add another column. You can use =NETWORKDAYS() formula to achieve your requirement.

    Thanks-PNRao!

37. Michel
    April 16, 2015 at 5:22 PM — Reply

    Can we have the password to access the VBA code for this Template

38. User
    April 21, 2015 at 8:00 PM — Reply

    Could you please provide the password, or the link to the unprotected spreadsheet? Users have been asking for over a year now and although you keep saying you will provide the unprotected version, you still have not. Could you please let us know when we should expect the unprotected version?

39. PNRao
    April 21, 2015 at 10:27 PM — Reply

    Dear Users,

    Sorry for keep on postponing few tasks.
    Just to inform you, the worksheets are not protected with any password, you can go to Review tab in the menu and click on Unprotect command to unprotect the sheet / or move the worksheet into new workbook.

    And regarding VBA password, I can not provide the password right now as I need to change the code as understandable by optimizing and adding the meaningful comments.

    I do not have enough bandwidth to work on many thing simultaneously as I am seriously working on our Add-in along with my job.

    For your information, I am finally decided to resign my present job and work on this blog as a full time consultant. I will be definitely available for your service in couple of weeks (still negotiations are going on for my notice period (currently 2 months)

    I will update you guys again in couple of weeks.

    Hope you understand my present situation! I will provide the better service from another couple of weeks to win your hearts.

    Kind regards
    PNRao!

40. User
    May 4, 2015 at 9:43 AM — Reply

    Hi,

    even to unprotect the sheet from review tab it require password.
    so please share the password as this excel is of no use without the password.

41. Ameya
    May 28, 2015 at 8:23 PM — Reply

    Just rename the scroll bar below Gantt Chart button to ‘Scroll Bar 32’ to avoid macro error after you copy the worksheet to a new workbook

42. Han
    May 31, 2015 at 3:42 AM — Reply

    Hi Seriously your works are great the is visible in the sheet, can you help me in getting something like a time sheet. I want the below data
    1. Auto capture of login time and logout time (when i put my pc in shutdown or hibernate the time should capture as logout time).
    2. I have to work on various project so should show the current status, something like a milestone and when is the next activity falls. That to minimum of active 2-25 projects.
    3. When i lock the PC it should ask me to input the reason for locking for PC, something like break/queries/or you fill as much as options you want.
    4. when the sheet is in-active that is when i am changed to some other apps, this should keep working in background or taskbar.
    5. Login time the time i open the sheet, considering that i will put this sheet in start menu.
    6. So user friendly, share your mail ID, the mail id provided is fake one. as i don’t want to if this is been effective then this can become a so vital tool in a organisation and you can sell it anywhere.

    if you have any concern, please take your time and consult some of the pro or mentor you know then provide your feedback or comments. thank you for your time.

    I will check this form by next week.

    Seriously it is so cool, so great of you.

43. PNRao
    June 1, 2015 at 12:18 PM — Reply

    Hi Han,

    Thanks for nice feedback.
    We are going to launch the Premium Project Management Templates& Tools in next 2-3 weeks, which covers all the things to manage the projects more effectively.
    And regarding the activity capturing (log-in/logout,etc..), We have to add additional functionality to full fill your needs.

    I suggest you to try our premium tools (which will be available in 2-3 weeks) and we can customize the any tool to meet your needs.

    Please wait 2-3 weeks, we are seriously working on it and will be releasing to help global project mangers.
    Thanks-PNRao!

44. Nanda
    June 10, 2015 at 3:52 PM — Reply

    We do agree that formulas are your proprietary content. but even the heading cannot be changed and also your shud allow the users to chose the color and also need a legend, wen we cut and take itto the next sheet we can add headings etc.but the charts are of no use. do u think we can hv password . Everybody needs pwd.
    but u can allow few columns to be editable, i guess

45. Avi
    June 29, 2015 at 1:23 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao!

    Great job, neat and quit simple to use…

    Can you please explain how does the scroll bar works? scrolling to the right while column headers are frozen? I’m assuming there is a macro or vb behind it, do you mind sharing it so i can learn how it was done?

    Kind regards
    Avi

46. PNRao
    June 30, 2015 at 5:20 PM — Reply

    Hi Avi,

    Thanks for the feedback! I have used Offset and Scroll bar target range to scroll the data in cells.
    And sure, I will be posting detailed examples in next couple of weeks.

    Thanks-PNRao!

47. praveen
    October 13, 2015 at 1:14 AM — Reply

    hi this is praveen..looking for preimum is it launched…waiting for the premium templates…i will be thankful to you if you update the response to me …bye

48. Juels
    February 12, 2016 at 1:44 AM — Reply

    Very nice template tool, but useless if you don’t have the password,

49. PNRao
    February 18, 2016 at 9:40 PM — Reply

    Hi All,

    I have locked the sheets to ensure the proper alignment of the shapes and controls, but I have not protected with password. So, you can unprotect the sheets anytime by clicking on the ‘Unprotect Sheet’ command from the Review Tab.

    Thanks-PNRao!

50. Gokcin
    June 4, 2016 at 2:27 AM — Reply

    When you need to add days to gantt and need to update the macro for the gantt button still asking for password please provide password and completely remove protection that way we can access the vb code.

    thank you
    Gokcin

51. Rohit Sandwar
    November 8, 2016 at 5:47 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    Please provide the password to amend the macro. Only then it will be of use to us.

52. Amy
    June 9, 2017 at 9:27 PM — Reply

    Thank you for this great template. Can you please let me know how I can see more dates in the Gnatt Chart that goes maybe further out 6mths to a year.

53. PNRao
    July 17, 2017 at 2:40 PM — Reply
54. Mike
    September 4, 2017 at 7:32 PM — Reply

    Very useful templates. It is the best project plan template Excel format. I like the Gantt chart and Task grid option very much.

55. Galia
    March 16, 2018 at 1:39 AM — Reply
56. PCD Pharma
    May 16, 2018 at 8:58 PM — Reply

    Awesome. Very helpful.

    Thank you.

57. Annie
    October 23, 2018 at 10:16 PM — Reply

    How do I remove tasks at the bottom without messing up with formula for the percent complete ribbon? Thanks!

58. ssa
    February 5, 2019 at 8:23 PM — Reply

    Hi ,

    I’m planning to create a project plan and tracker, could you share the sample template.

    Regards

59. Asif Ahmed
    April 10, 2019 at 10:31 AM — Reply

    Hi can you share the password or new template

60. SAM
    July 4, 2020 at 4:12 PM — Reply

Looking for a project management template?

Project management templates can help a project manager save tons of time when creating new projects. As they don’t have to start from scratch, the template helps them eliminate repetitive, tedious work. 

There are hundreds of templates out there in tools like excel and project management software like ClickUp. Not every free template is going to suit every project manager!

Luckily, we have compiled the best templates for your project management needs!

In this article, we’ll cover what a project management template is, why you need them, and highlight 25 useful templates for different project management needs. We’ll also cover how a project management tool can help you manage multiple projects effectively.

Let’s get started!

What Is a Project Management Template?

A project management template is a sheet with placeholders that help you document various project activities, like:

• Project planning
• Setting goals
• Creating work schedules
• Managing costs
• Assigning tasks
• Tracking project status
• Project controls

But how useful are they in real-life projects?

Let’s find out…

Here are some Excel & ClickUp templates that are designed for basic project management:

25 Free Project Management Templates

Before we highlight some useful templates, note that Excel has some limitations.

Remember:

Excel was never built for project management.

However, it does offer some free project management templates you could use to manage projects easily. 

But wait… how do you access them?

Open MS Excel, click on the ‘New’ tab and then type ‘project’ in the search bar on the right.

You’ll get access to any project template Excel has, like: 

• Tracker template
• Gantt chart template
• To-do list template
• Status report template
• Project budget template
• Project plan template 

Let’s take a closer look at some of these templates:

Project Charter Templates

Hospitals need to create a patient chart for every new patient that visits them.

Similarly, a project manager needs to create a project charter before starting any project. 

What is a project charter?

A project charter is a short formal document that describes your entire project.

Created during project planning, the charter:

• Gives the project sponsor, team and key stakeholders a clear overview of the project scope and its deliverables
• Outlines what work will be done in the project (i.e., the project plan)
• Defines the project budget

Here’s a simple template you can use to create a project charter quickly:

1. ClickUp Project Charter Template

This ClickUp Project Charter template is a document that authorizes a project from initiation to closure. It sets the scope, objectives, and people involved in the project. It entails the goals and deadlines of the project.

2. Microsoft Word Project Charter Template

This is an easy and visually pleasing charter template to help you create high-level summaries of your project. You can describe your project scope and even rate project risks based on their severity (high, low, med).

👉 More project charter templates!

3. ClickUp Product Brief Template

This ClickUp product brief template is a pre-made ClickUp Doc that helps you organize each element of your product development into one easy-to-navigate document.

Work Schedule Templates

As a project manager, you need to keep track of your team’s work schedule.

You need to track:

• What task each team member needs to work on
• What days they should work on
• How many hours your team has to put in to keep up with the project schedule

Based on the level of details that you require, here are two work schedule formats you could choose from:

4. ClickUp Schedule Blocking Template

Use this ClickUp Schedule Blocking template to assist you in monitoring your past, current, and upcoming activities.

5. Microsoft Word Weekly Project Schedule Template

A basic five-day schedule template that you can use to keep track of your team’s work activities.

6. Microsoft Word Daily Work Schedule Template

This daily work schedule format helps you manage your team’s day-to-day activities by the hour. It also has a to-do list template for better task management.

Project Timeline Templates

A project timeline template can track each project phase as your project moves towards its finish line. 

This way, you’ll know what stage your project is at all times.

Here are two project timeline templates you could use:

7. Excel Four-Week Timeline Template

This template lets you color-code your project timeline to differentiate between different categories of tasks. You can also update your project status in this template. 

8. Microsoft Word Project Timeline with Project Milestones

This timeline template uses a visual project timeline chart to help track your project milestones.

Want a more in-depth guide? Read how to create an Excel timeline.

9. ClickUp Roadmap with Timeline Template

This ClickUp Roadmap template helps you inform your team of a project’s timeline in a visual way. Outline what to expect and link back to designated tasks or current documentation for a better experience.

⭐️ Learn how to create a timeline in Microsoft Word!

Project Budget Templates

Patients aren’t the only ones who need to worry about bills!

In project management, determining the project budget is crucial for any project’s success.

Project budget templates can help a project sponsor and the team:

• Analyze project expenses
• Make strategic resource allocation and resource leveling decisions
• Identify potential budget risks

Here’s a budget template that you can use for software development projects:

10. Excel Project Budget Template

Suitable for IT projects, this budget template considers various costs like software, hardware, network, and customer support.

11. ClickUp Budget Template

This ClickUp Budget template gives you a way to easily visualize your spending and plan out your future budget.

Project Status Report Templates

A project manager must make a status report to regularly update the stakeholders about the project’s progress.

And the quickest way to do that is by using a report template.

It helps you:

• Map your task progress
• Alert your team about change requests or issues in the project
• Keep track of all completed and upcoming project milestones  

Bonus: Incident report templates!

Here are two pre-made templates that you could use to create a project status report:

12. Microsoft Word Basic Project Status Report Template

This report template can track the project’s main tasks, budget, and issues to keep your stakeholders updated.

13. ClickUp Project Status Report Template

This ClickUp Project Status Report whiteboard template aims to keep all stakeholders up to date on the development, prevent problems before they occur, and guarantee that the project will be completed within the allotted time frame.

14. Microsoft Word Weekly Status Report Template

Use this report template to list your milestones, financial data, and other statuses at the end of each month. It also contains a separate report that can be used solely for internal reporting purposes.

Bonus: Check out these RACI chart templates!

Timesheet Templates

As a project manager, you always need to keep an eye on your team’s timesheet.

Why?

Timesheet templates will not only help you monitor your team’s productivity but also help bill your clients or project sponsor accurately.

So here are two templates that can help you out here:

15. Microsoft Word Basic Timesheet Template

This Microsoft Word timesheet template is perfect for tracking employee hours and payroll. It allows you to enter the date, clock in and out times, total hours worked per day, regular and overtime pay rates, total payment due for the week, and more.

16. ClickUp Timesheet Template

Use this ClickUp Timesheet template to allow team members to track their work hours on a weekly basis. The numbers tracked can be used cost tracking and payment collection purposes.

17. Microsoft Word Weekly Timesheet Template

This template helps you keep track of a team member’s activity for an entire week, including additional details about their projects, like billable hours.

Agile Project Management Templates

18. Excel Agile Roadmap Template

Agile project plans are always changing. Use this agile roadmap template from excel to manage your team’s tasks in one spot.

Bonus: Project Roadmap Templates

19. ClickUp Agile Project Management Template

This ClickUp Agile project management template helps your Agile team prioritize project planning, organize project statuses, and more.

Check out our project planning template for engineering and project plan template for DevOps teams.

Graphic Design Project Management Templates

20. ClickUp Graphic Design Project Template

This ClickUp Graphic Design template allows you to organize your files, workflows, and deadlines, you’ll spend more time focusing on creating the work you love!

21. Excel Track My Tasks Template

Use this project tracker template from Excel to stay on track with your graphic design projects.

22. ClickUp Design Guidelines Template

This ClickUp Brand Guidelines Template will list the precise hues, types, graphics, patterns, taglines, etc., of your brand so you can ensure that the brand machine functions properly.

Bonus: Brand guideline examples

Gantt Chart Project Management Templates

23. Excel Simple Gantt Chart Template

This simple Gantt Chart allows you to create a project schedule and track your progress within Excel.

24. ClickUp Simple Gantt Chart Template

Get a big picture overview of a project, visualize dependencies, and get ahead of blockers before they happen with this simple Gantt Chart template.

Check out more Gantt chart templates!

25. Excel Gantt Project Planner Template

This Gantt chart Excel template can be used as a project planner, allowing you to track and synchronize all the activities of a project.

Using Excel, or even a Google Sheet for project management isn’t the best way to manage any project.

Let’s find out why…

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Excel for Project Management

The templates we discussed so far can help you manage your projects in Excel or a Google sheet. But remember, these tools were never built for project or task management!

But don’t just take our word for it.

Here are three reasons why you should consider Excel alternatives to manage projects:

A. Availability of free project management software

Dedicated free project management tools like ClickUp offer everything you need for effective project management!

It’s what they’re made to do.

From designing a project management plan and creating a to-do list to keeping an eye on your status report or managing multiple projects — they can help you with anything you need.

Say goodbye to relying on those pre-made templates!

B. Excel templates are difficult to customize

Oftentimes, a business case may need out-of-the-box thinking.

Certain projects are going to be unique with different needs and requirements.

However, as every Excel template is pre-built, you can’t customize them according to your project needs. 

For example, if your stakeholders ask for a particular invoice format and you can’t find it online — you’re done for! 

C. There’s no automation to solve tedious manual data entry

No project manager wants to sit in front of a computer and spend hours entering project data manually!

You need to spend time on activities where your input is actually required, like signing off on project deliverables or analyzing productivity reports.

Unfortunately, all Excel templates require you to input all data manually.

For example, an Excel timesheet requires you and your project team to manually log data each time they sign in, take a break, or sign out. 

That’s like throwing your productivity out the window!

Bonus: Project Management Examples!

Why Do You Need a Project Management Template?

Excel templates can make it really easy for you to start working on projects, especially recurring projects that are similar in nature.

If you create a project outline manually, every time you start a new project, you won’t have any time left to actually work on your assignments!

Now of course, it’s unimaginably easier to manage projects with dedicated free project management tools like ClickUp.

However let’s understand how Excel templates can help in the beginning of your project management journey.

You need to create a project proposal, define your project scope, create a breakdown structure, and more!

However, if a project manager has a set of templates, they can quickly input their project data and get started immediately.

This way, you don’t have to waste time setting things up from scratch every time around.

Bonus: Project Proposal Templates & Business Proposal Templates

How a Dedicated Project Management Software Can Help

While an Excel template can help you out, they can’t eliminate all the issues with Excel project management. 

I mean, you wouldn’t put your loved ones (projects) in the hands of someone who isn’t a specialist (Excel), right?

Instead, you need to use powerful Agile project management tools like ClickUp that were built for managing multiple projects!

Sign up for ClickUp today and get fully equipped to diagnose and treat any project problem you face! 

Microsoft Excel is a commonly used spreadsheet software for organizing and managing data. Like all other spreadsheets, Excel allows you to calculate data with formulas, use graphing tools, build charts, create macros, and design pivot tables. Whether you have a large-scale business or a small one, Excel spreadsheets are excellent to analyze data, plan events, produce charts, calculate budget and expenditure, and many more.

Project management is an important criterion to meet any business goals. You can use Microsoft Excel as a project management tool in addition to using it as a spreadsheet. Excel has some of the best project management templates that allow you to turn simple spreadsheets to the project management dashboard. The Excel project management templates allow you to manage projects, plan events, manage inventory, manage budgets, analyze the data, effectively manage and schedule the project by time. Depending on the projects you undertake, you can make use of the most suitable project management tools to start your project. In this article, we round up some of the best Excel Project Management Templates for building a well-managed and structured project.

Best project management templates for Excel are:

1. Work Plan Timeline
2. Simple Gantt Chart
3. Event Planner
4. Activity-based Cost Tracker
5. Idea Planner
6. Group Project Task List
7. Project Performance Tracking & Reporting
8. Invoice Tracker
9. Daily Task List
10. Weekly Assignment Schedule

To find out more about these templates.

1] Work Plan Timeline

A well-planned work is crucial for organizing a project task. Most of the organization rely on the project management lifecycle to address the essential milestone and key tasks in the multiple phases of the project. The Work Plan Timeline allows you to represent the essential milestones of a project or a program in chronological order on a timeline. It is a free project planning tool that comes preinstalled in Excel and allows you to easily showcase the project plans to the stakeholders, teams, and colleagues. Get this template here.

2] Simple Gannt Chart

Simple Gantt Chart is a free graphical tool preinstalled on your Microsoft Excel. It gives a birds eye view of the ongoing project. It allows you to set a  particular duration for your work to complete and, displays the chart with the amount of work done for a pre-planned period. This way, the Gannt chart is extremely useful to the business to get a clear picture of how the tasks are performed and, how well they are suitable for a specified period of time. Additionally, this template also includes project phases. You can download it here.

3] Event Planner

Event planner template from excel is a great tool to remember all the important details of an event. It is used to outline how an event is planned for a business or an organization. It proposes the tasks to implement for the successful completion of a  project from the initiation of an event until the end. Download this template here.

4] Activity-based Cost Tracker

Activity-based cost tracker is a free template for excel used to calculate the acute costs for the products or services. The template gives a clear picture of general, administrative, direct and indirect costs for producing a product or a service. This activity-based cost tracking identifies the activities in an organization and, the resource needed for each activity. Based on the actual resource consumption of each activity, it determines the cost of your products or services. Get this template here.

5] Idea Planner

Idea planner allows you to frame your own planner in Excel. This free template allows you to set a goal and plan your tasks step by step from the initiation of the project till the end. The Idea planner is the must-have template to organize your day-to-day work. The template allows you to plan the tasks, assign the tasks to the team members, set the task status, due date and plan a resource list. Download the template here.

6] Group Project Task List

Group project task list is a free template for Excel that allows you to organize and manage an entire team in the project. It allows you to assign a task for everyone on the team, assign a target date for every resource, set task priority and task statuses. This task list template is easily accessible to everyone on the team. It helps with team collaboration and streamlines your work operations. Download this template here.

7] Project Performance Tracking & Reporting

Project performance tracking and reporting is a template used to manage and organize a project. It allows you to create tasks, set priorities, add deadlines, track cost and set task duration in order to streamline your workflow. Get this template here.

8] Invoice Tracker

Invoice Tracker is a simple and free template for Excel that helps to maintain the record of all the invoices. It is useful to monitor accounts and track the invoice statuses. This free invoice tracking tool is useful to track account names, due amounts, paid amounts, outstanding amounts, payment dates, and other account details all in one central place. You can download this template here.

9] Daily Task List

The daily task list is a free Excel template that allows you to plan, and schedule a bunch of tasks that you have to complete throughout the day. This template lets you organize and streamline your workflow by setting priority for the important tasks. This is a must-have tool to stay focussed. Get this template here.

TIP: Download free Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio Templates from Microsoft.

10] Weekly Assignment Schedule

Weekly Assignment Schedule is a free template for excel that helps to plan your week and manage your project related assignments by date. It helps to create a detailed list of tasks for the week and allows you to add notes for each assignment by date in a week. Download this template here.

Does Excel have a project plan template?

Yes, Excel has multiple project plan and management templates that you can download from the official website. However, if you have the desktop app, you can get a template from the start screen. The best thing about these templates is that you can use them with Google Sheets and Excel Online as well.

How do I get free Excel templates?

There are multiple sources to get Excel templates from. However, the best one is the official repository, where you can find tons of templates at free of cost. Apart from that, you can search for a particular template in a specific category online and download the template on your Excel desktop app and the Web version.

Suggestions most welcome!