[sarcastik]

I am starting a small business that consisted of mostly planning up to this point, but I am getting to the point where I will need to begin investing my own funds and I was looking around the web for a template that would allow me to keep track of how much I'm spending toward my product and also how much I am making per item after expenses. That way I can keep track of how much I need to sell to break even and begin making profit. I know a sheet like this must be a key item for entrepreneur so please let me know if you found something that has really worked well for you in the past. Thanks

[JLeezer]

I would suggest a more advanced program, such as QuickBooks, to ensure that you are keeping track of all of your expenses. If you don't, you may find yourself thinking that you are making a profit when you haven't yet met your expenses. Plus, using accounting software will make life easier when you go to file taxes.

Check out the resources page on EntrepreneurAccounting.com for QuickBooks and a slew of accounting books for entrepreneurs.

[ChrisBenjamin]

Get Quickbooks at Costco, is cheaper.
Agreed, using Excel won't get you too far. With a Quickbooks or the like, you'll be able to do some reporting and what not, and it'll grow with your business.

[sjwings3249]

I actually like excel alot, its simple and easily customized. Wouldn't be too hard to track expenses accurately as you should have a paper trail for all the money paths anyways.

As far as where to find a spreadsheet, if you are looking for something generic you can try looking at microsoft.com (free) and maybe ebay. I know they have alot of spreadsheets that don't cost too much.

If you are looking for something with precision though, I would hire someone to make it up for you. Sites like freelancer.com have sections to post jobs for people to bid on. They commonly go for ~$30 if it isn't too huge.

Well anyways hope that helps.