Free Excel template
Free Excel savings goal tracker template
For anyone saving toward several things at once, like an emergency fund, a trip and a car. Enter each goal's target, what you have saved, your monthly deposit and the date you want it by; the template shows progress, how many months you have left, whether you will make the date, and how much more per month would put each goal back on track.
Preview and try it
This is the template's sheet, calculated by the same engine as the Cellwise app. Change any number to see the formulas react before you download.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Savings goal tracker | ||||||||
| 2 | As of date | Nov 2, 2026 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||||
| 4 | Goal | Target | Saved so far | Monthly deposit | Target date | Remaining | % done | Months to goal | Status |
| 5 | Emergency fund (3 months) | 9000 | 5400 | 400 | Jun 30, 2027 | 3600 | 0.6 | 9 | Behind |
| 6 | Trip to Lisbon | 3500 | 1800 | 350 | Apr 30, 2027 | 1700 | 0.51428571429 | 5 | On track |
| 7 | Car down payment | 6000 | 1200 | 400 | Dec 31, 2027 | 4800 | 0.2 | 12 | On track |
| 8 | Holiday gifts | 900 | 620 | 120 | Dec 15, 2026 | 280 | 0.68888888889 | 3 | Behind |
| 9 | Home repairs fund | 2500 | 2500 | 0 | Mar 31, 2027 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Reached |
| 10 | New laptop | 1600 | 150 | 0 | Aug 31, 2027 | 1450 | 0.09375 | n/a | Set a deposit |
| 11 | |||||||||
| 12 | |||||||||
| 13 | |||||||||
| 14 | Plan check | Projected finish | Months to target date | Needed per month | Extra per month | ||||
| 15 | Emergency fund (3 months) | 46601 | 7 | 515 | 115 | ||||
| 16 | Trip to Lisbon | 46479 | 5 | 340 | 0 | ||||
| 17 | Car down payment | 46693 | 13 | 370 | 0 | ||||
| 18 | Holiday gifts | 46420 | 1 | 280 | 160 | ||||
| 19 | Home repairs fund | ||||||||
| 20 | New laptop | 9 | 162 | 162 |
How the formulas work
Months to reach each goal
What is left divided by the monthly deposit, rounded up, because a goal that needs 8.4 months of deposits is reached in month 9. A goal that is already reached shows 0, and a goal with no monthly deposit shows n/a instead of a divide-by-zero error.
On track or behind
EDATE moves the as of date forward by the months to goal, which gives the month you will actually finish. If that lands on or before your target date, the goal is On track. In the sample, the emergency fund finishes in August 2027 but was wanted by June, so it shows Behind.
Whole months left before the target date
DATEDIF with "m" counts complete months between the as of date and the target date. DATEDIF returns an error if the end date is before the start, so a target that has already passed is treated as one month left, and MAX(1,...) does the same for a target less than a month away.
Extra needed per month
D15 is the deposit that would hit the date (remaining divided by months left, rounded up to whole dollars). Subtract what you deposit now and you get the increase needed; MAX keeps it at zero for goals that are already on track. The total at the bottom tells you what it would cost per month to make every date.
Make it yours
- There is no TODAY() in the file on purpose, so the sample statuses stay put. Type today's date in the As of date cell when you open it, or replace that cell with
=TODAY()if you want it to update by itself. - If a goal sits in an interest-bearing account, the interest shortens the time a little. For a rough check of where a deposit plan ends up,
=FV(rate/12,months,-deposit,-saved)gives the future balance; keep the plain version here for planning so you are not relying on a rate that can change. - Color the status column: select I5:I12, Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Text that Contains, type Behind and choose light red fill. Add a second rule for Reached in green.
- Add a goal by typing it in the next empty row (up to row 12). The plan check rows below pick it up because each one points at the matching goal row.
FAQ
How do I calculate how many months to reach a savings goal in Excel?
Divide what is left by the monthly deposit and round up: =ROUNDUP((target-saved)/deposit,0). If you also earn interest, the NPER function gives a slightly shorter answer: =NPER(rate/12,-deposit,-saved,target).
How much do I need to save per month to reach a goal by a date?
Divide what is left by the whole months until the date. This template does that in the Needed per month column, with DATEDIF counting the months and ROUNDUP rounding to whole dollars.
Should I save for several goals at once or one at a time?
That is a personal choice and depends on your situation. The tracker works either way: set a deposit of 0 on goals you have paused and they show Set a deposit until you restart them.
Functions used
SUMAdds numbersIFPicks a result from a testCOUNTIFCounts cells that matchMAXLargest numberMINSmallest numberROUNDUPRounds away from zeroEDATESame day, months laterORTrue if any test is trueDATEDIFWhole years, months or days between
Related guides
- Excel IF statement with multiple conditions
- How to use IF with AND and OR in Excel
- How to write a nested IF in Excel
- #NUM! error in Excel: causes and fixes
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