Every expense tracker I've ever kept alive longer than a month ran on the same handful of formulas. Here are the five that do the real work in mine — all plain SUMIF/SUMIFS, no macros, no add-ins.
1. Category totals
=SUMIF(log_category_range, "Groceries", log_amount_range)
One row per category, one formula each. This is the entire summary table. If your log's category column is a dropdown, this never breaks.
2. One month only
=SUMIFS(amount, date_range, ">="&DATE(2026,10,1), date_range, "<"&DATE(2026,11,1))
SUMIFS with DATE() bounds gives you a clean monthly slice without helper columns. Change the month and the whole summary follows.
3. Budget vs actual
Variance is just budget − actual, and execution rate is actual / budget. Two columns, zero cleverness — but as percentages at the top of the sheet, they're the part you actually look at.
4. Share of total
Each category total divided by the grand total. This is the number that ends arguments: not "we spend a lot on food delivery" but "food delivery is 18% of everything."
5. The biggest leak
=INDEX(category_range, MATCH(MAX(share_range), share_range, 0))
Pulls the name of your largest category automatically. Put it at the top of the summary; some months it's the only cell that matters.
These five patterns, plus a budget sheet and a debt snowball sheet, are the workbook I ended up with. There's a free sample (the budget sheet) and the full bilingual EN/中文 planner is $0.99 on my Ko-fi if you want the assembled version: https://ko-fi.com/s/3ba2ef96cd
What patterns run your tracker? Genuinely curious what other people automate.
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