Short answer
No. A spreadsheet works, but it isn't required, and many people find it slow and fiddly on a phone. What you need is a consistent record of money in and money out, which a notebook, a spreadsheet, or a tracking app can all provide. Choose the one you'll actually use every day.
Spreadsheets are the classic advice for tracking money, and they do work. But they're not the only option, and for many people they're not the best one.
When a spreadsheet works well
- You're comfortable with formulas and like building your own layout
- You mostly update your records on a laptop
- You want complete control over how everything is organized
When a spreadsheet gets in the way
- You do most things on your phone, where spreadsheets are awkward to edit
- You forget to update it because opening it feels like a chore
- You run more than one income stream and the sheet gets messy fast
- You want reminders, alerts, or invoices, which a sheet can't send for you
What actually matters
Whatever you use needs to capture the date, amount, direction (in or out), and a short note for every transaction, and it needs to be quick enough that you use it daily. See how to track income and expenses for the full routine.
Doing this in Gripd
Gripd gives you the useful parts of a spreadsheet, like totals, categories, and month-to-month comparisons, without building anything. It works on your phone, keeps each income stream separate, and on the Pro plan you can export your records to a CSV file if you ever want them in a spreadsheet too.
Last updated 29 Sept 2026
Related questions
How do I track cash payments and sales?
Record every cash sale when it happens, with the amount and what was sold, and count your cash at the end of each day to check it matches your records. Keep business cash apart from personal cash, even if that's just a different pouch. A daily count is what catches missing money before it becomes a mystery.
Read the full answerHow do I track income I receive in dollars and naira?
Keep your dollar income and naira income in separate records, each in its own currency, instead of converting everything into one total. Convert only when you actually exchange the money, and record the rate you got. Mixing currencies into one number makes your totals wrong every time the exchange rate moves.
Read the full answerHow do I track multiple streams of income?
Give every income stream its own label and record each payment the day it arrives, with the date, the amount, and which stream it came from. Then check each stream's total once a week to see which ones are growing and which are fading. A tracker that keeps streams separate, instead of one combined total, makes this take seconds.
Read the full answerHow do I track my income and expenses?
Record every amount that comes in and goes out, with the date, the amount, and what it was for, as soon as it happens. Group expenses into a few categories and total everything up each week and month. The method matters less than the habit: a simple tool you use daily beats a detailed system you abandon.
Read the full answerTrack it all in one place
Gripd keeps every hustle's income and expenses apart, so you always know what's working. Free to start.
Get started free