Capital Gains Tracker Spreadsheet

About this template

This capital gains tracker is a record-keeping workbook for people who buy and sell stocks and funds and want every sale worked out from their own entries. Log each buy and each sale, and the file matches sales to the shares bought first and shows the cost basis, gain or loss and holding period.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

Pick any of the last eight tax years, or all years, and the whole page follows. Every figure comes from what you entered.

• Net gain or loss on your sales in the year
• Which stocks and funds made the gains and which made the losses
• Each year's realized gain, split by how long the shares were held
• The sales that made the most and lost the most, side by side
• Proceeds against cost basis, year by year, and the share of proceeds from each holding
• Gain or loss sold in each month of the year picked
• The gain or loss on what you still own, at the prices you typed, and the lots turning long term next

Every sale matched, first in, first out

Each buy is logged as a lot. Each sale takes shares from the lots you bought first, and its cost basis, gain or loss and the date of the oldest lot are worked out. A sale bigger than what you held is flagged.

Short and long term, split

When a sale reaches into tax lots on both sides of a year, it is split, so the short-term and long-term parts are shown separately.

What is still held

Every lot shows the shares left, their cost, their value at the price you typed and the day the lot turns long term. Prices are typed by you; nothing is fetched, so your stock portfolio stays private and offline.

By tax year and by stock

The Tax Years tab sets proceeds, cost basis, short and long term gains and losses side by side for eight years, and adds up each stock for the year. It is an investment tracker for your records only, not tax or investment advice.

Six connected tabs

Start Here, Setup, Buys, Sales, Tax Years and Dashboard.

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark edition. Every tab is restyled, not only the dashboard, and both run on the same formulas, so you simply pick the look you prefer. Each edition comes filled with a worked example and as a blank copy, in Excel and in Google Sheets.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version is a real workbook you take a copy of, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros, no add-ins and no subscription

What you download

• Light edition: the Excel workbook filled with a worked example (five years of buys and sales in one brokerage account), and a blank one
• Dark edition: the same two files in the dark design
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (light and dark, filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. They are for personal and business use on your own devices, so please do not share or resell them. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Excel, or can I use Google Sheets?

Either. You get Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows or Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to copy the Google Sheets versions with a free Google account.

Which method does it use to match sales?

First in, first out. Each sale takes shares from the lots you bought first.

Does it fetch stock prices?

No. Prices are typed by you and nothing is fetched or connected to a broker.

Does it split short-term and long-term gains?

Yes. A sale that reaches into lots on both sides of a year is split, and each tax year shows short and long term separately. It records your entries and is not tax advice.

What is the difference between the light and dark editions?

Only the look. Every tab is restyled with the same formulas, and both editions come with every download.