Free training matrix template for Excel and Google Sheets (CSV)

A training matrix lists your employees down the side and your trainings across the top, with the completion date in each cell. Here is a free template, no sign-up needed.

Download the blank template (CSV)Download the example (CSV)

What’s in the template

Four fixed columns, name, role, department and start_date, then one column per training or certificate. Rename or add training columns to match yours. Each cell holds the date the person completed that training; leave it empty if they haven’t.

name,role,department,start_date,Induction,Forklift license,First aid
Maria Lopez,Supervisor,Warehouse,2023-03-01,2023-03-01,2024-08-14,2025-06-10
James Carter,Forklift operator,Warehouse,2024-05-10,2024-05-10,2024-11-20,
Aisha Khan,Picker,Warehouse,2025-09-01,2025-09-01,,
Tom Brennan,Driver,Transport,2024-01-15,2024-01-15,,2025-03-03

Color it red, yellow and green in Excel or Google Sheets

The template stores completion dates. To see expiry, add an expiry column next to a training. If C2 holds the completion date and the certificate lasts 24 months:

=IF(C2="","",EDATE(C2,24))

EDATE works in both Excel and Google Sheets; format the result as a date. Then select the expiry cells (say F2:F100) and add three rules. In Excel: Home › Conditional Formatting › New Rule › Use a formula. In Google Sheets: Format › Conditional formatting › Custom formula is.

• Red, expired: =AND(F2<>"",F2<TODAY())
• Yellow, due within 30 days: =AND(F2<>"",F2>=TODAY(),F2<=TODAY()+30)
• Green, valid: =AND(F2<>"",F2>TODAY()+30)

When a spreadsheet stops being enough

• Nobody opens it until something has already lapsed. A spreadsheet can’t email you.
• An empty cell doesn’t say whether that person needs the training. You have to remember who needs what.
• Each training has its own validity, so formulas and color rules multiply as the sheet grows.
• New hires arrive faster than you update the sheet, and nobody knows what they still need.
• An auditor asks for history, but the sheet only holds the latest date.

If none of that bothers you yet, the template is all you need.

Import the same file into TeamCerts

1. Create a free account and add your trainings with exactly the same names as your columns, for example Forklift license, 24 months.
2. Employees › Import CSV. Upload the file and pick its date format: YYYY-MM-DD, DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY.
3. Check the preview: employees to add, records to add and any rejected cells with the reason. Columns that don’t match a training are listed and ignored.

From then on, TeamCerts works out every expiry date, shows Missing for anyone who needs a training but has no record, and emails you every Monday. Files up to 1 MB and 1,000 rows. Excel .xlsx files: use Save As › CSV first.