A simple spreadsheet can make it clear who owns each order and what happens next. It works better when the team follows the same rules.
An order arrives through the website. The customer asks for a different variant by email. Someone checks availability, but the reply stays in a conversation. By the end of the day, the order exists in the system but its next step has no clear owner.
For a workload you can check manually, a shared spreadsheet is a useful starting point. This template tracks the actions around each order. Adapt it to the way your team works.
What belongs in each row
Use one row per order. If an order has several products, keep the product details in their own records and identify the order here with a unique code. Otherwise the same order may appear more than once in your totals.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Order ID | A unique code you can also find in your sales system |
| Date received | The date the order arrived |
| Channel | Online store, phone, email or another channel you use |
| Customer reference | A customer code that lets you find the context |
| Owner | The person responsible for the next action |
| Status | New, In progress, Waiting, Completed or Cancelled |
| Next action | A specific step, such as “Confirm the variant with the customer” |
| Action due date | The date to take or review that step |
| Alerts | A calculated field in the Excel template |
| Notes | Brief context for the person taking over |
Keep only the customer information you need for the work. A code linking to your existing records is often enough. Restrict access to the people managing the orders.
Agree on what each status means
In this template, New means follow-up has not started. In progress means the team can take the next step. Waiting means a reply or an external event is needed.
A waiting order still needs an owner and a review date. If you are waiting for a customer’s confirmation, the action might be “Check for a reply”, with a due date chosen by the team. Waiting should not make an order disappear from view.
Use Completed when all actions in the workflow you are tracking are finished. If that workflow includes delivery confirmation, dispatch alone is not completion. Cancelled closes follow-up for a cancelled order. These two statuses stop the due-date and missing-detail alerts. Duplicate IDs are still flagged.
Start with the free template
- Download the workbook and open Example. Its six orders are fictional and use the fixed reference date 29 October 2026.
- Work in Orders, a blank sheet with 100 prepared rows. Fill the pale yellow cells in columns A–H and J. Column I contains formulas.
- Start with active orders. Check each ID before adding a new row.
- Choose a status from the dropdown. Write a next action clearly enough for a colleague to continue it.
- Use the header filters to find one owner’s orders or those that are waiting.
The Orders sheet compares due dates with the spreadsheet application’s current date, using TODAY() in J5. For a check at a fixed date, replace J5 with the date you need. The Example sheet deliberately keeps 29 October 2026. Alerts refer to the next action, not a delivery date promised to a customer.
Repeated IDs are flagged separately. Pasting over formulas or status validation can remove these checks. Paste only into input columns. This version prepares rows 11–110. If you add more rows, extend the summary ranges, formulas and rules. Enter due dates as real calendar dates rather than text. Dates display as day/month/year.
The Orders total counts rows with an ID. Active excludes Completed and Cancelled. Follow up counts rows with alerts, including partially filled rows without an ID. Overdue counts active orders with an ID and a valid due date before the reference date.
Make a short daily check
Start with rows showing alerts. Assign missing owners, clarify next actions and review overdue steps. Fixing one problem should leave any remaining alerts visible.
For example, assigning an owner does not fill in a missing due date. The template keeps both issues visible. Agree who checks the sheet and where a change of owner is recorded.
The spreadsheet is useful while your team can keep it current and track changes reliably. When maintaining it means repeatedly copying product, customer and order data, the guide to moving to a platform helps you prepare a practical test. You can also measure admin time before changing the process.
Download and try it
Download the order tracking Excel template. It has a blank working sheet and an example sheet. No account or email is required. It works offline without macros or external connections.
Dropthework presents a platform for products, orders, customers and tasks. Explore order management and check the features and plan conditions you need in the application.