Templates used in Office software, such as Excel spreadsheet templates, Word templates and presentation templates, are a useful tool for improving efficiency and saving time creating documents from scratch. They are ideal for regularly creating documents or spreadsheets with the same basic layout and style, such as invoices, sales figures, income and expenditure spreadsheets, payslips, receipts, letters, newsletters, or monthly balance sheets. Saved templates are the ideal solution to improve efficiency.
Using a template in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice, Google Docs or other office software for example, provides a pre-formatted and designed layout that will be ready to start inputting text, images, illustrations and data, and then formatting or analysing it straight away. The Word Template, Spreadsheet Template or Presentation Template can also be customised to the business in design and layout, or adjusted to match the required data input or data analysis, charts etc.Templates, for example those in Microsoft Excel, are pre-designed documents that have been created for use as a pattern for a standard document or project.
Regardless of the purpose, Office and Spreadsheet Templates provide a consistent layout, design and functionality that will help the business to look professional and operate efficiently and effectively. There are free, customizable Excel spreadsheet templates available that we list here.
Templates for Excel spreadsheets, Word documents and Google Docs have a specific layout, style and design which provides a consistent house style for businesses. Some templates, such as business cards, only require changes to a limited number of fields, such as name and telephone number, to be used. Others, such as business reports or brochures, provide only the overall layout and design.
Once an office template is created, it can be used many times, so it is well worth the effort of getting it right at the start, or buying in a high quality template.
An Office Template is used to start a new document or project, and that document is then saved separate from the initial template to be edited, shared or printed as required. The template file does not get changed and can be used to start another document. Templates can be updated to new layouts, styles and designs at any time, but the documents previously created with it will remain unchanged.
As an example a good spreadsheet template for Excel, Open Office or Google Sheets will give features such as charts to help visualize the sheet data and track progress, clear navigation and layout making it easier to find and use features, relevant summaries and calculations across multiple sheets as required.
Good Office templates for Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer and Google Docs will contain all the layout features needed, plus text styling, images and other graphics. Accessibility is also important and the latest templates are designed to be accessible to screen readers and other automated software, and those with visual impairments, as well as generally being easy to read and quick to see the relevant information for the majority of users.
A document template could be for a: Business Letter, Business Card, Invoice or Receipt, Brochure, Resume or CV, Presentation, Newsletter, Flyer, Certificate, Meeting Agenda, Inventory, Business Plans, Calendars and Planners, or Labels.
