Quick answer: An applicant tracking spreadsheet works for a few roles at a time if it has one row per application, fixed status values and a “next action date” on every row. The 12 columns below cover what matters. It stops working when several people edit it, when emails live somewhere else, or when you’re hiring more than two or three roles at once. That’s the point to move to an applicant tracking system (ATS).
Is a spreadsheet good enough for applicant tracking?
For very low volume, yes. Plenty of companies hire their first ten people this way.
A spreadsheet is free, everyone knows how to use it, and you can set it up in ten minutes. If you’re hiring one role this quarter and one person handles it, a good sheet is fine.
The trouble is that a bad sheet looks the same as a good one until someone gets forgotten. The template below is built to make that harder.
The applicant tracking spreadsheet template
One row per application, not per person. If someone applies to two roles, that’s two rows.
| # | Column | What goes in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Candidate name | First and last name | Basic |
| 2 | Primary email | You’ll need it for every update | |
| 3 | Role | Job title, exactly as posted | Filter by role |
| 4 | Source | Where they came from, from a fixed list | Tells you which channels work |
| 5 | Date applied | Real date, not text | Lets you measure speed |
| 6 | Status | From a dropdown only | Stops “maybe?” and “pending??“ |
| 7 | Next action | One short verb phrase | ”Send screen invite” |
| 8 | Next action date | Date | The column that prevents ghosting |
| 9 | Owner | Who’s responsible for the next action | Removes “I thought you replied” |
| 10 | Score | 1 to 5 after interview | Comparable decisions |
| 11 | Rejection reason | From a dropdown | Patterns over time |
| 12 | Delete by | Date to remove their data | Data protection |
Optional columns if you need them: phone, location, salary expectation, CV link, notes.
How do you set it up so it stays clean?
Five settings make the difference between a tracker and a mess.
- Dropdowns for Status, Source and Rejection reason. In Google Sheets, use Data validation. In Excel, use Data, then Data Validation, then List. Free text in these columns makes filtering useless.
- Suggested statuses: Applied, Screening, Interview, Final, Offer, Hired, Rejected, Withdrawn. Keep it short.
- Conditional formatting on Next action date. Turn the cell red when the date is today or earlier. That’s your daily to-do list.
- Freeze the header row and filter. So you can sort by role or owner.
- One tab per year, not per role. A tab per role means you can’t see total pipeline or compare sources.
Then the habit: every row must have a next action date unless the status is Hired, Rejected or Withdrawn. If it doesn’t, someone is waiting for you.
What about data protection?
A spreadsheet full of CVs is personal data, and you’re responsible for it.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and similar laws, you should only keep applicant data as long as you have a reason to, and you should be able to delete it. That’s what the “Delete by” column is for. Set a standard period, then actually delete rows when they hit it. See how long to keep job applications under GDPR and RODO.
Two practical risks with sheets:
- Sharing. A link set to “anyone with the link can view” is a data leak waiting to happen. Restrict it to named people.
- Copies. People download the sheet to filter it. Now there are five copies and you can’t delete from all of them.
What are the signs you’ve outgrown the spreadsheet?
Any one of these is enough.
- Candidates are waiting. Someone applied two weeks ago and nobody replied.
- Two people edited the same row differently. And now nobody knows which status is right.
- Emails live somewhere else. You can see the status but not what you told the candidate.
- You can’t compare candidates without copying data into another sheet. See compare candidates without a spreadsheet.
- You can’t answer “where did our hires come from?” Because Source was free text.
- You’re hiring more than two or three roles at once.
- CVs arrive in five places. Inbox, LinkedIn, a careers form, a recruiter, a referral in chat.
What does an ATS do that the spreadsheet can’t?
The main difference is that the ATS creates the row for you and keeps everything about the candidate attached to it.
| Task | Spreadsheet | ATS |
|---|---|---|
| Adding applicants | Manual copy and paste | Automatic from careers page and job boards |
| Reading CVs | Open each file | Parsed and searchable, often AI-scored |
| Emails | In someone’s inbox | On the candidate record, sent from the ATS |
| Status updates to candidates | Written one by one | Template or bulk send on status change |
| Interview scheduling | Email back and forth | Booking links and calendar sync |
| Reporting | Pivot tables you build | Built-in time to hire, sources, funnel |
| Access control | Whoever has the link | Roles and permissions |
| Deleting data | Find every copy | One place |
How hard is it to switch?
Less than most teams expect, especially if you’re early.
If your spreadsheet has a few dozen active candidates, you can usually move them by hand in an afternoon. With PDFs, many ATS tools let you bulk upload CVs to a job. In Canvider, Bulk Upload CVs takes a batch of PDF files for one job and creates the applications with AI-extracted details.
For bigger migrations, read the ATS migration checklist first.
Cost is the other worry. Canvider’s Simple plan is free with up to 2 job listings a year and 1 user. Pro is €80 a month for up to 10 listings a month and 5 users. If you want more reasons to start with a free tool, see why a free ATS is a smart first step.
Try Canvider free. No credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Excel or Google Sheets as an applicant tracking system?
Yes, for a few roles at a time. A well-structured sheet with one row per application, fixed status values and a next-action date works for very low volume. It breaks down when several people edit it, when you need email history on each candidate, or when you hire more than a handful of roles at once.
What columns should an applicant tracking spreadsheet have?
At minimum: candidate name, email, role applied for, source, date applied, current status, next action, next action date, owner, interview score, rejection reason, and a consent or delete-by date for data protection.
When should I switch from a spreadsheet to an ATS?
Switch when candidates start waiting for replies, when two people update the same row differently, when you can't answer where your hires came from, or when you're hiring more than two or three roles at the same time. A free ATS costs nothing to try, so the switching cost is mostly an afternoon.