Firewood Heating Cost Excel - Free Template

1. Open the Firewood Purchases sheet and enter one delivery or invoice per row. Start with a unique Purchase ID and the purchase or delivery date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
2. Enter the supplier, city and province, then choose a listed wood species from the drop-down list. The province and species choices drive the reference lookups on Summary.
3. Enter the quantity in cords, price per cord and delivery fee from the supplier invoice. The quantity may be fractional, such as 1.5 cords, and must be between 0.01 and 100.
4. Enter moisture as a decimal percentage, such as 20% for seasoned wood. Record whether the invoice is paid by selecting Yes or No and add delivery or seasoning details in Notes.
5. Leave the calculated columns alone. Tax Rate, Tax, Total Cost, Cost per Cord, Heating Value, Estimated Heat Output and Cost per GJ fill automatically for populated rows.
6. Open Summary to review total cost, cords purchased, average costs, unpaid purchases, paid percentage, species totals and payment counts. Review the three charts for species cost, purchase timing and payment status.
7. Read Instructions before changing reference rates or heating values. Confirm the supplier invoice treatment for delivery and update the editable Summary lookup values when reliable supplier-specific information is available.

A homeowner in Northern Ontario may sit down with several delivery invoices after the heating season and discover that the cheapest price per cord was not the cheapest usable heat. A rural Quebec household, a Nova Scotia cottage owner or a small lodge operator can use the same record to compare suppliers, delivery charges, wood species and moisture.

The Firewood Purchases sheet is designed for one purchase per row. Image 1 shows Purchase ID, Purchase Date, Supplier, City and Province at the left, followed by Wood Species, Quantity (cords), Price per Cord (CAD), Delivery Fee (CAD), Tax Rate, Tax and Total Cost.

Compare deliveries rather than advertised prices

Suppose you enter 2 cords of Maple at $375 per cord and a $65 delivery fee in Ontario. Before tax, the calculation is $2 × $375 + $65 = $815; with the workbook's 13% Ontario reference rate, the calculated total is $920.95. Cost per cord is therefore $460.48, not the advertised $375.

The right side adds Moisture (%), Heating Value (GJ/cord), Estimated Heat Output (GJ), Cost per GJ, Paid? and Notes. A 2-cord Maple entry using the Summary value of 24 GJ per cord produces an estimated 48 GJ. That makes a seasoned hardwood delivery comparable with a mixed load bought at a different price.

Useful moments during the season

Enter a delivery when the invoice arrives, not at the end of March when details have faded. A sole proprietor who heats a workshop can review purchases before ordering the next load; an office manager at a rural trades company can confirm which supplier invoices remain unpaid; a family can compare the fall stock-up with emergency winter deliveries.

Image 2 turns the entries into a working overview. It shows current-season totals, species cost totals, payment counts and purchase timing, while the Instructions sheet in image 3 explains how to interpret estimates.

The workbook's Summary sheet includes editable provincial reference rates: 5% for Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 13% HST for Ontario, 15% HST for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and 14.975% for Quebec's GST/QST reference. These values are lookup assumptions, not a determination that every firewood or delivery invoice is taxable.

Check the supplier invoice first

For a registered supplier, the invoice should identify the seller, invoice date, sequential number and GST/HST registration information where applicable, with tax shown separately. Quebec invoices may show GST and QST; British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba may involve PST rules. The Instructions sheet specifically tells you to confirm whether delivery is taxable before relying on the calculated Tax column.

For example, the Ontario reference calculation on $815 is $105.95 tax and $920.95 total. If the supplier's invoice taxes only the wood and not delivery, the correct base would be $750, producing $97.50 tax and $912.50 total. Replace the workbook's calculated assumption with the invoice-supported treatment in your records rather than treating the spreadsheet as tax advice.

Business records and CRA support

A sole proprietor claiming heating or business-use costs should retain invoices and supporting records for the CRA's six-year record-retention period. The purchase may feed a T2125 calculation only where it relates to an eligible business activity; personal household heating is not automatically a business deduction.

Crossing the $30,000 small-supplier threshold over four consecutive quarters can make GST/HST registration mandatory for taxable business revenue, but that threshold does not turn a personal heating purchase into an input tax credit. If you are registered, keep the supplier invoice needed to support an ITC and reconcile the spreadsheet to your bookkeeping system. My firm view is to use this file for cost analysis and invoice control, while using the CRA account and source documents for the actual return.

The most expensive errors I see are not arithmetic errors. They are inconsistent units, copied supplier assumptions and missing delivery evidence. One household records a truckload as 2 cords, another records 2.5 face cords, and the seasonal comparison becomes fiction even though every Excel formula calculates correctly.

Quantity and condition distort the comparison

A 1.5-cord load at $410 per cord plus $40 delivery has a pre-tax cost of $655. If it is compared with a full cord measured differently, the apparent $410 rate says very little. Use full or fractional cords consistently, and record seasoned, kiln-dried or green wood in Notes. The Moisture (%) field accepts values from 0% to 100%, but the workbook does not independently measure moisture or adjust heating value for your reading.

Wood species also matters. The Summary reference table assigns Maple 24 GJ per cord and Pine 19 GJ per cord. A $900 Maple purchase for 2 cords is $450 per cord and about $18.75 per GJ before any adjustment; a $700 Pine purchase for the same quantity is $350 per cord but about $18.42 per GJ. Looking only at the cord price could lead you to the wrong supplier.

Tax and payment mistakes create follow-up work

Using the wrong province can apply 13% Ontario HST to a Quebec delivery or a 5% rate to an Ontario invoice. On an $815 taxable base, that is $106.50 at 13.07% versus $40.75 at 5%, a difference of $65.75 before any other invoice issue. The Summary rates are editable references, so a stale rate can spread through every new row.

Another common failure is marking a load Paid when the cheque was prepared but not cleared. The Summary payment count then understates outstanding invoices. With 12 purchases and 3 marked No, the unpaid count should be 3 and the paid percentage 75%; a single wrong status changes both the dashboard and your follow-up list.

Finally, do not present Estimated Heat Output as a guarantee of furnace performance. The workbook calculates quantity multiplied by the lookup GJ-per-cord value; storage, moisture, species mix and appliance efficiency can make delivered heat materially lower.

The spreadsheet works best when you update it at the same time as an existing household or business task. Put the invoice beside the computer on delivery day, enter the row before filing the receipt, and check Summary on the first weekend of each month. This takes less time than rebuilding six months of purchases from bank transactions.

A simple routine that survives winter

• Delivery day: enter the ID, date, supplier, location, cords, price and delivery fee while the invoice is visible.
• Invoice review: confirm the province, tax treatment, moisture information and species before accepting the calculated total.
• Payment day: change Paid? to Yes only after settlement, then review the unpaid highlight for anything still outstanding.
• Monthly review: open Summary and compare average cost per cord with average cost per GJ, rather than reacting only to the invoice total.

Use the drop-down lists instead of typing province, species and payment status manually. That prevents Ontario, ON and ontario from becoming separate categories. Keep the reference rates and GJ values in Summary together; if a supplier provides a more specific heating value, change the relevant lookup value and note the source in your supporting records.

Know when the file is too small

This workbook has prepared entry rows through row 110, giving you 109 possible purchase records. That is ample for a household buying 10 to 20 loads a year, but it is not a full procurement system for a firewood retailer, campground or company managing several buildings.

Move to accounting or inventory software when multiple users edit the file, you need supplier bills linked to payments, stock-on-hand by storage location, purchase orders or audit history. Until then, keep one protected master copy, make a dated backup after each monthly review and avoid overwriting old seasons if you need year-over-year evidence.