The best alternative to a net worth spreadsheet is a dashboard that updates the assets that change daily and keeps your own valuations for the ones that don't. In 2026 that means bank accounts, shares and crypto can refresh themselves, while your home, a business stake or gold still need a value you choose, ideally a dated one.
People who build a spreadsheet usually have good reasons, because it is free, private and does exactly what they want. Problems arise when the file needs regular manual work every month to stay current, and when a missed update turns last quarter's figures into this quarter's net worth. This guide looks at what a spreadsheet does well and which parts you can hand over to a dashboard. It also covers how to value property, crypto and investments, and what is worth keeping outside any app.
What a spreadsheet does well, and where it breaks down
A spreadsheet is still the most flexible way to model your money, since every formula, category and projection is yours to write. It works offline, costs nothing and never shows you a layout you did not choose, which is why some people stick with one for years. Gylder's own spreadsheet comparison concedes these points, and they are real advantages.
The weaknesses show up over time rather than on day one. Every balance has to be typed in by hand and prices go stale the moment you close the file. Your history, meanwhile, only exists for the months you remembered to save a copy. A spreadsheet also has no idea that your crypto moved sharply overnight or that this month's repayment lowered your mortgage. The total it shows is therefore always an estimate of the past rather than the present.
Which parts of your net worth can update themselves
The assets that change every day are the ones worth automating first, because they are also the ones a spreadsheet gets wrong most often. The table below shows, per type of asset, whether a dashboard can keep it current on its own and where the value comes from if it cannot.
| Asset | Can it update automatically? | Where the value comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Current and savings accounts | Yes, through a PSD2 bank connection | Your bank |
| Shares and ETFs | Prices yes; holdings depend on the broker connection | Market prices and your broker's statement |
| Crypto on an exchange | Yes, through a read-only API key | The exchange |
| Gold and silver | Yes, if you enter the weight | Daily market price per gram or troy ounce |
| Your home | Partly, through a house-price index between valuations | WOZ-waarde, appraisal or recent sales nearby |
| Mortgage | Yes, if the repayment schedule is modelled | Your lender's annual statement |
| Business stake or private loan | No | Your own records, annual accounts or loan agreement |
Bank accounts and exchanges are the easy part, since both can be read with your consent without sharing a password. We explain how in What is PSD2, and what can an app do with your bank data? Brokers vary more, and DEGIRO in particular offers no API, so its positions usually come in through an export.
Valuing your home and mortgage
For many Dutch homeowners the home is the largest item on the balance sheet, which makes it the value that matters most, and yet it is easy to leave unchanged for years. The WOZ-waarde, the municipal valuation on your annual assessment, is a reasonable starting point, but it runs behind the market because the 2026 assessment is based on the situation on 1 January 2025.
That lag matters when prices move, and they have: according to CBS, existing homes sold in August 2026 were 3.3% more expensive than a year earlier, at an average price of €503,523. A home valued at €450,000 on the WOZ assessment could therefore be worth noticeably more today, and the gap grows with every year you leave the figure alone. Our article on municipal valuation versus market value explains why the two differ and when that works in your favour.
The mortgage is the other half of the picture, and it changes every month you repay. Your lender's annual statement shows the outstanding debt at the end of the year, but a spreadsheet that only uses that figure overstates your debt for most of the following year if you repay monthly. The difference between your home's value and your outstanding mortgage is your home equity, the figure that actually belongs in your net worth, as we explain in calculating your home equity.
Crypto: why a price you type in is stale within hours
Crypto is the asset where a manual spreadsheet falls behind fastest, since prices move around the clock and a single weekend can change the value of a position considerably. Typing in a price once a month gives you a figure that was only true for a moment, and it hides how much of your net worth swings with the market.
A read-only API key solves both problems, because the exchange reports your quantities directly and the dashboard prices them. For coins in your own wallet or on an unsupported exchange, entering the quantity by hand still beats entering a euro amount, because the price can then be updated for you.
Gold, business stakes and loans: dated valuations
Some assets have no daily price, and for those the best practice is a dated valuation rather than a number you overwrite. Physical gold and silver are the exception, because a weight in grams or troy ounces can be priced from the market every day. For those, you only need to record what you own.
A stake in a private company, a loan to a relative or a classic car is different. For those, the only honest value is one you can support with a document, such as annual accounts, a loan agreement or a recent offer. Recording each valuation with its date keeps your history truthful, because a value you enter today should not rewrite what your net worth was last year.
Keep a snapshot of 1 January
Whatever tool you use, one date is worth recording separately. For box 3, the Dutch tax on savings and investments, what counts is the value of your assets and debts at 00:00 on 1 January of the tax year. A dated snapshot of that moment saves you searching through statements months later.
A dashboard that records your balances daily gives you that snapshot automatically, while a spreadsheet only has it if you saved a copy on the right day. If you do switch, keep your old spreadsheet as an archive, because it holds the history from before your dashboard existed.
How Gylder fits in
Gylder (gylder.nl) is a net worth tracker, not a budgeting app, built for people who want the overview of their spreadsheet without the monthly upkeep. Bank accounts update through PSD2, Bitvavo and Coinbase through read-only keys, and DEGIRO through its account export. Your home keeps the valuations you enter, and between them Gylder estimates its value using an official Dutch house-price index for your area. Your mortgage can be split into loan parts, each following its own repayment schedule.
Gylder records your balances once a day, so history builds itself from the day you start, and you can add past valuations of your home to extend it backwards. There is no import for an existing spreadsheet, so you enter your assets once, but you can always export everything to CSV if you want to keep your own calculations alongside it.
What this doesn't tell you
This guide is about keeping track of what you own and owe, not about what to do with it. It does not cover budgeting, financial planning or tax returns, and the figures a dashboard shows are estimates for assets without a market price, however carefully you enter them.
Pension is a separate question, because employer pension rights cannot be withdrawn before retirement, and that is a good reason to keep them out of your net worth figure. If you want to track them as a separate figure, mijnpensioenoverzicht.nlshows what you have built up. This article is general information, not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to a spreadsheet for tracking net worth? A net worth dashboard that connects your bank accounts, broker and crypto exchange, and lets you add property, gold and debts yourself. For European users the choice is narrower than most lists suggest, which we cover in our comparison of alternatives.
Can I import my existing spreadsheet into a net worth tracker? That depends on the app. Gylder does not import spreadsheets, so you enter your assets once and can add past valuations of your home to build your history.
Should my pension count towards my net worth? Employer pension rights are best kept separate, because you cannot access them before retirement. You can look up what you have accrued on mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl and track it as a separate figure.
How often should I update the value of my home? Once a year is sensible, when the new WOZ-waarde arrives, or sooner after an appraisal or a comparable sale nearby. Between those moments a house-price index gives a reasonable estimate.
Can I keep my own calculations if I switch to a dashboard? Yes, if the dashboard lets you export your data. Gylder exports all your data as CSV files that open in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.