A bet tracking spreadsheet needs one row per bet with the date, sport, event, market, selection, bookmaker, odds taken, stake, result, return and profit. Add the closing odds and you can measure closing line value (CLV) as well as ROI. ROI is total profit divided by total staked. CLV is the odds you took divided by the closing odds, minus 1. Everything else in this guide is about logging the awkward bets correctly and reading the numbers without fooling yourself.
The columns every bet tracking spreadsheet needs
Start with these eleven. Each one earns its place when you come to filter and sort later.
| Column | Example | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 2026-10-25 | Monthly and seasonal reports |
| Sport | NBA | Splits results by sport |
| Event | Team A v Team B | Lets you find the bet again |
| Market | Player points | Shows which markets work for you |
| Selection | Player X over 22.5 | The exact bet, including the line |
| Bookmaker | Book 1 | Shows where your best prices come from |
| Odds taken | 1.87 | Decimal odds only, so the maths is simple |
| Stake | 20.00 | Cash staked, in dollars |
| Result | Won, Lost, Void | Drives the profit formula |
| Return | 37.40 | What actually landed in your account |
| Profit | 17.40 | Return minus stake |
Keep odds in decimal. If a price is quoted any other way, convert it first with an odds converter or the other calculators.
Optional columns that pay off later
- Closing odds. The last price before the start. Without it you can't measure CLV.
- CLV %. Calculated from odds taken and closing odds (formula below).
- Bet type tag. Recreational, value, arbitrage, bonus bet, promo turnover. Mixing these in one ROI figure hides what is actually working.
- Time placed. Shows whether bets placed early or late in the market do better.
- Notes. Injury news, a line you chased, a bet you placed tired. Patterns show up in the notes long before they show up in the numbers.
How to log the awkward bets
Most templates online stop at win or lose. Real betting records have messier rows, and getting them wrong quietly distorts your ROI.
Bonus bets
In Australia most bonus bets don't return the stake, so a winning $20 bonus bet at $3.00 returns $40, not $60. Log the cash stake as 0 and put the bonus bet's face value in a separate column. If you put bonus bets in the normal stake column, your turnover is inflated and your ROI looks worse than it is. Our guide to converting bonus bets to cash explains the return maths in more detail.
Multis
Log a multi as one row, with the combined odds and one stake, and list the legs in the notes. For CLV on a multi, you need the closing price of every leg multiplied together, which is tedious by hand. If you bet a lot of multis, a separate tab with one row per leg makes the leg-level picture much clearer. The parlay calculator guide shows how combined odds are built.
Voids, pushes and scratchings
A void returns your stake, so profit is 0. Leave these rows out of total staked when you calculate ROI. Your money was handed back, not risked, and counting it as turnover drags your ROI towards zero.
Each way bets
An each way bet is two bets: a win bet and a place bet of equal stake. Log them as two rows so a placed runner that missed the win shows up correctly. The each way betting guide covers the place-price maths.
Dead heats and cash outs
For a dead heat, log the return your bookmaker actually paid under its dead heat rules rather than working it out yourself. For a cash out, log the amount you took as the return and tag the row, so you can later check whether cashing out has helped or cost you.
The three formulas
You only need three calculations.
- Profit per bet. If won, stake × (odds − 1). If lost, minus the stake. If void, 0.
- ROI. Total profit ÷ total staked × 100. Our betting ROI guide explains why most trackers call this yield, and why ROI on your bankroll is a different, much larger looking number.
- CLV %. Odds taken ÷ closing odds − 1. This is the same formula used in our closing line value explainer.
In a spreadsheet, ROI is a single cell: the sum of the profit column divided by the sum of the stake column, filtered to exclude voids.
A worked NBA example
Here are six invented NBA bets at $20 each, to show how the columns fit together. These are example numbers, not selections.
| Bet | Odds taken | Closing odds | Result | Profit | CLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head to head | 2.10 | 1.95 | Won | +22.00 | +7.7% |
| Line, minus 4.5 | 1.91 | 1.87 | Lost | -20.00 | +2.1% |
| Total, over 224.5 | 1.95 | 1.85 | Lost | -20.00 | +5.4% |
| Points, over 22.5 | 1.87 | 1.95 | Won | +17.40 | -4.1% |
| Rebounds, under 9.5 | 1.90 | n/a | Void (player out) | 0.00 | n/a |
| Assists, over 6.5 | 2.05 | 2.00 | Won | +21.00 | +2.5% |
The void comes out of turnover, so total staked is $100 across five graded bets. Profit is $20.40, an ROI of 20.4%. Average CLV across the five graded bets is about +2.7%.
Two things stand out. The total bet beat the close by 5.4% and still lost. The points bet was worse than the close by 4.1% and still won. Over five bets, results are mostly noise. CLV tells you something sooner because it measures the price you got, not the outcome, but it still needs a large sample before you lean on it.
Reading your spreadsheet without fooling yourself
Once you have a few months of rows, build these views with filters or a pivot table:
- By sport and market. NBA player props and NBA totals can behave very differently.
- By bet type tag. Keep recreational bets apart from value bets and bonus bet conversions.
- By bookmaker. Shows where your best prices actually came from.
- By month. Shows streaks and whether your stake size has drifted upwards.
- Total cash staked. The plainest number in the sheet, and the one worth checking first.
Sample size
A 20% ROI over 50 bets says very little. A small positive CLV over several hundred bets says more, though it is still not a promise of future results. Variance is large in betting, and a spreadsheet makes it visible rather than making it go away.
Spreadsheet or bet tracker app?
Both work. The honest trade-off:
| Spreadsheet | Bet tracker app | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free if you already have Excel or Google Sheets | Paid, usually a subscription |
| Your data | Fully yours, stored where you choose | Held by the provider |
| Entry | Every bet typed by hand | Faster entry, less typing |
| Closing odds | Looked up by hand at the start | Pulled in for you |
| CLV and ROI | Formulas you build and maintain | Calculated for you |
| Flexibility | Any column or report you like | Limited to what the app offers |
BettorEdge's comparison calls manual entry the biggest hurdle with spreadsheets, and that matches experience: most spreadsheets don't fail on formulas, they fail when you stop filling them in. The closing price is the hardest column to keep up, because you need to note it right at the start. An odds screen helps if you are doing it by hand.
Whichever you pick, the rule is the same: log every bet, including the ones you'd rather forget.
Betting records and tax in Australia
According to the ATO, as quoted by CPA Australia, taxpayers can exclude betting and gambling wins from taxable income unless they operate a betting or gambling business. So for most punters, a tracking spreadsheet is for their own decisions, not the tax return. This is general information, not tax advice. If you think your betting could look like a business, talk to a registered tax agent.
Records as a spending check
A tracker isn't only for measuring edge. Knowing what you spend is one of the first steps recommended in Defence's ADF Consumer guidance on gambling, which starts with "keep records of what you spend when gambling". If the total staked column ever surprises you, take that seriously. BetStop lets you block yourself from every licensed Australian online and phone betting provider, and our responsible gambling page lists more support.
Track your NBA season without the typing
If you would rather not look up closing prices at every tip-off, BetBank's bet tracker logs your NBA bets and shows results, ROI and closing line value across the season. The NBA season special gives first-time members half price for their first 2 months on weekly or monthly plans, after a 7-day free trial, if they start by 30 November 2026.
18+ only. Betting involves risk and no tracker or tool can promise a profit. Set a limit you are comfortable losing and gamble responsibly.