Free Resources

This page collects free templates and spreadsheets built for the same reader as the rest of Forvendo — a US-based solo Shopify operator in the $5,000–$50,000 MRR range, working roughly 5–10 hours per week on the store. Each resource is paired with a Forvendo article that explains the underlying logic.

Resources are released as Excel files (.xlsx) that open cleanly in Microsoft Excel, Numbers, and Google Sheets (File → Import → Upload). No email gate, no signup wall. The free Forvendo newsletter is at the bottom of every page if useful.

This page will grow as new resources are released. The list below is current as of 2026-05-22.

Sales Tax Nexus Tracker — 2026

Companion to the Multi-State Sales Tax 2026 Operating Guide and the Sales Tax Deregistration Workflow.

A spreadsheet that maps your trailing 12-month sales by US state against current 2026 economic nexus thresholds. Three tabs:

Read me — instructions, scope, and what the sheet does not do
Sales Tax Nexus 2026 — 47 states + DC with 2026 thresholds; paste your trailing 12-month revenue and transaction count, columns auto-flag “OVER REVENUE”, “OVER TX”, “WATCH”, or “OK”
State 1099-K thresholds — the 9 jurisdictions that issue state-level 1099-K below the federal threshold (DC, MD, MA, MT, NC, VT, VA at $600; NJ at $1,000; MO at $1,200)

What the auto-flag says:

OVER REVENUE — trailing 12-month revenue exceeded the state’s threshold; consider registering
OVER TX — trailing 12-month transaction count exceeded the state’s threshold (when the state still applies a transaction count test); consider registering
WATCH — within 20% of the threshold; re-check next quarter
OK — well under threshold; if you are currently registered in that state, consider whether deregistration is appropriate

The data behind the thresholds was verified against state Department of Revenue pages on 2026-05-22. State rules change between tax years. Confirm against the relevant state DOR or a qualified US sales tax professional before acting on any flag.

Download the Sales Tax Nexus Tracker (.xlsx · 13 KB)

No email signup required. The file opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

1099-K Reconciliation Sheet — 2026

Companion to 1099-K Reconciliation for Solo Shopify Operators: A Practical Workflow.

A spreadsheet that automates the 5-line reconciliation model. Paste your 1099-K Box 1a (gross) and five totals from Shopify Reports — refunds, chargebacks, processing fees, shipping income, and sales tax collected — and the sheet calculates the reconciled net revenue, the variance against your tax return, and a status flag. Three tabs:

Read me — instructions, scope, and what the sheet does not do
Reconciliation — the calculator, with status flag (OK / WATCH / REVIEW) based on the variance percentage
Shopify CSV mapping — the exact Shopify Admin path for each input field

Why this matters: a typical $238K-revenue solo Shopify store on Shopify Payments shows a $30K–$45K gap between the 1099-K Box 1a and the net business revenue reported on the tax return. The gap is structural and fully explainable by the five line items. The sheet converts a one-evening reconstruction in January into a 20-minute fill-in-the-blank.

Federal threshold context: OBBBA Section 70432 restored the federal 1099-K threshold to $20,000 + 200 transactions, retroactive to tax year 2022. State-level thresholds are separate (DC/MD/MA/MT/NC/VT/VA at $600; NJ $1,000; MO $1,200). The companion Sales Tax Nexus Tracker lists state thresholds.

Download the 1099-K Reconciliation Sheet (.xlsx · 10 KB)

No email signup required. The file opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Shopify App Stack Audit Sheet — 2026

Companion to Shopify App Stack Audit for Stores Below $20K MRR.

A spreadsheet that runs the 5-question keep/remove/delay test against every app in your Shopify store. List up to 30 apps, answer five yes/no questions per app, and the sheet auto-flags each app as KEEP, DELAY, or REMOVE. Three tabs:

Read me — instructions, scope, and what the sheet does not do
App Stack Audit — the calculator with summary block (total spend, REMOVE-flagged spend, post-cleanup spend, % of MRR)
MRR-based budget — recommended app spend by MRR band (lean 3% vs well-tooled 6%)

The 5 questions in the test:

Did the app drive revenue, fulfillment, or compliance in the last 90 days?
Was the app actively used in the last 90 days?
Does a current built-in Shopify feature now duplicate what the app does?
Does a critical workflow break if the app is uninstalled tomorrow?
Is the monthly cost less than 2% of your MRR?

Each app receives a score (0-5). Score ≥4 → KEEP. Score 2-3 → DELAY (review next quarter). Score <2 → REMOVE.

Why this matters: most solo Shopify stores below $20K MRR run 8-12 apps but actively use only 4-6. The unused subscriptions add up to $150-$400 per month, or 1-3% of MRR going to apps the store has stopped using. A 90-minute audit per quarter recovers most of it.

Download the Shopify App Stack Audit Sheet (.xlsx · 12 KB)

No email signup required. The file opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Solo Shopify Weekly Operating Checklist (PDF) — 2026

Companion to Solo Shopify Weekly Operating Checklist: A 30-Minute System for Store Owners.

A printable 2-page PDF version of the 30-minute weekly review. Five blocks with checkboxes, time budgets per block, and a weekly retrospective section. Designed to be printed once and refilled each week, or printed weekly for a paper-first cadence.

What’s inside:

Page 1: Orders & fulfillment (6 min), Refunds & chargebacks (5 min), Inventory & restock (6 min) — with checkbox items under each
Page 2: Customer signals (8 min), Numbers & next week (5 min), plus a weekly log block for “What worked / What did not / Top issue to fix next week”

Why printable matters: solo operators who run the review on paper consistently report fewer Sunday-night fires than those who try to keep it digital-only. A printed checklist on the desk is harder to ignore than a calendar reminder.

Download the Weekly Operating Checklist (.pdf · 115 KB)

No email signup required. Letter size, US format.

Refund and Chargeback Response Kit — 2026

Companion to Shopify Chargeback and Refund SOP for Solo Operators.

A four-tab spreadsheet that turns each chargeback response from a 60-minute scramble into a 15-minute fill-in-the-blank. Four tabs:

Read me — instructions, scope, what the kit does not do
Evidence kit — checklist of static templates + live data sources to assemble in advance (90 minutes once, save 45 minutes per future chargeback)
Response templates — six reason-code-specific templates (Fraudulent / Product not received / Product unacceptable / Subscription / Credit not processed / Duplicate) with bracketed placeholders to customise
Dispute log — running tracker with quarterly summary (total, won, total fees)

When you receive a chargeback: open Tab 3, copy the template matching the reason code, replace bracketed placeholders with the customer’s specifics, attach the evidence listed in the third column, submit through Shopify Admin within the 7-21 day window (Stripe documentation). Log the dispute in Tab 4 and calendar a 3-month follow-up.

Download the Response Kit (.xlsx · 13 KB)

No email signup required. Opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Welcome Email Flow Template — 2026

Companion to Welcome Email Flow: Kit vs Klaviyo for Solo Shopify Operators.

A 5-email starter sequence over 10 days, ready to paste into Shopify Email, Kit, or Klaviyo. Each email block has Subject, Preview text, and Body — with [BRACKETED_PLACEHOLDERS] you replace with your store’s specifics. Same structure as the Forvendo welcome sequence in use on this site.

Two formats available:

PDF — visual reference + printable. Use this to plan the sequence and decide your placeholder values before opening your email tool.
Text (.txt) — paste-ready source. Open in any text editor, copy each email block straight into Kit / Klaviyo / Shopify Email.

Delays (the structure that’s been calibrated for solo operator newsletters):

Email 1: Immediately (0 days)
Email 2: +2 days (Day 2)
Email 3: +2 days (Day 4)
Email 4: +3 days (Day 7)
Email 5: +3 days (Day 10)

After the 10-day welcome sequence, hand off to your regular broadcast cadence (typically one broadcast per week or every two weeks).

Download the PDF (.pdf · 120 KB)

Download the .txt source (7 KB)

No email signup required. PDF for planning, .txt for pasting into your email tool.

W-9 / TIN Reconciliation Tracker — 2026

Companion to W-9 and TIN Reconciliation for Solo Shopify Operators.

A four-tab spreadsheet that tracks every US contractor a solo Shopify operator pays — W-9 collection, TIN Matching result, payment ledger, and an auto-rolled January 1099-NEC filing prep view. Four tabs:

Read me — instructions, scope, OBBBA threshold timeline reminder
Contractor master — one row per contractor (name, TIN type, last 4, classification, state, W-9 status, TIN Matching result, notes)
Payment log — running ledger of every payment (date, contractor, amount, tax year, method, reportable Y/N)
1099-NEC planner — auto-totals YTD payments by contractor for the tax year selected, flags contractors over threshold with action recommendations

The auto-rolled planner:

Enter the tax year you are preparing (e.g., 2025 or 2026)
The threshold cell auto-fills the correct federal threshold ($600 for TY 2025, $2,000 for TY 2026+ under OBBBA Section 70433)
For each contractor in the planner, the YTD paid column pulls from the payment log via SUMIFS
The “1099-NEC required?” column flags YES / No (paid via TPSO) / Below threshold
The action column shows “File 1099-NEC by Jan 31” / “GET W-9 NOW; review backup withholding” / “No filing required, keep W-9 on record” / “Verify TPSO will issue 1099-K”

Why this matters: solo operators paying 1-10 contractors per year typically discover a missing W-9 or TIN mismatch in mid-January, days before the filing deadline. This tracker surfaces those problems throughout the year so January is reconciliation, not crisis management.

Download the W-9 / TIN Tracker (.xlsx · 16 KB)

No email signup required. Opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

How to use a Forvendo spreadsheet

Each Forvendo resource follows the same structural pattern. If this is your first time using one:

Open in your preferred tool: Excel or Numbers locally, or Google Sheets via File → Import → Upload.
Read the “Read me” tab first. It states what the sheet does, what it does not do, and how to interpret the auto-flag columns.
Fill only the user-input columns. These are typically marked with a light background and clear column headers. Other columns are formulas — leave them alone.
Update once per quarter. Forvendo resources are designed for a quarterly cadence, not a daily ritual. Updating monthly is fine but rarely changes any decisions.
Cross-check against the companion article linked at the top of each resource section.

What’s coming next

Planned releases over the next 90 days (rough order, subject to revision):

State 1099-K Deep-Dive Reference — single-tab reference sheet for the 9 jurisdictions still issuing state-level 1099-K below the federal threshold, with state-specific filing notes.
Multi-State Sales Tax Calendar — quarterly filing calendar by registered state, with effective due dates and grace periods.
Welcome Sequence v2 (post-100-subscribers update) — an updated welcome flow template based on actual subscriber feedback after the first 100 signups on forvendo.com.

This page updates when a new resource publishes. The Forvendo newsletter announces each release.

A note on attribution and reuse

Forvendo resources are free to use, copy, and modify for your own store. They are not for resale or redistribution as the work of someone else.

If you find a resource useful, the strongest support is to share the Forvendo article it pairs with, or to forward the newsletter to one other solo operator. No referral program, no affiliate scheme on these resources — just direct distribution among operators who would benefit.

Questions, corrections, or suggestions

If you spot an error in a resource, want to suggest a new one, or have a question about how to apply one to your specific situation, reply to any newsletter email or use the contact path on the About page. Suggestions inform the release calendar.

For the Editorial Policy governing how Forvendo content is sourced, fact-checked, and updated, see the linked page.