ClinicOps / Briefings / Tracking spreadsheet
Template · Published Aug 3, 2026
Free Prior Authorization Tracking Spreadsheet (Sheets, Excel, and ClickUp)
One board for every prior auth request, with the two fields most practices forget built in: a follow-up date and an expiration alarm. Free, chart-number-only, yours to keep.
Jareer Ali·
Research & field notes·
6 min read
A prior authorization tracking spreadsheet is one place that holds every request your practice submits, with an owner, a status, a follow-up date, and an expiration date for each. It replaces sticky notes and a fax pile with a single board, so nothing ages in silence and no approval lapses before the procedure.
Key takeaways
- The tracker gives every request one owner and one status, so nothing disappears until the patient calls.
- Two fields do most of the work: a follow-up due date and an expiration date. They are the two things practices forget most, and both fire an alert in this sheet.
- It works in Google Sheets, Excel, and as an import into ClickUp, Monday, or Asana. Use the tool you already pay for.
- Chart numbers only. No patient name, date of birth, or diagnosis ever enters the file.
- Free, and yours to keep whether or not you ever book a call.
| Chart # | Service / CPT | Payer | Owner | Follow-up | Status | Expires | Alert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PT-4471 | MRI, lumbar | Aetna | JR | Aug 20 | Awaiting | n/a | Follow up in 2d |
| PT-3320 | CT, sinus | UHC | ML | Aug 12 | Approved | Sep 10 | On track |
| PT-5108 | Sleep study | Cigna | DP | Aug 19 | Submitted | n/a | On track |
| PT-2276 | PT, eval | BCBS | JR | Aug 8 | Denied, appeal | n/a | Follow-up overdue |
| PT-6642 | Echocardiogram | Humana | ML | Aug 21 | Approved | Aug 24 | Expiring in 7d |
Every request you lose track of is a service you delivered that ages toward a write-off. This is the board that stops that, and it takes about ten minutes to start using.
Get the free tracking spreadsheetWhy a spreadsheet beats the fax pile
Search for a prior authorization tracker today and you land on Etsy listings and old forum threads. Most of them are a flat grid of columns. They will hold your data, but they will not tell you a follow-up is overdue or that an approved auth expires next week. That gap is exactly where the money leaks.
The problem was never that your team cannot track requests. It is that the tracking lives in someone's head and a drawer of fax confirmations. A shared board fixes that in one move: every request in one place, every request with a name on it, and the sheet itself watching the clock so following up is not a memory test. This tracker is the front half of the full prior authorization operations system, ready to run today.
Google Sheets, Excel, and ClickUp-ready. Chart-number-only, with follow-up and expiration alarms built in.
Get the free Rescue KitWhat is inside the tracker
Three tabs. A Start Here page with the rules, the Tracker itself, and a Dashboard that counts everything for you. These are the columns on the Tracker tab.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Chart # | Identifies the request without any patient information |
| Service / CPT, Payer, Plan | What was requested, and from whom |
| Date requested, Submit method, Confirmation # | Proof of what you sent and where, so a request never just sits |
| Owner | One name per request until it closes |
| Status | A dropdown from Not started through Approved, Denied, and Closed |
| Follow-up due | The date the sheet checks against today to flag anything overdue |
| Decision, Denial reason, Appeal status | Your built-in denial log, so appeals become a task instead of a write-off |
| Auth #, Expiration date | The approval, and the date it dies if the procedure has not happened |
| Days to expiry, Alert | Calculated for you. The Alert column reads "Expiring within 14 days," "EXPIRED," or "Follow-up overdue" |
How to use it in Sheets, Excel, or ClickUp
You do not need new software. Use whichever of these you already have.
Excel
Open the file and work in the Tracker tab. The dropdowns and alerts are already built.
Google Sheets
In Sheets, choose File, then Import, then upload the file. It converts and keeps the columns.
ClickUp, Monday, or Asana
Import the file as a spreadsheet and map the columns to fields. The same board runs inside the tool your team already lives in, which is usually the version that sticks.
The one rule: chart numbers only
This matters more than any feature. Never put a patient name, date of birth, or diagnosis in this file. Track by chart number. A project tool is not built to hold protected health information, and it does not need to. The board holds the workflow, your EHR holds the patient, and the two never cross. The Start Here tab says this in red for a reason.
How it fits the whole prior auth process
The tracker is one piece of a larger system. If you want the full picture of where prior auth breaks and how the stages fit together, start with the pillar guide, then come back and put the board in place.
- Prior Authorization for Independent Practices: the complete operations guide
The seven-stage process, where each stage leaks, and the system that seals it.
- Why prior authorizations expire, and how to stop losing them
The single field this tracker adds that most templates skip.
- Prior auth takes 13 hours a week per physician
What this board gives back in time.
- Prior authorization by the numbers (2026)
Eight sourced figures that make the case for a tracked system.
Find your leak before you fix it
Two ways to start, both free.
Take the tracker and denial log and run it yourself, or book a 20-minute Leak Audit where we put a real number on what your prior auth process is costing, using your own volume.
Frequently asked questions
Is the prior authorization tracking spreadsheet really free?
Yes. Enter your email and the download is yours to keep, in Google Sheets, Excel, and ClickUp-ready formats. No trial, no card, no expiry.
Do I have to give my email to get it?
Yes, that is the only gate. We send the file and, if you want, the rest of the Rescue Kit. You can use the tracker forever whether or not you ever talk to us.
Does it work in Google Sheets and ClickUp, not just Excel?
Yes. Upload the file to Google Sheets and it converts, or import it into ClickUp, Monday, or Asana and map the columns. The same board works inside the tool you already pay for.
Is it safe to use for patient information?
Track by chart number only. Never put a patient name, date of birth, or diagnosis in the file. Built this way, the board holds the workflow and your EHR holds the patient, so no protected health information ever enters a project tool.
How is this different from the free templates on Etsy or in forums?
Most of those are a flat list of columns with no follow-up dates, no expiration alarms, and no denial log. This one has the two fields practices actually miss, plus a dashboard that counts what is open, overdue, and expiring.