Free Template · from the makers of NominalQC, QC software for small manufacturers
Free document register & revision log template for Excel
Control of documents without the software: type a title and the Doc # (DOC-0001…) fills in — or keep the numbering you already use, typed numbers win. Set a review interval and the Next Review Due date computes with OVERDUE / DUE SOON flags, and the revision log flags any approval missing an approver. Plus a printable read-and-understood sign-off sheet. 100% macro-free.
This log, without the spreadsheet
NominalQC pushes changes to the floor with blocking alerts and per-person, timestamped acknowledgments — you see exactly who’s confirmed and who’s outstanding.
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What’s in the download
- 200-row controlled document register with auto-numbered IDs (DOC-0001, DOC-0002 …) — or type your existing document numbers straight in; your nomenclature wins, and the auto-number prefix is editable on CONFIG
- Automatic Next Review Due date from effective date + review interval, with color-coded OK / DUE SOON / OVERDUE flags — obsolete documents drop out of review scope but stay on the register
- Revision log with description-of-change, prepared-by, approved-by, and approval-date columns — document titles look themselves up from the register
- Honesty flag built in: a revision marked Approved with no approver or approval date on record turns yellow automatically
- Printable READ & UNDERSTOOD sign-off sheet — fill the header, print one per revision, and collect signatures as your distribution evidence
- Dropdowns for document type, owner, and department — all editable on the CONFIG sheet
- Counts strip: total documents, active, review overdue, due within 30 days
- 100% macro-free — works in Excel 2010+ on Windows and Mac, no security prompts
The zip contains the workbook (.xlsx) and a README quick-start. Sample data is included so you can see it working — delete it and the formulas refill on their own.
Where this spreadsheet breaks
A register knows which revision is current. It can’t make the shop floor agree — and that gap is where audit findings come from:
1.The floor copy is two revisions old
The register says rev E is current. The laminated copy at the station is rev C, and nothing about a spreadsheet in the quality office can reach the person working from it.
When a change has to reach the floor now, a NominalQC quality alert puts it in front of the inspector and blocks the next inspection on the affected part until they acknowledge it.
2.The sign-off sheet proves almost nothing
A signature page in a binder says somebody saw the revision. It doesn’t say the second-shift inspector did — and when the auditor picks a name, you’re flipping pages hoping.
NominalQC acknowledgments are per-person, pinned to the signed-in user with a timestamp — you see exactly who has confirmed and who is still outstanding, without chasing a clipboard.
3.Every date on the register is just a cell
Effective dates, approval dates, review dates — anyone can type or overtype any of them, and the register can’t tell a real approval from a backdated one.
NominalQC backs controlled dates with logged events: a gauge’s calibration date, for example, comes from a calibration event with the certificate attached — not a cell anyone can overwrite.
Who built this
I spent 16 years in manufacturing quality — machining, fabrication, assembly — and in every shop I ended up building the same Excel tools with macros because the software budget went elsewhere. These workbooks are the ones I kept rebuilding. Eventually I stopped rebuilding spreadsheets and built NominalQC instead — but the spreadsheet is still the right starting point for a lot of shops, so here they are, cleaned up and free.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. You get the full workbook and the setup guide in exchange for an email address. Two short follow-up emails about running the process, then silence — unsubscribe anytime.
Does it work on Mac or older Excel?
Yes — this workbook is 100% macro-free, so there’s no "Enable Content" prompt and it works in Excel 2010 or later on Windows and Mac.
Which documents belong on the register?
Anything where working from the wrong revision can produce a wrong part or a failed audit: the quality manual, procedures, work instructions, forms, drawings and customer prints, and external standards. Include customer-controlled documents too — you don’t control their revisions, but you must control which revision your shop is working to. If it isn’t on the register, its “current revision” is a rumor.
We already have document numbers and naming — do we have to renumber?
No. The auto-number (DOC-0001…) is only a default for shops starting fresh. Type your existing numbers straight into the Doc # column — QP-8.7, WI-105, whatever your scheme is — and the revision-log lookup, review flags, and counts all work the same. The auto-number prefix is editable on the CONFIG sheet, and document types are an editable list there too, so the register speaks your language, not ours. The sample data includes a customer print carrying its own number.
Can I change the lists and dropdowns?
Yes — every dropdown pulls from the CONFIG sheet (your people, work centers, categories), and it’s all editable with no code involved. That’s the point: it should match your process, not ours.
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