Private Equity Spreadsheet for LPs: Columns That Matter (and When Excel Breaks)

A private equity spreadsheet is the LP’s capital-account book, not a dashboard screenshot. The columns that matter are commitment, capital called (paid-in), unfunded, NAV, distributions, and the DPI and TVPI those numbers produce. Without cash dates on every call and distribution, an IRR is a guess. Tamarix, a private-markets data vendor, publishes an Excel starter model and says a well-structured tracker works for about 10–15 funds; after that, look-through, audit trails, and GP-document volume make the sheet operationally limiting.

Columns that belong on a private equity spreadsheet

Tamarix’s starter model is three layers: a portfolio overview that rolls up NAV, unfunded exposure, and performance; an investment schedule of capital-account lines, fund by fund; and a tab per fund for raw NAV and transaction entry. The schedule is the book. The overview is a view. If the dashboard shows latest NAV and a headline TVPI but no dated cash, you cannot reconcile the next capital-account statement — and you cannot defend an IRR.

For each line, Tamarix’s FAQ splits the fields into fund characteristics and capital-account data. Copy at least these:

Fund characteristics

• Legal fund name and GP

• Strategy or asset class (buyout, venture, private credit, real assets, secondaries)

• Vintage year and fund size

• Geographic focus and expected termination date

• Currency, and the vehicle (commingled fund, co-invest, fund-of-funds)

• A link to the limited partnership agreement and the latest capital-account PDF

Capital-account columns

• Commitment

• Cumulative capital called (paid-in)

• Cumulative distributions

• Current NAV, with the as-of date

• Remaining unfunded commitment

• DPI, RVPI, and TVPI

• A cash-flow table: date, direction, type, amount

That last table is what most snapshot sheets skip. It is also what an IRR calculator actually needs.

Capital-account math: commitment, called, unfunded, NAV

ILPA’s glossary keeps the three stock numbers distinct. Committed capital is the dollar amount pledged to the fund. Paid-in capital is the amount a limited partner has actually transferred — the cumulative takedown. Unfunded commitment is money committed but not yet transferred to the GP.

Those identities are the starting book, not the whole book. Unfunded is not always “commitment minus wires.” Recallable distributions and recycled capital add obligation back; a sheet that only subtracts called amounts will silently break both unfunded and paid-in. Raziel’s capital-call tracking guide walks the notice-level cases, including ILPA’s Capital Call & Distribution Template v2.0.

NAV and unfunded answer different questions. Tamarix’s FAQ is the clean split: NAV is the GP-reported value of remaining investments — current economic exposure. Unfunded is the portion of the commitment not yet called — a future liquidity claim. Track both on the same row, with the NAV as-of date next to the figure. A stale mark next to a live unfunded number is how exposure reports lie.

DPI, TVPI, and why cash dates beat a dashboard

ILPA defines the multiples off paid-in, not commitment. DPI is money distributed to limited partners relative to contributions. RVPI is remaining value relative to those same contributions. TVPI is remaining value plus distributions to date, relative to capital paid in. GIPS, as ILPA notes, wants recallable distributions in the DPI and TVPI numerators and reinvested (recalled) capital in the denominators.

Because DPI and RVPI share a denominator, TVPI is DPI plus RVPI. That identity is why a dashboard TVPI without a DPI column is incomplete: you cannot tell how much of the multiple is cash. ILPA’s Performance Template, for funds commencing operations on or after January 1, 2026, standardizes fund- and portfolio-level IRR and TVPI/MOIC from a cash-flow table — including figures with and without fund-level subscription facilities. Snapshot columns cannot reproduce that pack.

IRR is the clock on the same cash. Without dates, the calculator is guessing. Raziel’s note on VC and private equity portfolio management makes the same operational point: call timing changes reported returns, and LP reporting needs every cash-flow event. One dated row per call and distribution is the input. The multiples are the output.

When Excel breaks — around 10–15 funds

Tamarix’s own FAQ is the honest cutoff: an Excel tracker works for about 10–15 funds while data volumes are manageable and reporting is straightforward. That is vendor editorial, not a census. The same page names why the sheet then fails: more funds, more asset classes, look-through to underlying companies, automated ingestion from GP documents, and an audit trail. Their starter model also does not keep historical time series, document links, or forecasts.

The break is operational, not aesthetic. A careful workbook still holds the capital-account math. It fails when recallable distributions, fee-versus-investment calls, and FX hit the same commitment; when several vintages need one unfunded number you can defend; when a stack of GP PDFs has to be re-keyed each quarter; or when an LP (or an auditor) asks you to rebuild TVPI from the cash-flow table ILPA now asks GPs to print.

A pretty dashboard with no cash dates fails earlier than 15 funds. It fails at the first notice you cannot find. Keep the PDFs on the fund row. Post the wire on the day it left. Roll unfunded the way the notice did, not the way a subtraction formula wishes it did. Raziel markets an alternative-asset dashboard that tracks IRR, MOIC, and capital calls; the honest input is still that ledger. One capital-account tab beats a dashboard that cannot show when the cash moved.