Use Google Sheets AI to Track Your CE Credits

What This Does

Google Sheets' AI formula assistant builds a CE credit tracker that automatically calculates how many credits you've earned, how many you still need, and how much time you have left before your ARRT renewal deadline.

Before You Start

• Free Google account and access to Google Sheets (sheets.google.com)
• Your ARRT renewal date (check arrt.org — it's on your credential)
• A list of CE credits already earned this cycle (optional — you can add as you go)

Steps

1. Open a new Google Sheet

Go to sheets.google.com and click "+ Blank". You'll have a blank spreadsheet.

2. Set up your header row

In Row 1, type these column headers:

• A1: Date Completed
• B1: Course Title
• C1: CE Category (e.g., Radiation Protection, Patient Care)
• D1: Credits Earned
• E1: Source (e.g., ASRT, vendor module, RSNA)

3. Add your renewal date and target credits

In cell G1, type: Renewal Date In cell H1, type your renewal date: e.g., 2026-06-30 In cell G2, type: Credits Required In cell H2, type: 24

4. Ask the AI to build your tracking formulas

Click on cell G3 and then look for the "Ask AI" or formula suggestions bar (sometimes shown as @AI or a help icon in Sheets). Type:

The AI will generate a formula like: =H2-SUM(D2:D100)

Paste this into H3 and label G3: Credits Still Needed

5. Add a deadline alert

Ask the AI: "Write a formula that calculates how many days until the date in H1." Place this in H4 and label G4: Days Until Renewal

6. Add conditional formatting

Select cell H3 → Format → Conditional formatting → Set: if value > 10, yellow; if value > 20, red. Now you can see at a glance if you're falling behind.

Real Example

Scenario: Your ARRT renewal is in June 2027. You're 18 months into your 2-year cycle and have only logged 8 credits. You need to know how many you have left and how many per month you need to finish in time.

What you ask the AI: "Write a formula that divides the remaining credits needed (H3) by the number of months left until the date in H1."

What you get: A formula that tells you "you need 2.7 CE credits per month for the next 6 months" — which is very manageable with one online module per month.

Tips

• Add a "Cost" column if you're tracking paid vs. free CE sources
• Color-code by CE category if your credential has mandatory topic requirements (e.g., mandatory radiation protection credits)
• Share the sheet with a colleague so you can compare CE sources and split the research

Tool interfaces change — if the AI formula assistant has moved, look for a sparkle or AI icon in the formula bar or Insert menu.