Electrical Panel Schedule Template (Excel & PDF)

How to fill in a panel schedule in 5 steps

1. Set up the panel. Type the panel name (for example Main panel or Garage subpanel), where it is, what feeds it, the main breaker rating or main lugs only, and the bus rating from the panel's label. Choose the system and the number of spaces.
2. Walk the panel. With the cover on, read the number and handle rating of each breaker and work out what it feeds. The usual way is to switch one breaker off at a time and see what stops working.
3. Enter each breaker. Select a space in the two-column editor, pick single-pole, 2-pole, 3-pole, tandem or spare, and fill in the description, room, amps, wire size and AFCI/GFCI protection. Next moves to the following space.
4. Add loads if you know them. Type each circuit's load in volt-amperes (VA), for example from an appliance nameplate. The totals panel adds them per leg or phase and shows the imbalance.
5. Download and post it. Download the schedule PDF or the Excel file for your records, print the door directory for the inside of the panel door, and cut out the label strips to stick beside each breaker.

Safety: Labelling tool only. Turn power off and follow local code; have a licensed electrician do electrical work. You don't need to take the cover off to make a schedule: everything above can be read from the front of the panel.

How breaker panels are numbered

In a standard North American panel, the breaker spaces are numbered in pairs across the panel: 1 and 2 on the top row, 3 and 4 on the next, and so on. That puts all the odd numbers down the left and all the even numbers down the right. The editor above uses the same layout, so the screen looks like the panel in front of you.

Each row connects to one bus position, and the rows alternate between the two hot legs of a 120/240 V panel:

  1  ─┤ L1 ├─  2  
  3  ─┤ L2 ├─  4  
  5  ─┤ L1 ├─  6  
  7  ─┤ L2 ├─  8  
  …         …         …

Because vertically neighbouring spaces are on different legs, a 2-pole breaker in spaces 1 and 3 connects to both L1 and L2 and supplies 240 V. On a three-phase panel the rows cycle through phases A, B and C, and a 3-pole breaker takes three spaces in a column, one on each phase. If your panel's printed numbers follow a different pattern, use what's printed on it.

What goes in each column

Breaker types the editor understands

• Single-pole: one space, one leg, a 120 V circuit on a 120/240 V or 120/208 V panel (277 V on a 277/480 V panel).
• 2-pole: two vertically adjacent spaces in the same column, such as 3 and 5, on two different legs or phases with one handle. Used for 240 V or 208 V loads like ranges, dryers and water heaters.
• 3-pole: three adjacent spaces in a column, one per phase. Three-phase panels only.
• Tandem (twin): two breakers in the body of one, so one space holds two circuits, labelled 13A and 13B. Only where the panel's label allows them.
• Spare: a breaker with nothing connected. An empty position with no breaker is a space.

The editor blocks placements that can't exist: a 2-pole breaker that would run off the bottom of a column, a 3-pole breaker on a single-phase panel, or a breaker that overlaps one already there.

Load per leg and imbalance

If you enter loads, PanelDex adds them up for each leg (L1 and L2) or each phase (A, B and C). A 2-pole or 3-pole load is split evenly across its poles, so a 4,800 VA water heater on spaces 12 and 14 counts 2,400 VA on each leg. Approximate amps are the leg total divided by 120 V (or 277 V on a 277/480 V panel), and the imbalance is the gap between the highest and lowest leg as a percentage of the highest.

For the example panel that loads with the tool, that gives L1 18,250 VA (about 152.1 A), L2 17,150 VA (about 142.9 A), a total of 35,400 VA and an imbalance of 6.0%. These are totals of the loads you entered — not a code load calculation. For sizing a service, feeder or panel, a licensed electrician does an NEC Article 220 load calculation. The load balancing page explains the numbers in more detail.

One set of entries, five files

You can also copy a share link that carries the whole panel, and print its QR code for a sticker on the panel door, so anyone who scans it sees the full schedule on their phone.

Why a filled-in directory matters

When a breaker trips at night, or someone needs to shut off one circuit before working on it, a clear directory saves guessing. It also matters for inspections, home sales and handovers between property managers. In general terms, NEC section 408.4(A) asks for every circuit in a panel to be identified by its specific purpose in a directory at the panel, clear enough to tell circuits apart, and not described by things that change over time, such as who uses a bedroom. Check the code edition your area has adopted for the exact wording.

Many panels still carry a handwritten card from the day they were installed, with entries like “lights” or “misc” that stopped matching the house after the first remodel. Re-doing the directory after any change to the panel keeps it useful.

Main panels, subpanels and many panels

Use one saved panel per panel. A subpanel schedule works the same way: choose main lugs only if it has no main breaker, and type the panel that feeds it in Fed from, for example “Main panel, circuits 16/18”. Facilities staff and property managers can keep every panel in the list, duplicate a typical unit's panel as a starting point, and back them all up to one JSON file.

PanelDex works with any brand of panel, including Square D, Siemens, Eaton, Leviton and GE, and is not affiliated with any of them.

Frequently asked questions

More templates and guides

• Electrical panel schedule template
• Panel schedule PDF
• Door directory
• Breaker labels
• 42 circuit panel
• 3 phase panel
• Load per leg

Last updated 16 October 2026 · Written by the Rooh Sites team. General information, not electrical advice.