Help with creation of NPC monsters

I am building an adventure for my current group as we are just about to finish the Frigid Woe starter in Wildemount and we want to continue from there.  I had an idea for a cult start off and wanted to use the CR to make 1/2 CR elf cultists with certain attributes based on what is in the DM guide.  Is there a way for simplicity to do this ie; not create a full character sheet including stats for them but rather just use what you get from the CR calculator in dms guide?

Not without the API, no. An API script could create a bunch of Attributes automatically on a sheet, and I guess you could automate that with the DMG tables. It would be a lot of work (and a sub upgrade), and only worth it if you really needed to create an absolute ton of random monster types. It seems like it would be significantly easier to just use an existing monster as a template and tweak the abilities, then change the artwork & name. I believe the DMG even suggests this as the best method for creating new monsters, though I don't have it in front of me. Also remember that CR is nowhere near a perfectly balanced system. Grabbing random values from the supposed CR for each stat & ability is going to give you some wildly inaccurate results.

Thanks Oosh, actually on that note we finished off the Frozen Sick module last night and CR/XP models were proven to be extremely subject.  They had a hell of a tough fight with the flying swords but the Boss was dead in 2 turns without ever having hit anyone haha.  I found a video on doing exactly as you recommended and I am going to use that.

Yep, it's significantly less work. You only really need to give them a unique Action/Trait/Reaction and a bit of flavour to make them interesting. I wouldn't get too hung up on the base stats.

If you want to create a monster completely by yourself, get an idea of what your players can hit/AC and start with a fitting value of how easy it should be to hit and so on. Technically you dont even need the stats, just the final result for the roll. If you say it has 1d20+6 then thats what it has. I would advise in starting with lower stats, just to be on the safer side for the first encounters.Dont wont to overkill them ^^