As a topmost spreadsheet application on this planet, Microsoft Excel has a lot of benefits for anyone who knows how to use it.
And if you are one of those people who want to learn it and wondering how this can help you in your work, when I have listed the top ten benefits of Microsoft Excel here.
- Best way to store data
- You can perform calculations
- All the tools for data analysis
- Easy to data visualizations with charts
- You can print reports easily
- So many free templates to use
- You can code to automate
- Transform and clean data
- Store data with millions of rows
- You can work with Excel online + mobile app
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1. The Best Way to Store Data
Even if you don’t use any of the options or any tool which Excel offers you, it is the best way to store data. Why I’m saying this because Excel is a kind of application that is used by millions of people.
So when you store data in Excel and then share it with others, they can access it easily.
2. You can perform calculations
What makes Excel the best spreadsheet application on the planet is its ability to perform calculations. In Excel, you have a complete list of functions that you can use for the calculations.
Basically, an Excel function is a predefined formula that returns a specific result based on the values you specify.
But apart from that, you can also create your own formulas by combining two or more functions or just by performing calculations using operators.
- 100+ Excel Formulas List
- 100+ Excel Functions List
Quick Formulas: Calculate Time Difference – Compound Interest – Count Cells with Text – Count Unique Values – Quarter Formula
3. All the tools for data analysis
The core motive of having data is to analyze and get insights out of it. The good news is Excel has some of the most powerful tools to analyze data.
Imagine you have data with thousands of rows, you can insert a pivot table out of that data and create a summary table.
Some of the things you can do with pivot tables to analyze data: Grouping Dates in a Pivot Table – Conditional Formatting in a Pivot Table – Rank Column in a Pivot Table – Add a Date Timeline in a Pivot Table – Running Total Column in a Pivot Table
4. Easy to Create Data Visualizations with Charts
In Excel, you have all those options to create charts and present your data in a visual way.
All those major types of charts that you need to use to present your data are already there and you can insert them with a single click.
If you go to the Insert Tab, in the charts group, you can find all the charts which you can insert.
Not just that, there’s also a button called recommended charts that you can use to let Microsoft Excel recommend you the best possible chart to use for the data you have in your worksheet.
And if you think that you need something other than the default charts you have the option to create advanced charts using some specific methods.
Here we have a list of the top 10 ADVANCED EXCEL CHARTS that you can use in Excel. And you can also create in-cell charts to make your data easily understandable for anyone.
5. You can Print Reports Easily
Even if you are a person who likes to save trees but there could be a point where you need to print reports to share with others or present them to someone.
Well, Excel allows you to print with a lot of customization where you can change the margin, paper size, orientation, etc.
There are a whole bunch of options that you can use for page setup before printing a report.
6. So many free templates to use
One of the most popular things about Excel is you can create dashboards and templates.
There are a whole bunch of free templates that you can download and use.
Free Excel Templates to Start with
- Excel Inventory Template with Formulas
- Sales Template
- Expense Tracker
7. You can code to automate
Microsoft Office has its own coding language which is called VBA (visual basic for applications) and it allows you to write code for almost all the activities that you perform manually in Excel.
You can automate all kinds of activities from simple (make a text bold) to complex (insert a pivot table) using a VBA code.
Start Learning VBA
- Excel VBA Tutorial (Chapter-by-Chapter Guide)
- Macro Examples + Free PDF
- VBA IF
- VBA Message Box
- Personal Macro Workbook
- VBA Functions
Once you learn the basics of VBA, you can also create a custom function by writing code.
8. Transform and clean data
If you are one of those people who work with data a lot or you know someone who works, there are a lot of situations where you need to deal with messy data which you need to clean before you use it.
The process of cleaning and transforming data takes a big chunk of your time and it can be a tedious process.
For this, Microsoft has introduced the power query which is a data transformation and cleaning engine well you can load data from multiple sources, transform it, and then load it back to the worksheet.
What makes power query such a powerful tool? Check out this complete POWER QUERY guide to understand.
9. Store data with millions of rows
Well, there is no limit to data, but Excel has a limit in terms of rows and columns. So that’s why Microsoft came up with Power Pivot where you can store data with millions of rows and then you can perform calculations within Power Pivot.
See this (Power Pivot – Overview and Learning)
10. You can work with Excel online + mobile app
As most companies these days are moving to the cloud and Microsoft Excel has its own web version. It has so many features, like functions, pivot tables, and pivot charts just like the desktop app.
And recently Microsoft has launched its all-in-one office app that you can use to work on spreadsheets and mobile as well.
Start your Excel Learning.
What are the uses of MS Excel in daily life? And also in businesses too. Well, there are a lot. Nowadays, people are in a hurry. They need to perform various operations in their daily life. But to perform these operations, they need to do some calculations. So how can they perform calculations easily? The most effective answer to this question is the use of excel.
Excel helps individuals and businesses to perform difficult calculations in no time. MS Excel is the most famous spreadsheet software in the world. In this blog, we will discuss various uses of excel in our life. But before we get started with the uses of Excel, let’s have a look at what MS Excel is.
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MS Excel
MS Excel is one of the major parts of the MS office suite.
It is one of the most powerful spreadsheet software in the world.
The spreadsheet contains a table with various numbers of rows and columns.
These rows and columns are used to put the values.
You can easily manipulate these values using some complex arithmetic operations with the help of excel formulas.
Apart from that, MS Excel also offers programming support, which makes it better than other spreadsheet software.
You can do the programming with excel via Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications. On the other hand, there are many excel project ideas that you can use to improve your skills.
It also has the ability to get data from external sources via Microsoft’s Dynamic Data Exchange.
Apart from that, it also offers extensive graphic support to the users.
The most common uses of MS excel are performing basic calculations, creating pivot tables, and creating macros.
Importance Of MS Excel In Our Daily Life And Business Life
Following are some importance of Excel that are related to our daily life and business lives.
1. Easy Computation Solutions
MS Excel has the ability to do several numbers of arithmetic calculations. With the help of different formulas, it can add, multiply, subtract, and divide lots of numbers simultaneously. Moreover, it can easily be re-do if the value is changed or added.
2. Options Of Formatting
Excel has various formatting options, like highlighting, italics, colors, etc., that enable businesses to show and bring out the essential data differently.
3. Availability Of Online Access
MS Excel is part of the Office 365 productivity Suite. It means businesses’ employers and employees can easily access their files over the cloud network.
4. Analysis Charts
MS Excel enables its users to create analysis charts easily. You can create Pie charts or Clustered Columns by filtering and correctly inputting data in just a few clicks. Even Excel allows you to customize the colors and boundaries of the diagrams.
5. All Data At One Place
Excel contains over 10 lakh rows and 16 thousand columns in the spreadsheet. You can also import data, add pictures and other objects through the insert tab. Excel enables you to put all the data you collected from different files in one place easily.
Now let’s move on to the uses of Excel in our daily life. Here we go:-
USES OF EXCEL: 8 Important Uses Of Microsoft Excel
1. Education
There are various uses of MS Excel in education. Even Excel is making teaching a lot easier for teachers.
The teachers use tables, shapes, charts, and other tools in excel to present the topics to the students.
Moreover, the teachers are also using formulas to teach the students about mathematical computations.
In education, the data visualization of MS excel is the key to the teachers.
Now the students can easily understand the topic because of the visualization, especially when the teachers are going to represent the stats, then they use bars and charts.
Apart from that, the use of MS Excel in schools and colleges to create timetables.
There are various pre-built templates in MS excel.
You can use these templates to create the timetable.
Besides, excel also offers formulas that are useful for multiple education purposes.
It is one of the best uses of Excel.
You can use these templates to create the timetable.
Besides, excel also offers formulas that are useful for multiple education purposes.
2. Business
Excel plays a crucial role in business. Even every business owner is using excel.
The use of excel in business varies from organization to organization.
The business can use MS Excel to perform goal setting, budgeting process, and planning, etc.
Now the business can easily manage their daily operations because of excel.
Apart from that, they are also able to predict their performance.
The excel financial formulas are doing a tremendous job for the business.
MS Excel is offering the IF formula, which is quite helpful in creating hundreds of logic in the business calculations.
MS Excel is quite handy for business operations.
All you need to do is visit the template menu to take full advantage of it.
The best part of the pre-built template is, you need not create anything from scratch.
3. Goal Setting and Planning
We all have daily goals or weekly goals.
Therefore to manage our daily tasks for the goals. We can use MS excel.
In MS Excel, all we need to do is accomplish the daily task along with the remark column.
Whenever we complete our daily tasks, we write on the remark columns that we are done with the task.
It is also helpful for planning purposes.
With the help of excel, we can calculate everything in advance as part of our planning.
4. Business Owners
The previous point highlighted the use of MS Excel for business.
But at this point, we will share with you the uses of MS Excel for business owners.
We know that business owners also need to perform various tasks from their end.
Some of these tasks are work progress, team management, and payouts details, etc.
One of the significant tasks for the business owner is to track the marketing campaign progress. However, if you have any pending marketing homework help then you can get our marketing help at a very affordable price.
Excel makes it simple and easy for business owners.
All they need to do is select the prebuilt template to start creating the sheet.
5. Housewives
It helps housewives to manage their daily expenses as well as grocery.
With the use of excel, they can create the report for weekly and monthly expenses.
It also helps them to track their expenses.
Most housewives are also helping their children to learn the basic skills of MS Excel.
In this way, the statistics students also get ready from the beginning of the academics.
Apart from that, Excel knowledge also emerges from housewives to earn a possessive income.
There are lots of part-time jobs available for housewives.
It is one of the best uses of Excel.
Also, Read
- Excel vs Quickbooks; Best Points You Need To Know
- How to Find Z Score in Excel | Best Ways to Find it Like A Pro
- A Guide On Frequency Distribution Excel For Beginners
6. Data Analysis And Data Science
Data analysis is one of the most emerging fields in the business perspective.
The business needs to perform various operations on the data.
The reason is companies are not using a single source.
They use multiple sources such as their blog, eCommerce sites, social media, offline data, and more.
All these jobs need time and energy. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming for the business to manage the data. In this case, excel plays a crucial role in the business.
Excel offers the filter function, which is quite handy for the data analyst to understand the data. Nowadays, excel is also used in the field of data science.
There are lots of functions that are helping in Big Data technologies.
The programming features of Excel with VBA make it one of the best options for data science technologies.
There are lots of operations that can be performed with the use of excel.
7. Daily Progress Report
Excel is also helpful in creating a daily progress report. Most of the companies track their daily progress with the help of excel.
Especially in project-based companies where the clients need a weekly report from the company.
For this, the company uses the daily progress report to showcase the daily work progress to the client.
Excel offers the table with the date and time.
You can also add the manual columns such as client, tasks, duration, and status as per the business requirements.
Apart from the companies, the daily progress report is also helpful in academics.
The teachers and the students can track their daily progress with the help of excel.
It is one of the best uses of Excel.
8. Career Development
When we talk about career development.
MS Excel is also playing a crucial role in this sector. Excel teaches you the most prominent skills of management.
With the help of excel, we try to calculate everything in advance.
Because in our life, we need to perform various calculations to run our daily life.
If you get good command over MS Excel, you are also eligible to get the best job in data analytics or data science.
Excel helps you in career management, time management, learning management, life management, and so on.If you are a student, then you can manage all your expenses with the help of excel.
5 Uses Of MS Excel In Businesses
At a very basic level, MS Excel is used for storing, analyzing, sorting, and reporting. However, it is extremely popular in businesses because it is fairly easy to use.
1. Business Analysis
Excel is used to do business analysis. Through this, businesses make decisions with collected data. Generally, companies gather data on a daily basis that is related to product sales, website traffic, insurance claim, etc.
2. People Management
It is one of the top uses of Excel in businesses. MS Excel is a powerful way to collect information about people. Through excel, personal information of employees, customers, supporters, etc., can be stored and recovered efficiently.
3. Managing Operations
Excel is heavily dependent on the daily operations of numerous businesses. Business activities generally involve complex logistics. Inventory flows require to be managed, so that company’s operations run smoothly. In simple words, keeping track of supplier and client transactions, listing critical dates, and managing times and schedules. It is only possible through MS Excel.
4. Report Of Performance
MS Excel can do monitoring and reporting of performance effectively. A simple way to transform data into a performance report in Excel is to build a pivot table. By creating a pivot table and linking it to data, you can get extra useful information from the dataset. If you need to analyze huge volumes of data then will probably be easier to connect this dataset with a reporting tool.
5. Office Administration
MS Excel stores and enters the administrative data. Then this data is used for accounting and financial reporting and business analysis, and performance reporting. Moreover, Excel supports office administration in daily tasks such as invoicing, paying bills, etc.
Top 5 Cool Things You Can Try Right Now Using Excel
You can’t ignore Excel’s important role in daily work because it deals with big data. However, many useful tips and tricks for beginners and advanced users are still inevitably overlooked. Here are five cool things you can try right now using Excel.
1. Play with numbers
Excel’s main function is to work with numbers. Excel makes sorting, retrieving, and analyzing a huge (or even small!) quantity of data a breeze.
When it comes to using Excel for anything numbers-related, there are a few general categories to keep in mind.
Calculation:
Do you ever find yourself repeating the same calculations? You may create a completely personalized calculator by programming your frequently used formulae in Excel. That way, all you have to do is type in your numbers, and Excel will calculate the result for you—no effort necessary. Isn’t it cool?
Charts:
The number of pie charts, line charts, scatter charts, bar charts, area charts, and column charts is endless. Excel can turn rows and columns of figures into attractive charts. And it is sure to become one of your favorite features if you need to convey data in a more visual and consumable way.
2. Making Plans
Let’s get away from the numbers for a moment —Excel can help you plan and organise a lot of things that don’t require multiple rows of figures.
Worksheet for goal setting:
Excel always helps to have something to keep you focused and on track. And it would either it’s career objectives, fitness goals, or money goals. You may use excel to build a variety of spreadsheets, logs, and planning papers to track your progress and, ideally, cross the finish line.
Schedules and calendars:
Do you need to create a content schedule for your blog or website? Are you looking for lesson plans for your classroom? Do you or your family have a daily schedule? Excel may be surprisingly powerful when it comes to multiple calendars. Try this today to schedule your work.
3. Involving Others
Do you need to get information from others? One method is to use survey tools and forms. But, don’t worry, you can make them all in your own Excel.
Quizzes:
Are you trying to assess someone else’s — or even your own — for the understanding of a topic? You may create a bank of questions and answers in one worksheet and then have Excel quiz you in another.
Forms:
Excel is an excellent tool for designing forms. And it starts from basic to complex. You may even create numerous drop-down menus so that users can choose from a predefined list of options.
4. Getting things done
Do you want to increase your productivity? Excel can easily come to your rescue with various functions that can help you manage your tasks and to-dos with simplicity.
Timesheets:
You already know that keeping track of your time may help you be more productive. There are many attractive applications and tools to help you in meeting these demands. Consider Excel as the actual time-tracking tool. It continues to be a possible alternative to time sheets today.
Checklist:
Similarly, you may make a basic checklist to cross off the items you’ve bought or completed. And it can be related to a shopping list to a list of to-dos for planned marketing tasks.
5. Excel just for fun.
With the help of excel, you can do a variety of other interesting things for fun.
Cloud of words:
Word clouds are not the most scientific way to describe facts. However, they are a fun (not to mention attractive) method to determine which words are used the most. You guessed it—Excel can be used to make one.
Logbooks from the past:
Whether you want to keep track of the different tasks you have completed, the exercises you have done, or something else completely, Excel is what you have for sorting and logging those things.
3 Powerful Excel Functions That Make Work
The following are the most useful functions that we can use in our daily life.
1. The SUM Function
This function is the most used function when it comes to computing data on Excel. This function is used to sum a group of numbers in a specific set of cells.
It means you do not need to type a long cumbrous formula to calculate the sum of the data.
The SUM function is performed by typing the formula on the function bar, highlighting the cells you want to add, and pressing “ENTER”.
- The Syntax formula for SUM function is “=SUM(Cell numbers)”.
- You can also use the Σ symbol to add the data you need.
- Moreover, “ALT+” also helps to add the numbers.
2. The TEXT Function
The TEXT function is a useful tool that helps in converting the date or numbers into a text string in a particular format. Keep in mind the text formula only works to convert numeric values to text.
The TEXT function’ formula is =”Text” (Value, format_text).
Value refers to the particular number you want to convert to text.
Format_text refers to the format of the conversion.
3. The AVERAGE Function
The AVERAGE function is used for getting the average of the data. As the function of SUM, it is commonly used in computing and analyzing the data on the spreadsheet.
The syntax formula for the AVERAGE function is “=AVERAGE(Cell number).
Some Of The Documents That You Can Create in Excel
Microsoft Excel is a versatile software that allows users to create various documents. Here is the list of some of the documents that you can create in excel, which are as follows:
1. Spreadsheets
Excel is primarily used for creating spreadsheets, which are documents that organize and analyze data in rows and columns. Spreadsheets can be used for budgeting, financial analysis, inventory management, and more.
2. Charts and graphs
Excel allows users to create charts and graphs to visualize data, such as bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and scatter plots.
3. Calendars
Excel can create calendars for scheduling appointments, meetings, or events.
4. Invoices
Excel can create invoices with item descriptions, prices, taxes, and totals.
5. Budgets
Excel is useful for creating personal or business budgets, where users can track their expenses and income.
6. Forms
Excel can be used to create forms for data collection, such as surveys or questionnaires.
7. Project plans
Excel can create project plans, including timelines, budgets, and resource allocation.
8. Gantt charts
Excel allows users to create Gantt charts and visual representations of project schedules that help track progress and identify potential issues.
9. Data entry forms
Excel can create forms that make it easier to input and organize data.
10. Contact lists
Excel can create lists that include names, addresses, phone numbers, and other relevant information.
Well, these are some of the documents you can try and make in excel.
Conclusion
The more you learn, the more you can earn with excel. The same philosophy applies to MS excel.
If you develop your excel skills to the peak level, you are eligible to get reputed jobs in analytics.
As we have seen, there are lots of uses for excel. But here, we have mentioned a few.
There are many more uses to excel in the world. Excel makes life easier for us.
Now we can perform a complete calculation without having a strong command of math and statistics.
All this becomes possible only because of MS excel. So don’t be the one who is not aware of MS excel.
Start learning excel today from the experts.
Also, get the best excel assignment help from MS excel experts at nominal charges.
FAQs
Q1. What is Excel used for?
Excel is generally used to manage data and perform financial analysis. On the other hand, it is used in every business and company of all sizes. The main uses of Excel include:
1. Customer relationship management (CRM)
2. Time management
3. Task management
4. Data entry
5. Data management
6. Financial modeling
7. Accounting
8. Financial analysis
9. Charting and graphing
10. Programming
11. You can do almost anything that needs to be organized!
Q2. What are the benefits of MS Excel in your life as a student?
The benefits of Excel in student’s lives are as follows:
1. The Best way to store data.
2. Able to perform calculations
3. Every tool for data analysis
4. Print report easily
5. Transform and clear data
Q3. What are the three most common uses for Excel?
The three most common uses for MS Excel are creating budgets, producing graphs and charts, and storing and sorting the data.
Let’s learn about what is excel and top 10 uses of excel in business with the Tech Learn, the most reputed and trustworthy online platform to learn anything and everything.
What is Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel is used for creating grids of numbers, formulas requiring calculations and text. Thus, it is a spreadsheet program which is tremendously useful for every organizations and businesses. It is mainly used for recording the income, expenditures, chart data, plan budgets, and briefly present financial results.
List of Most Popular Uses of Microsoft Excel in Business
- Storing and Analyzing data
- Make your work easier
- Spreadsheets and Data recovery
- Mathematical formulas make calculation easy
- Security
- Add complexity to data presentations
- Online access
- Manage expenses
- Assist in developing future strategy
- Keeps data combined at one place
1. Storing and Analyzing data in Excel
With the help of MS Excel, one can easily analyze a very large amount of data for checking the new trends. Charts and graphs help you in summarizing and storing the data in a better way. Look into screen shoot
2. Make your work easier
MS Excel provides outstanding tools which help in saving out time by making our work very easy. There are great tools for filtering, sorting and searching. Combining these wonderful tools with pivot tables, tables etch can make you finish your very faster.
3. Spreadsheets and Data recovery
One of the best uses of excel is that in case If your data get lost for some reasons then you can easily get it back without any issue. Also, there are spreadsheets which makes work easier and steadier.
4. Mathematical formulas make calculation easy
Another outstanding use of excel is that lot of formulas are there for doing different operations like finding average, sum etc. which make you to do big calculations very easily.
5. Security
Security is must as it keeps your personal data. MS Excel keep all your file safe by password-protected with the help of visual basic programming.
6. Add complexity to data presentations
Next use of MS Excel is that it helps you in adding more sophistication to your data presentations which means that you can improve the data bars, you can highlight any specific items that you want to highlight and make your data much more presentable easily.
7. Online access
The best use of excel is that no matter where you are, you have your device or not but you can easily excess it online from anywhere and anytime. Use excel online – https://office.live.com/start/excel.aspx
Learn – Free Online Courses with certificate
8. Manage expenses
You can manage your expenses with the help of Microsoft excel. You can easily make a table of your expenses and with the help of the mathematical formulas provided by MS Excel, you can calculate the total amount easily. watch this video to learnin detail how to manage expenses in excel – https://youtu.be/i9NRF7JcV7k?t=406
9. Assist in developing future strategy
It gives you a facility of making chart and graphs so with the help of making graphs you can set a goal for yourself and pie charts allow you to check your progress level.
10. Keeps data combined at one place
This is also one of the best uses of excel. You can choose a single location to str your data which allow you to find out your files easily. It saves your time as there’s no need to check the files in different folders.
This article covers brief description about the uses of excel, what is excel formula and features of excel. The aim of the article is to provide all the necessary knowledge that you must have about Microsoft Excel. For more information about information security, new trends in technology and happenings in the world, keep visiting the Tech Learn.
Frequently asked questions for excel uses
- What are the uses of Excel?
Top 10 uses of excel:
1. Storing and Analyzing data
2. Make your work easier
3. Spreadsheets and Data recovery
4. Mathematical formulas make calculation easy
5. Security
6. Add complexity to data presentations
7. Online access
8. Manage expenses
9. Assist in developing future strategy
10. Keeps data combined at one place - What are the 3 common uses for Excel?
In all industries different uses of excel. But if we talk about uses of excel in business these here are 3 common uses:
1. Manage Data
2. Manages company expenses
3. Reporting - What are the benefits of using Excel?
Top 3 benefit of using excel in business:
1. You can easily mange all data
2. Best benefit of excel, you can access online your worksheet
3. Save time – through Mathematical formulas you can easily calculate.
Last Updated on March 9, 2021 by
With the surge of numerous technological tools and enhancements, most of the information on the events that’s been happening around the world can be found by the use of the tool known as “Internet” alone.
Consequently, for a single event, we are exposed to more than one factor affecting it. It’s only natural to infer that these factors could possibly affect the outcome of these events in the future too. So, the question is how do we handle this information?
Where do we put it safely so that we can refer to it later? One of the widely used tools to manage data or, say, information is the use of the application software called Microsoft Excel.
Microsoft Excel, popularly known as Ms-Excel or just Excel, is a versatile application software developed by Microsoft for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS as a part of Microsoft Office Suite.
As the package reads Microsoft Office Suite, it is widely used for the purpose of calculation, collating data and information, visualization, and so on by the working group.
However, after recognizing the importance and benefit of having a working knowledge of Excel in the era with rapid technological enhancement, it is also taught to students, especially in high school, via the courses related to computer science.
As the world is being more data-driven, Ms-Excel is one of the software that offers us tools that help us work with the data through a different form of analysis. However, in the end, we cannot deny the fact that the data we are exposed to is not limited to 100 rows and 100 columns, it resides in a couple of thousands.
Consequently, Ms-Excel has limitations that we cannot deny when we want to consider the use of it. Thus, in this article, we’ll look at various aspects of Microsoft Excel that will help us get an insight into it and make a decision for ourselves.
Table of Contents
- Pros of MS Excel
- 1. Easy and Effective Comparisons
- 2. Accessibility and Collaboration
- 3. Data and Analysis
- Cons of MS Excel
- 1. Control and Security
- 2. Data and Growth
- 3. Time Inefficiency
- Conclusion
1. Easy and Effective Comparisons
If you’ve been in the world of business for quite some time, then you would know how frequently comparisons are done every time to understand the change in the stock market.
Not just business, professionals working in fields such as psychology, sociology, political science frequently compares the data are gathered to understand the trend in their research such as political data, how caste and income of a family interplayed in the past and now, and so on.
With the powerful analytical tools included, Microsoft Excel offers you the ability to analyze large amounts of data’s the discover the patterns that will influence the conclusion of the work you’ve been doing.
Some tools include data visualization tools such as graphs, histograms, box-plot diagram and so on. These tools help you analyze your data and structure your data accordingly without much complexity of doing them manually with hand and paper.
2. Accessibility and Collaboration
With the advent of technology, Microsoft has developed a web version of their applications from the Office Suite package. This allows you to work on the web version of Ms-Excel alongside your peers or colleagues, which technically allows you and your peers to have access to the Excel document from anywhere and manipulate it simultaneously.
Thus, if you’re working on large sets of data and stuck somewhere, then you do not have to wait until the next time to meet your peer or colleague to get help.
Also, Microsoft has developed Excel applications that can be integrated into smartphones such that the user can have access to the Excel file to view, edit and share it.
While Microsoft Excel is updated from time to time, the user might need the latest technology to make the best out of this software. However, this does not restrict the user from running the software on their low powered PC or Laptop.
3. Data and Analysis
Excel is a great tool for data analysis not just because we can store our data and perform calculations, but also because of several tools it offers within itself.
Powerful filtering, sorting and search tools enhance user’s ability to efficiently narrowing down the criteria that are taken into consideration in making decisions. Thus, allowing the user to play around with a huge amount of data in an efficient way.
Consequently, the concept of tables, pivot tables, and numerous visualization techniques combined with the above tools can help the user find information that he or she wants promptly despite a huge volume of data items.
Cons of MS Excel
1. Control and Security
Sometimes the data and information we’re exposed to are huge in size. When the file is too large, it can make the excel program run very slow since the interpreter/compiler needs to go through each and every row and/or column. The easiest way to make sure that excel is time-efficient is by breaking down the file to smaller files. However, this can lead to some of the data’s being lost or misplaced.
Also, Microsoft Excel uses an approximation on very large numbers using imprecise calculations. Thus, this also compromises accuracy and the user barely has control over it since this feature is inbuilt.
So, if there are different people handling the input of same file then the file is susceptible to errors and inaccuracy. These mistakes are not only hard to locate further along the process but can also negatively affect the bottom line.
2. Data and Growth
At this point, it is fair to say that Microsoft Excel is an ideal tool for performing a one-time analysis. However, this might not mostly be the case.
Microsoft Excel is prominent in the business world and, with any business, you’re constantly striving to improve. With time, the data grows and evolves. So, you need your data tracking tool to grow with you. However, Excel doesn’t perform better in this front.
To put it in a simple way, the growth of your organization is directly proportional to the number of Excel spreadsheets, which opens out your information further apart. Thus, this makes the organization/user hard to be able to keep up and could possibly lead to bad results and decisions.
3. Time Inefficiency
The data does not enter into the spreadsheet. The user has to enter each and every bit of it manually.
Thus, it can take a long time especially if you have a huge amount of data, making Excel inefficient in terms of time efficiency. Also, entering a huge amount of data could potentially lead to errors since most humans can be attentive just for a certain period of time.
Conclusion
From its pros and cons, we can say that Excel’s efficiency depends on the kind of task the user intends to perform. Excel is an ideal tool for prompt analysis of the data’s the user has. However, if the data is significant for the future of an organization then it might not necessarily be an ideal tool for working with every kind of data.
Are you wondering how so many companies do so much with their data? The most likely answer is that those companies use Microsoft Excel.
Your next question may be, why Excel and not Google sheets? Well, the answer is that Sheets and Excel are popular, and each spreadsheet tool has pros and cons, so it comes down to personal preference.
This business blog article considers some of the benefits of using Microsoft Excel to help run your business to make it worth the subscription.
1. Improve Productivity
Analyzing data is vital for any business that wants to succeed today. There is more data than ever, and you can be sure your competition is making the most of it.
Using Excel for your small business means you can more efficiently analyze this information. Adding information to spreadsheets allows you to sort, filter, and input your information quicker than you could otherwise.
2. Organizing and Storing Data
Excel allows for the creation of organized spreadsheets that can store large amounts of data in a readily accessible manner.
3. Visualize Your Data
Reporting and presentation are easier with Excel. Businesses can create charts, graphs, and other visual aids to communicate and present data effectively.
While it’s possible to analyze your information with text, it isn’t always ideal. Many people work better when they see visuals. Excel makes this easy.
Visuals will give your team and customers a quick overview that allows them to understand the data in your spreadsheets.
4. Online Collaboration
Spreadsheets have come a long way over the past decade. You used to rely on computer desktops to run this software. While this worked great for the time, it did have limitations regarding sharing.
One of the best Excel for businesses benefits today is the ability to work on your spreadsheets in the cloud. Your team can access your spreadsheets from anywhere in the world.
With remote work on the rise, it’s an investment worth investigating. Excel allows multiple users to access, edit and update a single document, making it easy for teams to collaborate and work together on a project.
5. Keep Data Consistent
There’s nothing worse than having data in different formats when you analyze it. Your data needs to be in the same format if you want a proper analysis. This includes dates, currency, and decimal places.
Excel allows you to do this by setting a base format for each data column. You set your preference in your column settings, and Excel will apply the same data format to each value in the column.
6. Connect to External Data
Databases and other data storage mechanisms are common today. Even small businesses can use them with other software they use. The question is, can you use this data in other applications?
One of the best Excel hacks for your small business is connecting to other data sources. Instead of manually inserting data in your spreadsheet, you can connect to another database and automatically import your information. This feature saves your company the money you would spend hiring a developer to create custom reporting.
7. Data Analysis
Excel provides various tools and functions to perform data analysis, such as sorting, filtering, and using pivot tables to quickly summarize and analyze data.
8. Budgeting and Forecasting
Once again, it is with Excel that budgeting can be simplified. You can use Excel to create budget and financial models to help make informed decisions.
9. Automation
Automation in business is one digital transformation strategy that improves productivity and efficient use of resources. Excel macros can automate repetitive tasks, saving time and increasing efficiency.
10. Customization
Excel allows for customization and personalization, making it a flexible tool that can be adapted to meet specific business needs.
Don’t Ignore the Benefits of Excel
You need all the time to work on the essential parts of your business. The more time you spend doing manual analysis, the less time you have to work on other things. Don’t ignore the benefits of Excel and how much time its features will save.
Attempt to use more than the 5% of features more than 95% of users regularly utilize.
Excel is a superior product to Sheets, but you need to use more of it to realize the benefits for your business.
If you’re not on a subscription yet, consider Sheets, too, as it is a viable alternative to Excel, and its main attraction, especially for startups, is free.
Are you looking for more tools to help you run your company? Read our blog posts, including this one on data analysis.