Microsoft Excel has been a staple in American offices for years. As part of the larger Microsoft Office suite of programs, Excel spreadsheets help people keep track of thousands of pieces of business data in a single convenient location. If that is how you have always used Excel, it might surprise you to learn that you can use it for accounting as well.

Steps to Take Before Using Excel for Business Accounting

Before you decide to use Excel spreadsheets for your company’s accounting needs, do a search of its interface to decide if it has a specific template that will work for your business needs. You may also want to consider other free accounting software options such as Wave, GNU, and Turbo Cash.

If you decide that you would like to continue with Excel, search for a video on YouTube that walks you through the entire process of using it for accounting purposes. This will provide you with greater understanding of the Excel interface as well as the manual functions you will use most often.

Some of the Accounting Functions You Can Complete with Excel

Before you dig in and start working with Excel, it’s a good idea to learn more about its tools such as pivot tables, absolute references, watch windows, conditional formatting, and many others. When you feel comfortable with using them and the possibility of making a manual data entry error, you can use Excel to help get a clearer picture of your company’s financial situation. Some examples include:

• Comparing months to find large differences in expenses
• See how you spend your daily cash allotments
• Single out recurring costs
• Divide customers into groups based on unique demographics to determine how much each group spends and what your company needs to do to appeal to them more

After formatting data according to your preferences, you can use built-in functions within Excel to manipulate the numbers to your company’s advantage.

Need more business advice? Don’t hesitate to contact Proactive Funding Solutions.