Microsoft Excel – A Handy Tool Used in Various Areas of Business

When Microsoft launched its first version of Excel back in 1985, nobody knew that the tool would expand into all segments of the work place and our daily life. The software application in its nascent stages was competing with another popular tool Lotus 1-2-3 back then. Today, MS Excel is one of the most widely used powerful tools which has spread across NGOs, educational institutes, corporate companies, small businesses and almost every vertical of the working world. The simple spread sheet is used to store data and more importantly it is programmed to perform complex calculations which can help business analysts, marketing managers, financial accountants, management consultants, sales personnel and other professionals in their work. The flexibility and convenience of the tool in recording data, performing multiple complex functions through formulae and presenting the result in graphical mode gives high-value to MS Excel.

Accounting

Finance and accounting is one of the teams that may use MS Excel the highest in a company. Many companies depend on the tool for recording and auditing transactions. From simple calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of data in rows and columns to more complex tasks of financial analysis, everything can be performed through some excellent features in Excel. The department commonly uses Excel for cost analysis, preparing financial statements, forecasting, budgeting and helping management take decisions. 

Marketing and Sales

Like other departments, marketing and sales team too deal with huge volumes of data. In this case, the data is mostly related to customers and market. In the digital age there are many online analytics tools which fetch information related to the market. Sometimes it may be necessary for the marketing professional to use the data available from analytics and present it in a meaningful format on Excel spreadsheet. The Excel tool acts as a wonderful medium for the marketing manager to communicate his/her ideas to the decision making team. Graphical representations and the calculations that can be done through ‘What if’ functions in the tool are very handy. The tool also helps marketing managers set sales goals and set marketing plans based on past data.

Business Analysis

Business analysts are professionals who get involved in a wide-array of activities within the company and help management take decisions. Analysts use many methods to transform data into meaningful information. Excel is one of the most powerful tools these professionals use during the course to perform various types of analysis. They consider many factors of the business system when performing analysis. The data related to different factors of business operations is recorded in the Excel sheet and theoretical formulae are applied through the tool to arrive at results. The data can be converted into graphical format to get a better picture. The aim of business analysis process is to improve the efficiency of the operation. The output from the system can give valuable insights to stakeholders and business heads.

Though there are many more departments in which Excel is used as a tool to support day-to-day activities, its role is more complex and significant in the areas mentioned above. Students study Excel as a separate subject in their management and finance graduation courses for this reason.

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