Spreadsheet Programs: Microsoft Excel

A spreadsheet is a computer application for organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cells of a table. Each cell may contain either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a value based on the contents of other cells. A spreadsheet may also refer to one such electronic document.

Spreadsheet users can adjust any stored value and observe the effects on calculated values. This makes the spreadsheet useful for “what-if” analysis since many cases can be rapidly investigated without manual recalculation. Modern spreadsheet software can have multiple interacting sheets, and can display data either as text and numerals, or in graphical form.

Besides performing basic arithmetic and mathematical functions, modern spreadsheets provide built-in functions for common financial and statistical operations. Such calculations as net present value or standard deviation can be applied to tabular data with a pre-programmed function in a formula. Spreadsheet programs also provide conditional expressions, functions to convert between text and numbers, and functions that operate on strings of text.

Spreadsheets have replaced paper-based systems throughout the business world. Although they were first developed for accounting or bookkeeping tasks, they now are used extensively in any context where tabular lists are built, sorted, and shared.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. It has been a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and it has replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel forms part of the Microsoft Office suite of software.

Microsoft Excel has the basic features of all spreadsheets, using a grid of cells arranged in numbered rows and letter-named columns to organize data manipulations like arithmetic operations. It has a battery of supplied functions to answer statistical, engineering and financial needs. In addition, it can display data as line graphs, histograms and charts, and with a very limited three-dimensional graphical display. It allows sectioning of data to view its dependencies on various factors for different perspectives (using pivot tables and the scenario manager). It has a programming aspect, Visual Basic for Applications, allowing the user to employ a wide variety of numerical methods, for example, for solving differential equations of mathematical physics, and then reporting the results back to the spreadsheet. It also has a variety of interactive features allowing user interfaces that can completely hide the spreadsheet from the user, so the spreadsheet presents itself as a so-called application, or decision support system (DSS), via a custom-designed user interface, for example, a stock analyzer, or in general, as a design tool that asks the user questions and provides answers and reports. In a more elaborate realization, an Excel application can automatically poll external databases and measuring instruments using an update schedule, analyze the results, make a Word report or PowerPoint slide show, and e-mail these presentations on a regular basis to a list of participants. Excel was not designed to be used as a database.

Microsoft allows for a number of optional command-line switches to control the manner in which Excel starts.

Uses of Microsoft Excel

MS Excel is used very widely nowadays by everyone because it is very helpful and it helps in saving a lot of time. It is being used for so many years and it gets upgraded every year with new features. The most impressive thing about MS Excel is that it can be used anywhere for any kind of work. For example, it is used for billing, data management, analysis, inventory, finance, business tasks, complex calculations, etc. One can even do mathematical calculations using this and can also store important data in it in the form of charts or spreadsheets.

MS Excel provides security to your files so that no one else can see your files or ruin them. With the help of MS Excel, you can keep your files password protected. MS Excel can be accessed from anywhere and everywhere. You can even work on MS Excel using mobile if you don’t have laptops. There are so many benefits of using MS Excel that it has become an inevitable part of lives of millions of people. MS Excel has numerous tools and features that make one’s work easy and saves one’s time also.

To use MS Excel to the best of its ability one must know its benefits and advantages. Following are the ten best uses of MS Excel:

1. Analyzing and storing data

One of the best uses of MS Excel is that you can analyze larger amounts of data to discover trends. With the help of graphs and charts, you can summarize the data and store it in an organized way so that whenever you want to see that data then you can easily see it. It becomes easier for you to store data and it will definitely save a lot of time for you.

Once the data is stored in a systematic way, it can be used easily for multiple purposes. MS Excel makes it easier to implement various operations on the data through various tools that it possesses.

2. Excel tools make your work easier

There are so many tools of MS Excel that make your work extremely easy and save your time as well. There are wonderful tools for sorting, filtering and searching which all the more make you work easy. If you will combine these tools with tables, pivot tables etc. then you will be able to finish your work in much less time. Multiple elements can be searched easily from large amounts of data to help solve a lot of problems and questions.

3. Data recovery and spreadsheets

Another best use of MS Excel is that if your data gets lost then you can recover it without much inconvenience. Suppose, there is a businessman who has stored his important data in MS Excel and somehow it gets lost or the file gets damaged then he must not worry as with the new MS Excel XML format one can restore the lost or damaged file data.

The next important use is that there are spreadsheets in MS Excel which also makes your work easy and with the help of new Microsoft MS Excel XML format you can reduce the size of the spreadsheet and make things compact easily.

4. Mathematical formulas of MS Excel make things easier

Next best use of MS Excel is that it makes easy for you to solve complex mathematical problems in a much simpler way without much manual effort. There are so many formulas in MS Excel and by using these formulas you can implement lots of operations like finding sum, average, etc. on a large amount of data all at once. Therefore, people use MS Excel whenever they have to solve complex mathematical problems or they need to apply simple mathematical functions on tables containing larger data.

5. Security

The chief use of MS Excel is that it provides security for excel files so people can keep their files safe. All the files of MS Excel can be kept password-protected through visual basic programming or directly within the excel file. People store their important data in the MS Excel so that they can keep their data in an organized way and save their time as well. Almost every person wants his files to be password protected so that no one is able to see them or ruin them so here MS Excel solves this problem very efficiently.

6. Add sophistication 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.

Suppose you have stored data in MS Excel and you want to highlight something that is important so then you can do that through the various features of data presentations available in MS Excel. You can even make the spreadsheets more attractive on which you have stored data.

7. Online access

Another use of MS Excel is that it can be accessed online from anywhere and everywhere which means that you can access it from any device and from any location whenever you want. It provides the facility of working conveniently which means that if you don’t have laptops then you can use mobile and do your work easily without any problem. Therefore, due to the large amount of flexibility that MS Excel provides, people like to work on MS Excel so that they can comfortably work without worrying about their device or location.

8. Keeps data combined at one location

Another interesting use of MS Excel is that you can keep all your data at one location. This will help you in saving your data from getting lost. It will keep all your data in one place and then you will not have to waste your time in searching for the files. So it will save your time and whenever need be, you can look up the categorized and sorted data easily.

9. Helps businessmen in developing future strategy

You can represent data in the form of charts and graphs so it can help in identifying different trends. With the help of MS Excel, trend lines can be extended beyond graph and therefore, it helps one in analyzing the trends and patterns much easier. In business, it is very important to analyze the popularity of goods or the selling pattern that they follow to maximize sales. MS Excel simplifies this task and helps businessmen grow and maximize profits through the same.

10. Manage expenses

MS Excel helps in managing expenses. Suppose if a doctor is earning around 50,000 per month then he will make some expenses as well and if he wants to know how much he is exactly spending per month then he can do it with the help of MS Excel easily. He can write his monthly income as well as expenses in the excel tables and then he can get to know that how much he is spending and he can thus, control his expenses accordingly.

There are a lot of benefits of using MS Excel, which is why it is used worldwide by people for performing so many tasks. It not only saves time but also it makes the work easier. It can almost perform every type of task. For example, you can do mathematical calculations and you can also make graphs as well as charts for storing the data. It becomes easy for the businessman to calculate things and store data in it.

You can store a large amount of data in the MS Excel and analyze it as well. It helps in keeping the data combined in one place so that data does not get lost and one does not waste time in finding a particular data. Due to these factors, it has become such a popular software and we have become habitual of using it.