Microsoft Excel
Why Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet application in Microsoft 365, used for tables, formulas, PivotTables and charts. A free web version works with a Microsoft account, and the desktop apps come with paid Microsoft 365 plans or a one-time Office purchase. It suits finance, operations and sales teams that model, clean and report on data.
What it does
Excel is a spreadsheet. You work in cells arranged in worksheets, write formulas, shape data into tables, summarise it with PivotTables and show it in charts. It runs as a desktop app on Windows and Mac, on phones and tablets, and in the browser as Excel for the web.
The web version is free with a Microsoft account, with files saved in OneDrive. The desktop apps come with Microsoft 365 plans, which also include Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, or with a one-time Office purchase for a single PC or Mac. Paid plans add Copilot features to the desktop apps.
Why you would need it
The pain shows up when a business outgrows ad hoc lists. A CSV from your accounting tool needs cleaning, a forecast needs scenarios, and a report has to be rebuilt every week from three exports. Doing that by hand is slow and breaks easily.
Excel gives you a place where raw data, logic and output live together. Formulas do the repeated work. PivotTables answer questions from a pile of rows. When the inputs change, the answers change with them.
Where it fits
Excel sits between your systems and your decisions. Exports from your CRM, accounting tool and ad platforms come in, and reports, budgets and forecasts go out. It is also the common file format when you share numbers with an accountant, a client or a bank.
It replaces paper lists and many small tools, and it competes with Google Sheets inside Google Workspace. It is not a database. For linked records and views, a tool such as Airtable fits better.
What stands out
- Depth. Formulas, PivotTables and charts cover most analysis a business needs, and the desktop app handles heavy models better than lighter online spreadsheets.
- Co-authoring in the browser. The web version lets people work on a file at the same time, with files saved in OneDrive.
- Automation options. Office Scripts record and replay Excel actions and can run through Power Automate.
- A documented API. Microsoft Graph exposes workbooks, worksheets, tables, ranges and charts to other apps.
My take
I'd pick Excel when the numbers are complex, when your accountant or customers send you Excel files, or when your team already pays for Microsoft 365. It remains the default for financial modelling.
What I'd watch is sprawl. A spreadsheet that holds customer data, logic and reports in one file turns into a system nobody dares to touch. If more than a few people edit it, or it feeds other tools, consider moving the data into a proper database or tool and keeping Excel for analysis.
Verdict
Pick it when you do serious modelling or live in Microsoft 365. Skip it when your team collaborates mostly in Google Workspace and your sheets stay light, where Google Sheets is simpler.
Notes
Your note
Before you choose
Which version you get
The free web version, the Microsoft 365 desktop apps and the one-time Office purchase are different products. Some features, such as Copilot in the desktop apps, come with paid Microsoft 365 plans. Check which edition covers the features you need before you roll it out.
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The Graph API has limits
Microsoft's Excel API in Microsoft Graph works on workbooks stored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint, and it supports Open XML workbooks only. Files stored in a consumer OneDrive are not supported. If you plan automation through the API, store the files in a business location.
Version chaos
Files emailed back and forth create competing copies. Keep one file in OneDrive or SharePoint and share a link. Agree on who may change formulas, and protect the sheets that other people read.
Alternatives to compare
Google Sheets is lighter and easier for collaboration. Airtable suits structured records with views and forms. For heavy data, a database or a BI tool is a better home than a spreadsheet.