8/6/2017 The Importance of an Electronic Spreadsheet | Your Business

The Importance of an Electronic Spreadsheet

by John Papiewski
Before electronic spreadsheets, businesses used mainframe computers to process large amounts of data; organizations could not justify
the high cost of programming for small desktop applications. Accountants used journal pads and adding machines to supplement the
data on their mainframe printouts. The first personal computer electronic spreadsheets, including Visicalc and Lotus 1-2-3, revolutionized
business because they were fast, flexible and low in cost. Today's software, such as Microsoft's Excel, continue the productivity benefits
pioneered in the earlier programs.
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Why People Use Spreadsheets

in a Workplace
Productivity
Difference Between Microsoft
Access & Excel
Electronic spreadsheet software improves productivity by reducing the labor of everyday accounting tasks. As you type the data into the
spreadsheet, formulas instantly calculate multiple totals at the same time. For example, you no longer need to manually add up totals by
Ways Spreadsheets Are Used
salesperson, and by week, month and year as separate steps; the spreadsheet does this automatically. It also does averages,
in Business
minimum/maximum functions and more advanced formulas and statistics. As an added bonus, spreadsheet software such as Microsoft's
How to Cross Reference
Excel produces graphs and charts with a few mouse clicks.
Between Excel Spreadsheets

The Advantages of Using Portability

Spreadsheets
The ubiquity of spreadsheet software means you can share spreadsheet files with your office colleagues, business partners, auditors and
What Is the Purpose of Using a others. You can send spreadsheet files through local networks or email in a few seconds. Mobile professionals take their spreadsheet
Spreadsheet?
with them on notebook computers, tablets and mobile phones, updating information in the field.

Flexibility
Setting up a new spreadsheet is relatively easy, as is adding new rows, columns and formulas to an existing one. A spreadsheet follows a simple grid system, wherein
every cell can contain a piece of text, numeric data item or formula. The program imposes no structure on your spreadsheet other than the row-column grid; you set up
heading text, rows and columns of data, and formulas wherever you want and in any combination.

Low Cost
The cost of spreadsheets ranges from free to a few hundred dollars. Apache OpenOffice's Calc and Google spreadsheets are available at no cost; you can import
standard Microsoft Excel spreadsheets into them or work with their native formats. At the time of this publication, Microsoft's Office 2010 includes Excel, Word,
PowerPoint and other programs for prices ranging from $120 for home editions to a $500 version for professionals. Low costs allow fledgling businesses, nonprofit
organizations and storefront proprietors to reap the same spreadsheet benefits as global corporations.
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References

Decision Support Systems Resources: A Brief History of Spreadsheets

Microsoft Office: Buy Microsoft Office 2010

About the Author

Chicago native J.T. Barett has a Bachelor of Science in physics from Northeastern Illinois University and has been writing since 1991. He has contributed to "Foresight
Update," a nanotechnology newsletter from the Foresight Institute. He also contributed to the book, "Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance."

Photo Credits

Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

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