what is excel

Microsoft Excel Definition

Excel definition: a software program created by Microsoft that uses spreadsheets to organize numbers and data with formulas and functions. Excel analysis is ubiquitous around the world and used by businesses of all sizes to perform finacial.

Check out CFI’s free Excel Crash Course here!

What is Excel used for?

Excel is typically used to organize data and perform financial analysis. It is used across all business functions and at companies from small to large.

The main uses of Excel include:

Data entry
Data management
Accounting
Finecial
Charting and graphing
Programming
Time management
Task management
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Almost anything that needs to be organized!

Data functions, formulas, and shortcuts

The Excel software program includes many functions, formulas, and shortcuts that can be used to enhance its functionality.

We have defined the key functions and formulas below in our Excel guide:

Financial and accounting uses

Excel is used extensively in finance and accounting functions. In fact, many organizations run their entire budgeting, forecasting, and accounting functions entirely out of Excel spreadsheets.

While Excel is defined as a “data” management tool, the data that is most commonly managed is financial. At CFI, we would define Excel as the ultimate financial software. While there are other pieces of financial software that are tailored toward performing specific tasks, the strongest point about Excel is its robustness and openness. Excel models are as powerful as the analyst wishes them to be.

Accountants, investment bankers, analysts, and people in all types of financial career paths rely on excel to perform their daily job functions.

Additional resources

Thank you for reading CFI’s Excel Definition article. As we define it, Excel is one of the most powerful accounting and finance tools with the most widespread use. To keep learning and developing your career, these additional CFI resources will be helpful:

Basic Terms in Excel

There are two basic ways to perform calculations in Excel: Formulas and Functions.

1. Formulas

In Excel, a formula is an expression that operates on values in a range of cells or a cell. For example, =A1+A2+A3, which finds the sum of the range of values from cell A1 to cell A3.

2. Functions

Functions are predefined formulas in Excel. They eliminate laborious manual entry of formulas while giving them human-friendly names. For example: =SUM(A1:A3). The function sums all the values from A1 to A3.

Five Time-saving Ways to Insert Data into Excel

When analyzing data, there are five common ways of inserting basic Excel formulas. Each strategy comes with its own advantages. Therefore, before diving further into the main formulas, we’ll clarify those methods, so you can create your preferred workflow earlier on.

1. Simple insertion: Typing a formula inside the cell

Typing a formula in a cell or the formula bar is the most straightforward method of inserting basic Excel formulas. The process usually starts by typing an equal sign, followed by the name of an Excel function.

Excel is quite intelligent in that when you start typing the name of the function, a pop-up function hint will show. It’s from this list you’ll select your preference. However, don’t press the Enter key. Instead, press the Tab key so that you can continue to insert other options. Otherwise, you may find yourself with an invalid name error, often as ‘#NAME?’. To fix it, just re-select the cell, and go to the formula bar to complete your function.