Contents:
Advantages of using Excel
Excel is popular because it is versatile and flexible. You can use it to:
- create spreadsheets to record all expenses;
- use formulas to calculate totals automatically;
- create charts and graphs to visualize expenses.
If you are just starting out and managing 1–2 projects, a single spreadsheet may be enough. As the number of sites, your team and turnover grow, assess the demands on accounting and data checks. For example, a team of more than 10 employees and seven-figure turnover may prompt a review of your process. These are illustrative reference points; there is no universal threshold for moving away from Excel.
Disadvantages of using Excel
The following drawbacks can be costly:
Human error
It is easy to make a data entry or calculation error in Excel. A single incorrect figure can produce wrong totals and lead to financial losses.
Data management challenges
Spreadsheets become unwieldy when they contain large amounts of data. Finding the information you need becomes harder, and the risk of losing or distorting data increases.
Setting up automation
Excel supports automation. For example, Office Scripts can replay recorded actions and connect them to Power Automate. For expense tracking, these processes need to be set up and maintained. Tool availability depends on your Excel version and subscription terms.
Now imagine that you track expenses in Excel and three of your employees have access to edit the spreadsheet.
Who is responsible if an Excel spreadsheet contains incorrect data?
Consider a fictional situation involving Anton, a builder who tracked expenses for his project in Excel.
Anton was building a country house. He created a spreadsheet to record all work quantities and consumable materials. Each day, he entered items such as cement purchases, brick deliveries and workers' wages.
A few weeks later, Anton noticed that the advance payment was running out and began preparing a spending report for the client. The total on the receipts did not match the spreadsheet. When checking the data, he discovered an error in a cell showing the required amount of cement: 100 kg had been entered instead of 1000 kg. This made the manager think there was still money available and that he did not yet need to ask the client for another transfer.
The error led to a dispute with the client. The client had planned to send the next advance in a month, but the money was needed immediately. This caused dissatisfaction and damaged the company's reputation.
What can replace Excel?
To organize your accounting, you can track money in the 101 app. The system is structured so that each participant receives funds to account for and is responsible for those funds. When an employee spends money, they must record the expense and support it with documents. This approach helps link expenses to the responsible participant, but it does not eliminate errors by itself: you still need to check the data and supporting documents.
The person who spends the money should report on its use. When you train your partners to keep records and assign responsibility, explain that funds entrusted to them are intended for agreed expenses and require a report on how they were used.
