Reasons to Stop Using Excel for Bookkeeping

1.      Time / Cost

Using excel for bookkeeping is a time consuming task. It maybe costing you more than a professional accounting software in terms of time it requires to manually input all the data and maintain the tables. Also, Excel is not really free, it’s a paid software that requires a valid license.

2.      Non Scalable

Excel does not provide accounting functionality out of the box. You will be required to setup all the tables and formulas, which means you may also have to hire an accountant to handle everything. When you wish to integrate a new feature or calculation, It can be time consuming and difficult to track.

3.      Human Errors

Excel is based on manual work. Humans can make errors. It can be very frustrating if you make any error in formula or format. Also, errors can multiply in every layer because new values come from previous values.

4.      Large Data

If you have a lot of data for accounting, it can become difficult to maintain your tables and organize your data. You will be spending hours every day to maintain the sheets. There are limited features for team collaboration and working on the same file.

5.      Backups

Excel is not a good option to store your accounting data from previous years. It can be extremely difficult to maintain your table and organize the data and to perform calculations on your years old data. Excel sheet is not a great option to store your data backups.

6.      Reporting and Visualization

Excel has very limited reporting functionality, you will have to design and implement your own data reporting and visualizations. This requires a lot of time and help from an expert accountant.