ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application

Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

Lesson Title: Microsoft Excel in Business Accounting Materials:

Lesson Objectives: FLM Student Activity Sheets
1. 1. Identify the uses on MS Excel in Business
2. 2. Enumerate the importance of MS Excel in Business References:
https://mallory.com.au/cm/ms-
excel-uses-business-workplace/

Turn off Distractions. You can do this, I know you can. Turn off your
phone while you study. Your brain doesn’t do well jumping around all
the time. You need to zone out and let the new information soak in.

A. LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW
INTRODUCTION (2 minutes)
This is very challenging yet informative subject in your journey as an accountancy student. This
will be the last topic in ACC 117 and I hope that you learned a lot especially in using MS Excel
for you to be able to more competent and confident in the field you chose. The last topic is all
about Microsoft Excel in Business Accounting. Get ready and learn!

Activity 1: What I Know Chart Part 1 (3 minutes)

What do you know about the Microsoft Excel in Business Accounting? Try answering the
questions below by writing your ideas under the What I Know column. You may use key words
or phrases that you think are related to the questions.

What I Know Questions: What I Learned (Activity 4)

Give at least three uses of MS
Excel in Business

Give one importance of MS Excel

in Business

B. MAIN LESSON
Activity 2: Content Notes (13 minutes)
Below are the notes about Microsoft Excel in Business Accounting. You may underline or
highlight words or phrases that you think is the main focus of the lesson.

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 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

USES OF MICROSOFT EXCEL IN BUSINESS

At a basic level, MS Excel is using for storing information, analyzing and sorting, and reporting. It’s
extremely popular in business because spreadsheets are highly visual and fairly ease to use.
Some of the most common business uses of MS Excel are for business analysis, managing human
resources, performance reporting, and operations management. We know this for a fact after analyzing
job data (using MS Excel).
1. Business Analysis
The number 1 use of MS Excel in the workplace is to do business analysis.
Business analysis is essentially using collected data to inform decision making. Businesses naturally
gather data in their day-to-day activities, which may be data on product sales, website traffic, spending
on supplies, insurance claims, etc.
Business analysis is the activity of converting data into something useful to the people who run the
business. For example, you could run a profitability report by the day of the week. If the business
always loses money on a Sunday, then that’s information management could use to make a decision
(such as closing on Sundays).
Job examples: business analyst, business planning analyst, business solutions analyst, claims analyst,
collections analyst, credit officer, data analyst, data and audience analyst, finance business analyst,
investment operations portfolio analyst, junior data analyst, regional finance analyst, senior data analyst,
senior finance analyst, senior portfolio analyst.
2. People Management
You may be surprised to learn that one of the top uses of Excel in business is to manage people.
MS Excel is a powerful way to organize information about people, whether they are employees,
customers, supporters, or training attendees.
Using Excel, personal information can be stored and retrieved efficiently. A spreadsheet row or column
can be used for an individual record that may include information like name, email address, employee
start date, items purchased, subscription status, and last contact.
Job examples: client growth coordinator, client management and administration, client relationship
manager, client service manager, client service specialist, employer service consultant, HR
administrator, human resources administrative assistant, human resources administrator, human
resources adviser, human resources officer, junior HR analyst, reconciliation and payments officer,
relationship manager.
3. Managing Operations
Excel is relied on heavily to manage the day-to-day operations of many businesses.
Business activities can often involve quite complicated logistics. Inventory flows need to be controlled
so that you can keep operations running smoothly – and without overstocking on particular items. That
means keeping track of supplier and client transactions, listing critical dates, and managing times and
schedules.

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

While Amazon uses sophisticated custom software for operations management, MS Excel is an
important tool for many smaller businesses (or parts of larger businesses). An advantage of Excel is
that it’s relatively low tech, allowing it to be used by many people and without the risk of programming
bugs.
Job examples: business operations analyst, data operations manager, graduate program – supply
chain and operations, in market supply chain analyst, operational business analyst, operational
enablement associate, operational knowledge management specialist, supply chain associate, supply
chain specialist.
4. Performance Reporting
Performance monitoring and reporting is a specialised type of business analysis that can be done
effectively using MS Excel. For example, many accountants still use Excel (partly because it’s
compatible with cloud-based accounting software).
A common way to convert data into a performance report in Excel is to create a pivot table. By inserting
a pivot table and linking it to data, you can extra useful information from the dataset quickly. Pivot
tables have numerous in-built functions that allow for tasks such as counting and summing certain
types of data within the dataset.
Job examples: financial accountant, forecast analyst / sales support, performance analyst,
performance analyst – procurement, professional services operations analyst, reporting analyst,
reporting development analyst, sales coordinator, sales operations analyst.
5. Office Administration
Office administrators use Excel to enter and store much of the data that’s subsequently used for
accounting and financial reporting, as well as business analysis and performance reporting.
Apart from recordkeeping, Excel is useful in office administration for supporting day-to-day tasks such
as invoicing, paying bills, and contacting suppliers and clients. It’s an all-purpose tool for keeping track
of and managing office activities.
Job examples: administration assistant, administration officer, administration supervisor, administrative
assistant, business operations and office manager, junior clerical and administrative officer, office
admin manager, office support – maintenance / general duties.
6. Strategic Analysis
With respect to uses of Excel, strategic analysis is where business decisions are closely connected to
the data and formulas on spreadsheets. You apply Excel to guide actions such as investments and
asset allocations.
As an example, based on an Excel model, you may decide to take out currency insurance.
Spreadsheet analysis is designed to inform business decisions in a specific way.
Job examples: asset manager – realty management division, mergers and acquisitions valuations –
analyst, membership and campaigns strategist, portfolio administration associate, portfolio analyst,
portfolio associate – wealth management, portfolio management officer – asset finance.

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

7. Project Management
Although project managers have access to purpose-built project management (PM) software, an Excel
Workbook is often an effective alternative.
Projects are business activities that typically have a budget and start and end dates. Project plans can
be placed into a workbook, which can then be used to track progress and keep the project on schedule.
An advantage of using Excel is that you can easily share the project workbook to others, including to
people who are unfamiliar with, or lack access to, custom PM software.
Job examples: project analyst, project assistant / officer (IT), project business analyst.
8. Managing Programs
Excel is a good platform for managing programs. It can be adapted to handle the specific
characteristics of a given program. And, because MS Excel is widely known, program records can
easily be managed by multiple people and, when the time comes, handed over to a new manager.
A program is like a project, but may be ongoing and can depend on participation by users. MS Excel
helps managers allocate resources, keep track of progress, and maintain participant records.
Job examples: event coordinator, learning and development officer, learning and development
coordinator, manager – internships, programs and office coordinator, records and results coordinator,
training administrator.
9. Contract Administration
Contract administrators like to use MS Excel because it provides a no-fuss means of recording contract
details, including dates, milestones, deliverables and payments.
Many different contract management templates are available, and these can be adapted to suit the
particular contract type or stage of the contract lifecycle.
Job examples: building contract administrator, contracts administrator, estimator / contracts
administrator, graduate contracts administrator, lease administrator, quote and tender administrator.
10. Account Management
Account managers are generally required to be competent MS Excel users since they receive and need
to maintain customer records.
The job of an account manager is to nurture relationships with existing clients of the business. Key
goals are to achieve customer loyalty and repeat sales. It’s a marketing kind of role and a popular
career for MBA graduates.
Excel is commonly used in account management since it provides a simple way to share and maintain
client files.
Job examples: account coordinator, advertising manager, design studio account manager, digital
account manager, junior account manager.
Why You Need Excel Skills in Business
If this list hasn’t convinced you already, MS Excel skills are very useful in the workplace.

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 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

Not all jobs use Excel and those that do are often considered ‘middle skill‘ jobs. However, Excel is
widely used. Having good spreadsheet skills therefore gives you the ability to work on all sorts of
different tasks. And you can more easily get value out of information that’s being shared in workbooks.
Once you know how to use Excel, you’ll find yourself using it more and more. It’s an accessible platform
that can be used to do both simple and highly sophisticated business tasks.

IMPORTANCE OF MS EXCEL IN BUSINESS

1. Finance and Accounting
Financial services and financial accounting are the areas of finance that rely on and benefit from Excel
spreadsheets the most. In the 1970s and early 1980s, financial analysts would spend weeks running
advanced formulas either manually or in programs like IBM's (NYSE: IBM) Lotus 1-2-3. Now, you can
perform complex modeling in minutes with Excel.
Walk through the finance or accounting department of any major corporate office, and you will see
computer screens filled with Excel spreadsheets crunching numbers, outlining financial results, and
creating budgets, forecasts, and plans used to make major business decisions.
2. Marketing and Product Management
While marketing and product professionals look to their finance teams to do the heavy lifting for
financial analysis, using spreadsheets to list customer and sales targets can help you manage
your salesforce and plan future marketing strategies based on past results.
Using a pivot table, users can quickly and easily summarize customer and sales data by category with
a quick drag-and-drop.
3. Human Resources Planning
While database systems like Oracle (ORCL), SAP (SAP), and Quickbooks (INTU) can be used to
manage payroll and employee information, exporting that data into Excel allows users to discover
trends, summarize expenses and hours by pay period, month, or year, and better understand how your
workforce is spread out by function or pay level.
HR professionals can use Excel to take a giant spread sheet full of employee data and understand
exactly where the costs are coming from and how to best plan and control them for the future.
You Can Do Anything with a Spread sheet
Using Excel for business has almost no limits for applications. Here are some examples:
 When planning a team outing to a baseball game, you can use Excel to track the RSVP list and
costs.
 Excel creates revenue growth models for new products based on new customer forecasts.
 When planning an editorial calendar for a website, you can list out dates and topics in a spread
sheet.

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

 When creating a budget for a small product, you can list expense categories in a spread sheet,
update it monthly and create a chart to show how close the product is to budget across each
category.
 You can calculate customer discounts based on monthly purchase volume by product.
 Users can summarize customer revenue by product to find areas where to build a stronger
customer relationship.
 Use complex calculation methods, like Sharpe ratios.

Activity 3: Skill Building Activities (20 minutes)

Directions: Have you study the content notes? That’s great! Now, do some activities by
identifying what uses of MS Excel in Business are being asked in the statement.

STATEMENT/S ANSWER (USES)

1. Account managers are generally required to
be competent MS Excel users since they
receive and need to maintain customer
records.
2. Contract administrators like to use MS Excel
because it provides a no-fuss means of
recording contract details, including dates,
milestones, deliverables and payments.
3. Excel is a good platform for managing
programs. It can be adapted to handle the
specific characteristics of a given program.
4. Although project managers have access to
purpose-built project management (PM)
software, an Excel Workbook is often an
effective alternative.
5. With respect to uses of Excel, strategic
analysis is where business decisions are
closely connected to the data and formulas on
spread sheets.
6. Business analysis is essentially using
collected data to inform decision making.
Businesses naturally gather data in their day-
to-day activities, which may be data on product
sales, website traffic, spending on supplies,
insurance claims, etc.
7. MS Excel is a powerful way to organize

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

information about people, whether they are

employees, customers, supporters, or training
attendees.
8. Excel is relied on heavily to manage the day-
to-day operations of many businesses.
9. Performance monitoring and reporting is a
specialised type of business analysis that can
be done effectively using MS Excel.
10. Office administrators use Excel to enter
and store much of the data that’s subsequently
used for accounting and financial reporting, as
well as business analysis and performance
reporting.

Activity 4: What I Know Chart Part 2 (2 minutes)

Now let’s check your understanding about the lesson for today. I hope that everything about the
topic is clear to you. This time you have to fill out the What I Learned column in Activity 1 Part 1.

Activity 5: Check for Understanding (5 minutes)

Directions: You already know the lesson for today’s session. This time, let us check your
understanding by differentiating the three importance of MS Excel in Business. Maximum
answer is at least 10 sentences.

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_

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

C. LESSON WRAP-UP
Activity 6: Thinking about Learning (5 minutes)
A. Work Tracker
You are done with this session! Let’s track your progress. Shade the session number you just
completed.

B. Think About Learning

1. Please read again the learning targets for the day. Were you able to achieve those learning
targets? If yes, what helped you achieve them? If no, what is the reason for not achieving
them?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. What question(s) do you have as we end this lesson?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

FAQs

1. Is MS Excel will go anywhere?

Excel is not going anywhere
Excel is not going anywhere, and businesses will continue to use Excel as a primary tool for diverse
functions and applications ranging from IT projects to company picnics.

A working knowledge of Excel is vital for most office based professionals today, and stronger Excel
skills can open the door to promotion and leadership opportunities. Excel is a powerful tool but cannot
function alone. It takes a savvy computer user to take advantage of everything Excel has to offer to
provide the best results for their company.

Job well done! You’ve finished today’s activity.

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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION
 ACC 117: Statistical Analysis with Software Application
Students Activity Sheet #25

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule:______________________________________ Date: ______________

KEY TO CORRECTIONS:

A. Activity 3
1. Account Management 6. Business Analysis
2. Contract Administration 7. People Management
3. Managing Programs 8. Managing Operations
4. Project Management 9. Performance Reporting
5. Strategic Analysis 10. Office Administration

B. Activity 5:
Finance and Accounting. Walk through the finance or accounting department of any major
corporate office, and you will see computer screens filled with Excel spread sheets crunching
numbers, outlining financial results, and creating budgets, forecasts, and plans used to make
major business decisions.
Marketing and Product Management. While marketing and product professionals look to their
finance teams to do the heavy lifting for financial analysis, using spread sheets to list customer
and sales targets can help you manage your sales force and plan future marketing strategies
based on past results.
Human Resources Planning. Excel allows users to discover trends, summarize expenses and
hours by pay period, month, or year, and better understand how your workforce is spread out by
function or pay level.

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