What Is Excel Used For? Everyday Tasks at Work
By ExcelReady TeamUpdated 5 min read
The short answer
Excel is used to store, calculate and summarise information in a grid of cells. At work, people use it to keep lists and records, add up numbers with formulas like SUM, look up details with VLOOKUP, summarise data with pivot tables, make charts, and plan budgets and schedules. Almost every office role uses it in some way.
Key takeaways
- Excel stores information in rows and columns, and formulas turn that information into answers.
- The most common work tasks are lists, totals, lookups, summaries, charts and plans.
- A few skills cover most of them: SUM, IF, VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, sorting and filtering, pivot tables and charts.
- Excel is a tool for thinking with numbers, not only for typing them in.
On this page+
What is Excel used for? In short, Excel is used to store information in rows and columns and then calculate with it: totals, averages, lookups, summaries and charts. At work it runs budgets, sales reports, stock lists, timesheets and schedules. This guide is for students, career changers and anyone who keeps seeing "Excel skills" in job ads and wants to know what that really means, with a small example of each task.
What is Excel used for? The short answer#
Excel is a spreadsheet program: a grid of cells where each cell can hold text, a number or a formula. A formula is a small instruction that starts with = and calculates an answer, such as =SUM(B2:B13). The beginner's guide to formulas explains them in more detail.
Most work in Excel falls into six jobs:
| Task | Example at work | Typical tools |
|---|---|---|
| Keep lists and records | Customer list, stock list, sign-up sheet | Tables, sort, filter |
| Calculate | Monthly totals, averages, percentages | SUM, AVERAGE, IF |
| Look things up | Find a price or a manager's name | VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP |
| Summarise | Sales by region and month | Pivot tables, SUMIFS |
| Show results | Trend line for a monthly report | Charts |
| Plan | Budget, rota, project timeline | Formulas, dates |
If any word in this guide is new to you, the Excel terms glossary defines it in plain English.
Keeping lists and records#
The most basic use of Excel is a tidy list: one row per item, one column per detail. A customer list might have Name, Email, City and Join date. A stock list might have Code, Product, Quantity and Price.
Once data is in a list, Excel can sort it (A to Z, largest to smallest) and filter it (show only one city). Turning the list into an Excel table (Insert > Table) adds filter buttons and makes formulas grow with new rows. Clean, consistent lists are the base for everything else on this page.
Doing calculations with formulas#
Excel's real power is that it calculates for you and updates when the numbers change. Say B2:B5 hold four weeks of sales: 1,200, 950, 1,430 and 1,100. In B6, type:
=SUM(B2:B5)The result is 4,680. Change any week and the total updates at once. The same idea gives averages (=AVERAGE(B2:B5) returns 1,170), percentages and growth rates. The SUM function guide covers the details, and the first formulas lesson is the place to start if you have never typed one.
Formulas can also make decisions. =IF(B2>=1000,"Target met","Below target") labels each week automatically. This is why people say Excel saves time: you build the logic once and reuse it every month.
Looking up information#
Lookups find a value in one table and bring back a related detail. A sales team uses them to find a product's price from its code, and HR uses them to find an employee's department from their ID.
With a price list in A2:C6 (Code, Product, Price) and the code P-103 in E2:
=VLOOKUP(E2,A2:C6,3,FALSE)This returns 129, the price of the office chair. 3 means "bring back the third column", and FALSE means "exact match only". The VLOOKUP function guide explains each part. In Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365, XLOOKUP does the same job and can also look to the left.
Summarising data with pivot tables#
A pivot table turns a long list into a short summary in a few clicks, with no formulas. If you have 2,000 sales rows, a pivot table can show total sales by region, by month or by product.
You select the data, choose Insert > PivotTable, then drag fields into Rows and Values. Excel groups and adds everything for you. Pivot tables are one of the skills employers ask about most, and the beginner's guide to pivot tables walks through a first one step by step.
Charts and reports#
Charts turn numbers into pictures that are quick to read. A line chart shows a trend over months. A bar chart compares regions. A pie chart shows shares of a whole, as long as there are only a few slices.
To make one, select the data and choose a chart from the Insert tab. Many monthly reports are just a few formulas, a pivot table and two or three charts on one sheet.
Planning: budgets, schedules and forecasts#
Excel is also a planning tool. Because formulas update, you can change an input and see the effect straight away. Common examples:
- Budgets. List income and costs, total them, and compare plan with actual.
- Schedules and rotas. Excel stores dates as numbers, so it can add days, count working days and show who works when.
- Forecasts. Grow last year's numbers by a percentage, or test "what if sales fall 10%?"
- Simple models. Loan payments with PMT, break-even points, or a payback period for an investment.
Which Excel skills do jobs expect?#
Most office jobs expect the basics: entering data neatly, SUM and AVERAGE, simple IF formulas, sorting and filtering, and a basic chart. Analyst, finance and operations roles usually add lookups (VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP), SUMIFS and COUNTIFS, and pivot tables.
The guide to Excel skills for fresh graduates lists what employers look for first. If you're wondering how much time this takes, see how long it takes to learn Excel. Not sure of your current level? The Excel level test checks it in 12 questions.
Practise it#
The best way to learn what Excel is used for is to do those tasks yourself. Try the VLOOKUP exercise on this page, then practise SUM in a live spreadsheet and build your first summary in the pivot tables lesson. Each lesson checks your answer instantly, so you know straight away when you've got it right.
Try it yourself
This is a live spreadsheet. Type the formula in the green cell and press Enter.
Looking up information is one of Excel's most common jobs. Click F2 and use VLOOKUP to find the price of the product code in E2, then press Enter.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Price | Price | |||||
| 2 | P-103 | ||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 4 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 6 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 8 | |||||||
| 9 |
Tip: VLOOKUP needs the value to find (E2), the table (A2:C6), the column number to return (3) and FALSE for an exact match.
Practise this in a lesson
Frequently asked questions
What is Excel mainly used for?
Excel is mainly used to organise data in tables and calculate with it. Typical uses are budgets, sales reports, lists of customers or stock, timesheets, and charts that show trends.
What are the 5 most common uses of Excel at work?
Keeping lists and records, calculating totals and averages, looking up information from another table, summarising data with pivot tables, and making charts for reports.
Is Excel hard to learn?
The basics are not hard. Most people can enter data, write simple formulas like SUM and sort a list after a few hours of practice. Lookups and pivot tables take a little longer.
Do I need Excel skills to get a job?
Many office, finance, sales, operations and admin jobs ask for Excel skills, and some employers test them before hiring. Basic formulas, lookups and pivot tables are the skills that come up most often.
What is the difference between Excel and a database?
Excel is a flexible grid where you can mix data, formulas and charts on one sheet. A database stores large amounts of structured data with strict rules and is queried with a language such as SQL. Many people use Excel to analyse data exported from a database.