One of the added values of having a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription is that you’re not stuck with static software that never changes. Microsoft is always “upping the ante” on the value of its cloud service.
This means you get new features regularly that can make a positive impact on your life and your efficiency.
Today, many people are relying more than ever on their home computer for work, school, and keeping their family finances and future planning organized. That’s why several opt for residential managed services to keep all that data secure.
One of the most exciting new features to be rolled out for Microsoft 365 is Money in Excel. It connects directly to your financial accounts, so there’s no more having to manually input data into a budget spreadsheet or wonder if you’ve included all your expenses for the month.
Only 32% of US households maintain a budget.
One of the reasons so many families don’t maintain a budget of their household expenses and income is because they don’t have time. Days are already pretty full for most people and the thought of spending hours referencing pay stubs, bank accounts, and credit card accounts to input into a spreadsheet is exhausting.
Once you learn the basics of Excel in Money, it can make that whole process automated and take just minutes instead of hours.
How Does Excel in Money Work?
To use Excel in Money, you need to have a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription.
The program add-on is designed to pull in all your financial transactions from different accounts, allowing you to do everything within Excel.
Here are some of the key benefits of using Excel in Money:
- Makes it easier to budget and manage personal finances
- You can see your finances multiple ways with free templates
- It helps you understand where you’re spending money
- You can more easily plan for future vacations or other financial goals
- Tailored charts and other tools let you customize the interface
Here is an easy guide to show you how to get started using Money in Excel.
Download or Edit Online the Money in Excel Template
To get started, you’ll go to the Microsoft Money in Excel page to either edit the Money template online (which is saved to your OneDrive) or download it to use from your PC.
Money in Excel is an Excel Add-on, meaning it adds capabilities into your Excel program. You’ll be asked to “Trust” the add-on before you can input your account information.
Once you install Money in Excel, you’ll see the icon show up at the top-right of your Excel Home menu and will be taken to the starting page.
Go Through the Setup Process
Money in Excel is one of the many AI-powered tools that Microsoft has been rolling out, so it is designed not just to gather and display your financial transactions, but to also learn your spending habits and preferences so it can better help you manage everything.
To begin the setup process, you’ll click the “Get Started” button in the right-side panel. The wizard will guide you through the following activities:
- Adding your financial accounts (bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, loan accounts)
- Importing financial transactions (done automatically after connecting each account)
- Customizing your spending categories (e.g. groceries, pet care, etc.)
Familiarize Yourself with the Dashboard
You’ll have the ability to see transaction lists for all your accounts in a single view. To bring in any new transactions, you’ll use the “Update” button.
But Excel in Money goes beyond just a listing and gives you visually engaging ways to view and understand your financial data. Such as the Monthly Snapshot.
This snapshot allows you to see things like:
- How you’re spending by category
- Spending comparison of this month to last month
- Cumulative spending through the month
- Helpful insights like subscription cost changes or big purchases
Customize with Templates and Charts
Because you’re within the Excel interface, you can easily create and add your own charts to reveal different spending insights.
Another helpful way to gain more information from your financial data is by downloading free templates designed specifically for Money in Excel. These include visualization for things like:
- Recurring expenses
- Net worth
- Monthly college budget
- Home construction budget
- Business trip expense budget
You’re able to quickly switch sheets to cross reference information from various templates and basically control how you see your financial data so that you and your family can make spending and planning decisions more easily.
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