Is it time for a breakup?

Excel has been the go-to ally of accountants for decades. It’s a versatile tool that’s been used for countless financial statements, budgets and forecasts. But let’s be honest: there are more efficient ways of working out there, and new technologies are paving the way forward.

If your firm is still preparing client accounts in Excel, you’re not alone. Many firms have poured years of expertise into using the tool to craft functional working papers. But we’re here to tell you that many of your competitors have already moved on, saving themselves hours on every client job.

Of course, we’re a little biased. After all, Silverfin was founded over 10 years ago to automate and streamline compliance work that used to be done in Excel. But the figures speak for themselves: today, over 850 accountancy firms around the world already use our cloud-based technology for working papers.

These firms are using Silverfin to serve their clients better, attract talent that’s eager to work with the latest tools, get better access to data and respond to market needs in an agile way.

Where Excel struggles

Excel has long been a staple in the world of accounting, valued for its flexibility and accessibility. However, as technology continues to evolve rapidly, the tool’s limitations become increasingly apparent – and so does the fact that Excel can impede efficiency, accuracy and overall productivity in your firm. Let’s shed some light on why it might be time to let go of what’s holding you back and move on to more robust – forward-thinking – solutions.

12 reasons why working with Excel is curbing your potential

No.1 Lack of standardisation

Excel’s flexibility is both a strength and a weakness. Worksheets often start standardised but quickly become customised or out of date. This inconsistency complicates training, onboarding, and outsourcing due to varying personal styles and formats.

No.2 Inefficiency

Without standardisation, it’s harder to distribute workloads or pick up a job from a colleague. There’s also often a lot of manual work needed to move data between systems and spreadsheets. After preparing accounts, data exports to separate accounting or tax systems only add extra strain on your resources.

No.3 Risk of error

Spreadsheets are prone to errors. Broken formulas and macros, along with import and copy-paste actions, increase the risk of compliance issues, potentially causing financial losses and reputational damage.

No.4 Time-consuming reviews

Multiple contributors on a client file in Excel make it challenging to track changes and maintain version control. This increases risk and reduces transparency.

“Previously, we used Excel for our working papers. Every manager and preparer probably had their own way of doing things. With Silverfin, being highly standardised, getting our people comfortable with it and having them properly trained was key. Nonetheless, we immediately saw a significant improvement in consistency”. Mark Thurston, Director of Gascoynes

No.5 Communication breakdown

Collaborating on accounts is cumbersome with comments and actions scattered across spreadsheets, emails, and printouts, making information tracking time-consuming.

No.6 Difficult job management

Tracking the status of working papers is hard without a unified system, complicating service level management and risking client deadlines.

No.7 Lack of automation

Unstructured data in varying formats hinders the application of AI and automation across different sets of working papers.

No.8 Data access issues

Holistic data analysis is nearly impossible with data locked in spreadsheets, unless you’re using tools like Power BI or manually processing the data. This makes it easy to miss trends or risks, limiting differentiated service delivery.

No.9 Static data

Spreadsheets are rarely integrated with other systems. Consequently, data from the bookkeeping system must be collected in a snapshot and then used, by which time it is already out of date. And because it’s standalone, it’s hard to verify that it agrees with the bookkeeping data. It’s also difficult, if not impossible, to share with other systems like Business Intelligence or CRM platforms, or even external systems like Companies House.

No.10 Maintenance challenges

We’ve seen some amazing working papers out there: sophisticated, well designed… There’s just one problem. Even the most incredible working papers degrade over time with individual tweaks. What’s more, regulatory changes require continuous updates and change management to ensure the latest versions are used. Unlike Excel, tools like Silverfin manage these regulatory updates automatically, providing accountants with peace of mind and ensuring they always work with the most current information.

No.11 Lack of evolution

The accounting profession has changed a lot over the last 20 years, but Excel operates in almost the same way it did when it was first released. While it can help with basic calculations and formulas, it does little else to address the challenges the modern accountant faces.

No.12 Limited integration

Many facets of accounting are continuing to develop, often in the form of apps. When using Excel, accountants miss out on the full potential of these tools because Excel cannot connect through APIs to these apps, limiting seamless integration and data synchronisation.

But is there really a problem?

Playing devil’s advocate we respond to some often-raised objections about moving beyond Excel.

OBJECTION: Excel is effectively free. Investing in software comes with a price tag.

KEEP IN MIND: While Excel may seem low-cost, hidden costs from manual errors and inefficiencies can outweigh software costs. Many of our customers report saving at least 30% time to prepare a file, often more, when it comes to preparing, reviewing and submitting accounts. This boosts productivity and overall efficiency.

OBJECTION: We have some sophisticated working papers that we’ve refined over many years. They may not be perfect, but they work.

KEEP IN MIND: Many clients felt the same before switching to Silverfin. A key benefit is freeing your staff from maintaining working papers, as we handle updates for regulatory changes and offer templates for all client types and jobs.

OBJECTION: Excel offers the flexibility to adapt to our clients’ needs. Standard templates would be too restrictive.

KEEP IN MIND: In addition to offering a variety of designed-for-purpose templates, Silverfin also makes sure that templates are customisable, combining standard best-practice workflows for consistency with flexibility to meet specific needs. What’s more, you can still use Excel for specialised scenarios and attach those files in Silverfin, blending both.

OBJECTION: People are used to Excel and don’t want to change.

KEEP IN MIND: Change can be daunting, but our Customer Success team ensures a smooth transition. We’ve helped many firms implement our software with a tested onboarding process, online learning, and daily support. The interface is intuitive and easy to use.

OBJECTION: Everyone knows Excel. Change is risky and costly.

KEEP IN MIND: Modern technology can attract new talent, improve staff retention and unlock growth opportunities. Silverfin’s user-friendly interface and comprehensive training minimise the risk and cost of change, setting you up for future growth.

Keen to explore the possibilities of moving beyond Excel in more detail? Read our guide.