How to Transfer a Balance Sheet to Excel

Microsoft Office includes Excel and other business-oriented programs.

Microsoft Excel is designed to handle large, complex calculations such as those found in balance sheets or other financial statements commonly used by businesses. Transferring a balance sheet to Excel requires a link to existing data or manual entry of the raw data and creation of the formulas from scratch. In almost every case, the formulas will have to be tested after the information has been transferred to make sure that the proper calculations are being performed. Excel can import or link directly to files created in Access, SQL databases and many spreadsheets, and text files exported from other programs.

Instructions

1. Launch Microsoft Excel and click "File" and "Save As" from the menu on the left side of the screen.

2. Name the new file and click "Save" to give the empty file a name. Optionally, navigate to a new location, such as a USB flash drive or network location, to save the file.

3. Click the "Data" tab.

4. Click "From Other Sources" in the "Get External Data" group. Alternately click "From Access," "From Web" or "From Text" if data exists in one of these formats.

5. Click on the appropriate data source for the information that is being imported and follow the steps in the wizard, which will vary with each data source.

6. Repeat these procedures for additional information in different locations, using multiple worksheets if necessary.

7. Click on any cell that has a result of a calculation in it instead of raw data, such as a subtotal.

8. Check the formula bar to determine whether the cell actually contains a formula, as indicated by an "Equal" sign, followed by a named function or cell references and mathematical operators, or if it just has the number representing the calculated result.

9. Create the formula by pressing the "Equal" key and clicking on "Insert Function" from the "Function Library" group on the "Formulas" tab if the cell only contains a number.

10. Check every formula for accuracy and save the file by clicking the small blue disk symbol in the upper left corner of the window.

Tips & Warnings

• Data connections can be created by network administrators for use with Excel spreadsheets and these can be accessed from the "Connections" group on the "Data" tab.

• Double check every result and test the information carefully before relying on the imported or copied Excel spreadsheet for important corporate financial statements. Consult with an accountant or corporate lawyer to determine the requirements for financial statements in a particular business environment.

References

• Microsoft Office: Getting Started with Excel
• Microsoft Office: Overview of Connecting to (Importing) Data
• Microsoft Office: Get to Know Excel 2010: Create Formulas
• Microsoft: Import or Export Text Files