Since it was introduced in 1985, Microsoft’s Excel has become the go-to spreadsheet program among financial professionals—and, without a doubt, it remains a powerful tool. There are plenty of reasons why it’s retained its popularity for decades. But the rise in cloud computing, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the exponential growth of the amount of data businesses collect have changed the way we work, possibly forever.

Today’s collaborative, cloud-based business environment is where the advantages of Google Sheets really stand out. Nonetheless, there are many finance and business professionals who are still working with Excel spreadsheets in the same way that many of us learned in the precloud era, even those who have switched to Microsoft’s cloud-based Microsoft 365.