As the world is revolving around technology, every minor task has been positively transformed and made extremely convenient. Manual work is traditional, but it is surely not the best alternative. Handling so much data, information, and digits manually can result in contingencies and bottlenecks various reasons. A few major reasons could mishandle important data or any possible errors, and that can result in great apprehensive situations. Therefore, investing in automation is the way to go here. And by automation, software is the best alternative you can opt for right now.

Spreadsheets are highly popular and quite common for both basic-level students and a highly professional workplace. According to statistics, more than 82% of students and 65% of adults use for their everyday usage in Finland.

Source: Statista

Therefore, this one software can significantly change the entire process of handling data and information. We have curated a list of a few essential features that make a good spreadsheet software. This will help you analyze your requirements and choose the best software out of all. Let's get started.

Mixed or combination type charts

The visual representation can make the stacks of cells distinctly recognizable. What is better than multiple charts, pie structures, or diagrams in a single sheet? With this feature, you can basically analyze different categories and criteria easily without any hassle since multiple charts will show multiple variations. This is excellent to portray differences or similarities in the digits and thereby claim a conclusion regarding that.

Source: excelcrib.com

Conditional formatting

In case you want to group out a few cells and format them to meet certain criteria. It is mainly color-based formatting used to highlight specific rows or columns and emphasize various data stored in the spreadsheet. There are numerous things you can explore with conditional formatting. In case you have specific deadlines to meet, at-risk tasks, or various budget items in the entire sheet, you can basically use the conditional formatting to separate that and highlight the portion for more emphasis. It can also break large data sets into more digestible and smaller data by breaking up the walls of digits and numbers via a visual component. This will help you highlight the key information and will enable you to stay ahead of your usual workload, which is extremely beneficial in the long run.

Source: support.microsoft.com

Functions

What is a spreadsheet without basic and complex calculations? A function is basically formulas that are already pre-defined and perform calculations according to a specific order or manner. Spreadsheets offer various essential functions like sum, count, maximum value, average and complex functions. A function is written in a specific manner, which is called syntax. The basic syntax includes an equal sign (=), the function name(sum, multiply, and others), and a few arguments. In order to use a function correctly, having prior knowledge about the arguments and various other arts of a function is essential.

The arguments comprise the main information you would want to circulate by adding values to the range. Functions are an integral part of every spreadsheet asset management and, therefore, highly beneficial in finding out values.

Sorting and filtering

One spreadsheet consists of countless data and information, with stacks of such data and information finding that one particular data within the lot is the real deal. And for such a situation, the filter option can be extremely helpful. Within a few clicks, you get your desired information by entering the conditions or data that you want to be shown in the spreadsheet, and you are sorted. Now let's proceed to sort. Suppose you have a long column of apparel prices mentioned in your sheet and want to sort them in ascending order. In such a scenario, a sort option will help you with this. You just need to select the entire row or column and click on the sort button, and sort accordingly.

Data validation

This is one of the most powerful features out of all the spreadsheet management templates. The data validation feature of software like these will help you to limit entries to a particular set of values and digits. And as a result, you can significantly reduce the number of efforts and make the process of inserting data much more convenient. Here you can also limit the users to a specific set of values, which can only be used with specific criteria for functions and formulas. This will enable you to create various drop-down lists portraying the data acceptable in that particular cell

Autocomplete

Have you noticed the predictive text feature in your smartphones? This is somewhere quite related to that. This feature examines the contents in the data and tries to predict your next input automatically. This will automatically fill the next few rows and columns, and you type. This will efficiently reduce the time and efforts taken to enter repetitive trend inputs or duplicate data in a column or row. can analyze the trends and work accordingly. You just need to start typing, and the system will help analyze and find any matches in the tale. In case it does, it will be highlighted and autocomplete gradually. You choose to either accept the suggestion or ignore it if the predictions do not match the data while you make inputs.

Wrapping Up

The list of features of spreadsheet management software is endless, but these are a few basic and essential features that a good spreadsheet software should have. These features will help in making the entire process extremely convenient and quick. Furthermore, suppose you can also invest the spare time into other core activities. In that case, it will be an overall win-win situation here. Therefore, ditch the manual data entry today and invest in as they are loaded with so many remarkable technologies.

Tags: spreadsheet management, spreadsheet management software, spreadsheet management systems