Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a piece of software that may be used on a computer to do computations, as well as organise, analyse, and store data in tabular form. Spreadsheets are a digital equivalent of accounting worksheets that were formerly kept on paper. The software processes the information that is input into the respective table cells. Data in the form of numbers or text may be entered into each cell, as well as the results of formulae that automatically compute and display a value depending on the contents of other cells. Spreadsheet is another name that may be used to refer to these kinds of electronic documents.

Users of the spreadsheet may change any stored value and immediately see how their changes affect the computed numbers. Because of this, the spreadsheet is ideal for conducting "what-if" analyses since it allows for the quick investigation of a large number of scenarios without the need for manual recalculation. The most recent iterations of spreadsheet software allow for the creation of many sheets that may communicate with one another and show data either as text, digits, or in graphical form.

In addition to being able to conduct basic arithmetic and mathematical operations, current spreadsheets are equipped with pre-programmed features for frequently used financial accounting and statistical procedures. Calculations like net present value and standard deviation may be performed on tabular data by using a function that has been pre-programmed inside a formula. In addition to this, spreadsheet applications have functions that can convert between text and numbers, functions that can act on strings of text, and functions that can convert between text and numbers.

In the realm of business, paper-based methods have been mostly superseded by digital spreadsheets. While they were first intended for use in accounting or bookkeeping chores, their scope of use has now been broadened to include almost every situation in which tabular lists need to be constructed, sorted, or shared.