Can you trust the numbers in Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application and data analysis tool. Its own help pages give 4 reasons its numbers can look different from what you expect. The first to rule out: A column of figures shown to two decimals can add up to a total that differs by a few cents from adding the shown values by hand, as Excel's help pages explain.
Is it broken, or just counted differently?
A number can look wrong because the business changed, or because of how Microsoft Excel counts it. Below is what Microsoft Excel keeps, where its help pages say the numbers can differ, and how to check them yourself.
What does Microsoft Excel keep track of?
Excel keeps the full stored number in each cell and uses that number in every formula.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
When performing a calculation, Excel uses the stored value, not the value that is visible in the cell.
Stop rounding numbers, read 2026-11-12.Excel's SUBTOTAL skips subtotal rows already in the range, so a grand total is not counted twice.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
these nested subtotals are ignored to avoid double counting
SUBTOTAL function, read 2026-11-12.
What can make Microsoft Excel's numbers look wrong?
A column of figures shown to two decimals can add up to a total that differs by a few cents from adding the shown values by hand, as Excel's help pages explain.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
In Excel, the number that appears in a cell is separate from the number that is stored in the cell.
Stop rounding numbers, read 2026-11-12.A total at the bottom of a filtered list can still include the rows you filtered out if it uses SUM, as Excel's help pages indicate.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
Sometimes, when you manually hide rows or use AutoFilter to display only certain data you also only want to sum the visible cells.
SUM function, read 2026-11-12.Figures pasted in as text can cause problems with calculations, as Excel's help pages say.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
can cause problems with calculations or produce confusing sort orders
Fix text-formatted numbers by applying a number format, read 2026-11-12.If a workbook is in manual calculation mode, a total may be out of date until recalculated, according to Excel's help pages.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
To turn off automatic recalculation and update formulas only when you manually recalculate (for example, by pressing F9)
Change formula recalculation, iteration, or precision in Excel, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check Microsoft Excel's numbers myself?
Using SUBTOTAL instead of SUM gives a total of only the rows a filter leaves showing.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
The SUBTOTAL function ignores any rows that are not included in the result of a filter
SUBTOTAL function, read 2026-11-12.Looking for the small green triangle flags cells whose figures are text and may be missing from a total.
In Microsoft Excel's own words:
This error indicator tells you that the number is stored as text, as shown in this example.
Fix text-formatted numbers by applying a number format, read 2026-11-12.
How does Microsoft Excel work with Feder?
Connect Microsoft Excel to Feder and it joins your Money apps. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Microsoft Excel.
When you connect Microsoft Excel, Feder checks the connection straight away and shows Connected only when that check passes. If a reading cannot be taken later, Feder shows it as not read, never as zero.
Other apps that feed Money
- Striperevenue
- PayPalrevenue
- WooCommercerevenue
- Rechargesubscription revenue
- Zohoinvoiced
- Wave Accountinginvoiced
Where do these answers come from?
Everything this page says about Microsoft Excel comes from Microsoft Excel's own pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.
Know the day a number breaks, not the month after.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.