System Evaluation Paper
James Walker
CIS/207
December 16, 2013
Debi Piccus

System Evaluation Paper
Systems are a major involvement in companies these days. This paper will explain the use of Microsoft Excel and Spreadsheets in my workplace. In my workplace Microsoft Excel is used so much that I tend to think that the company would have trouble keeping up with things since there is a high volume of transactions. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application created by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Microsoft Excel features calculation, pivot tables, graphing tools and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. Microsoft Excel is a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the leading industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel is a part of Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Excel is used in my field retail for, retail math. Retail math is centers around sales and several calculations should always be monitored. There are two uses of retail math, that Microsoft Excel is used for and used at my job. (1) Profit Margin calculates an amount of each sale that is applied to profits. (2) Total sales calculate the gross take and then multiplied by profit margin, and then you get the net profit. (3) Markup tells you how much the retail price is increased over your wholesale cost. Arranging a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet gives comfort when calculating retail math.
In the retail business the supply demand and sales can be enormous. The store that employs me has to use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, spreadsheets are used for calculating the number of lottery tickets sold, calculating sales and inventory control. Without the use of Excel the company would be in disarray and inventory would not be controlled, meaning that products would be bought and not logged in so there would excess products which leads to the company losing money and when that happens fingers are pointed and raises will not be carried out because of the loss of money for the company. Microsoft Excel can make retail businesses run a lot smoothly and efficiently.
In this section the paper will describe how Excel is used in small businesses and accounting. Businesses depend highly on Microsoft Excel for daily business functions and problems with calculating sales and determining how much inventory. Companies so often use Excel, a Microsoft spreadsheet application installed by default part of Microsoft Office on business computers.
This part of the paper will show how to use the scheduling, basic accounting, product sales, return investment, customer data feature on Microsoft Excel.
SCHEDULING
Businesses create resource and employee schedules with Excel can be designed and color-coded with automatic updates with schedule changes. Excel can create weekly worksheets with column heading for day, name the rows on work shifts or hourly slots. Departments can work from the same resource sheets, so everyone knows when a resource is given and available.
ACCOUNTING
Small businesses can use Excel as a basic accounting program or check book ledger. Deposits can be entered on each row like entered on a check register. The benefit of using Excel is that tou can create graphs and charts to compare business expenditures and income.
PRODUCTION SALES
Businesses track product sales using Excel on a weekly, daily, monthly or quarterly basis. Excel used in this category collects the sales data onto a spread sheet, which will allow you to compare progress and track trends as they progress. Microsoft mentioned once you begin to have a meaningful amount of sales tracked, you can then estimate sales for the next year. ( According to Microsoft)“By using regression analysis you can extend a trend line in a chart beyond the actual data to predict future values”.
RETURN ON INVESTMENTS
Tracking total business sales in dollars along with marketing expenditures and advertising with Excel you will be able to see your Return on Investments for each campaign.
Customer Data
Excels Business Center explains the customer database so they do not have to be planned out in full when using Excel to track data and gather it to. With this feature this makes Excel a popular choice for storing customer information.
Conclusion
Microsoft Excel is a very important tool for businesses, with the different ways that business changes with economy and customer related products Excel makes it easy to change and adapt to the economy, and also to keep up with progress with sales and inventory. This is what makes my company run efficiently and well organized. Microsoft Excel is truly one of the best systems to use for any business.

References
Retrieved December 15, 2013 from spreadsheets.about.com › ... › Excel 101- How to Use Excel
Retrieved from Millyard,, K. B. (). How Do Businesses Use Excel?