Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Asian Institute of Computer Studies
Tarlac City, Tarlac
S.Y. 2024-2025

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MICROSOFT

EXCEL FOR FINANCIAL MODELING AMONG

ABM STUDENTS

Ambrosio, Albert John S.

Tirasol, Ariane Joy M.
Quimbao, Jasmine D
De Vera, Nancy O.
Suba, Sharish G.
Tiglao, Teresa Mae N.
Dizon, Cyrille A.
Tañedo, Gian Carlo T.
David, Mikaella B.

Suba, Arbie
.
Mr. Jerome O. Deang

September 2024
 DEDICATION

This research was dedicated to our parents, who also provided for
our needs. especially financially, and who were always there to support
the researchers every step of the way in finishing the research papers.

Also, to our teachers who guided us in writing this paper. The

leader of the researchers would dedicated to our friends who helped us,
especially to our Group mates for helping and supporting me starting from
the beginning until the end.

For our family, beloved Alma Matter and To the Almighty God who
gave us everything we have today.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication …………………………………………,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,……….. ii

Table of Content …...………………………………………………………..., iii

List of Figures ………………………………………………………………… iv

CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Background of the Study ............................................................. 1

Statement of the Problem ………………………………………….. 2

Significance of the Study ………………………………………….. 3

Scope and Delimitations ………………………………………….... 4

Definition of Terms …………………………………………………. 4

CHAPTER 2: RELATED RESEARCH LITERATURE

Local ………………………………………………………………….. 5

Foreign ……………………………………………………………….. 10

Conceptual Framework …………………..………………………… 15

References ………………………………...………………………… 16

iii
 LIST OF FIGURES

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK …………………………………………… 15

iv
 CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND LETERATURE REVIEW

Background of the Study

Microsoft Excel is a popular tool used in business and finance for

tasks like analyzing data, creating financial models, and making charts.
For students studying Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM),
knowing how to use Excel is very important because it helps with various
financial tasks they will encounter in their careers.

As financial tasks become more complex, it is essential to have

tools that can handle large amounts of data, perform detailed calculations,
and present information clearly. Excel is often chosen for these purposes
because it has many advanced features and is relatively easy to use once
learned. This study aims to find out how effective Excel is as a tool for
financial modeling for ABM students.

Understanding how well ABM students can use Excel for financial
modeling can help educators design better courses. By identifying the
areas where students are strong and where they need more help,
teachers can improve the way they teach Excel. This, in turn, can help
students become more skilled and better prepared for jobs that require
knowledge of financial modeling.

Research shows that Excel is very versatile for creating financial

models, whether it's for simple budgets or complex investment analyses. It
offers many functions, like tools for statistical analysis, financial
calculations, and pivot tables, which are very useful for financial
professionals. Studies also show that using Excel in business education
helps students develop important skills like critical thinking and problem
solving.

1
 However, how well this works can depend on how Excel is taught
and the students' prior knowledge.

Despite its many benefits, Excel has some drawbacks. It can be

hard to learn advanced features, and there's a risk of making mistakes in
complex models. These challenges can affect how well students can use
Excel.

This study aims to provide a thorough evaluation of how well Excel

works as a financial modeling tool for ABM students. By finding out what
works well and what doesn't, the results can help improve educational
strategies and enhance the overall quality of business education.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the Evaluating the effectiveness of

Microsoft Excel in financial modeling among ABM students Specifically,
this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the importance of Microsoft Excel in Financial Modeling?

2. What is the Microsoft's Financial strategy?

3. How can excel help with financial modelling?

4. What is the implication of this study to the field of financial

modelling?

2
Significance of the Study

This study Evaluates the Effectiveness of using Microsoft Excel in

Financial Modeling among ABM Students. The result of this research will
benefit the following:

Students: Students will gain from expanding their understanding of

these resources. They will gain a better understanding of financial analysis

methods, sharpen their analytical abilities, and get ready for jobs in
business and finance.

Teachers: As a result of this study, teachers will be better equipped

to instruct their students in the use of Microsoft Excel. Additionally, each
student's understanding of the program will be expanded with regard to
the application of Microsoft Excel in financial modeling. Teachers can
greatly benefit from Microsoft Excel by using it for lesson planning, data
analysis, grade administration, and budgeting classroom expenses.

Business owners: Analyzing Microsoft Excel's usefulness for

financial modeling helps business owners make better decisions by
providing accurate financial analyses, cutting expenses by using a tool
that is widely accessible, raising employee financial literacy, optimizing
data processing for efficiency, and making it easier to find qualified
candidates with financial modeling experience. In the end, this results in
better operational performance and more intelligent company strategy.

Future researchers: Conducted studies will further open doors for

future researchers to refine and expand studies in relation to evaluating
the effectiveness of microsoft excel in financial modeling. This may serve
as a source of information about what is the importance of Microsoft Excel
in financial modeling and how it helps accelerate the works.

3
Scope and Delimitations

This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Microsoft Excel

as a tool for financial modeling and data management among
Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) students:
The study will focus on the following:
 The study will be conducted among ABM students enrolled in Asian
Institute of Computer Studies.
 The research will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of Excel in
performing key financial modeling and data management tasks.

Definition of Terms
The study will make use of the following terminology. These
conceptually to provide a thorough comprehension of the research.

Excel – This refers to the tools that is used to store, sort, manipulate data.

Financial Modeling – This refers to the process of creating a summary of

a company's expenses and earnings in the form of a spreadsheet that can
be used to calculate the impact of a future event or decision.

Versatile – it refers on having many different skills or qualities.

Pivot Tables - It refers to an interactive way to quickly summarize large

amounts of data.

Business Education – it is an Education that designed for business.

Sharpen – This refers on gaining more knowledge on how to utilize Excel.

Refine – To improve something or to make it pure, especially by removing

material that is not wanted.

4
 CHAPTER 2: RELATED RESEARCH LITERATURE

Local

According to Anthony Y Paras the study aimed to assess the level

of competency among Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology
(BSAcT) students on information technology. Specifically, the study
surveyed the students’ level of competency in Basic Computer Hardware
Manipulation, Basic File Manipulation, and Microsoft Office applications
such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In assessing the level of
competency, the researcher administered the survey questionnaire to the
student-participants. Moreover, the study was conducted during the
Second Semester Academic Year 2016–2017 at the College of Business,
Entrepreneurship and Accountancy, Cagayan State University, Caritan
Sur, Tuguegarao City. The researcher concluded that the Bachelor of
Science in Accounting Technology (BSAcT) students are very competent
in Basic Computer Hardware, Manipulation, Basic File Manipulation and
Microsoft Office applications.

The use of MS-Excel in consolidating the grades of the students

has been a practice among teachers (Magaji & Abdulkadir, 2015) and it
can be developed by anyone that has the skills (Poole, et al., 2013).
Popular as it is, yet there are limited studies on its acceptability and
teachers’ experience of the use of the program. Hence, this study
described the acceptability and experience of the teachers through
validated researcher acceptability survey questionnaire, and semi-
structured interview guide anchored in the Unified Theory of Acceptance
and Use of Technology and Technology Acceptances Model (Kalog et al.,
2015). The data were analyzed through (1) descriptive statistics and
Analysis-of-Variance to answer research questions:

5
What is the acceptability rating of the program? Is there a significant
difference among variables? and (2) thematic analysis (Wojnar &
Swanson, 2007) in describing the essence of the experienced of the users
of the program.

Findings are as follows: (1) the MS-Excel in Computing/Consolidating the

Grades of Students was appreciated by the respondents but there are
factors need to be addressed; (2) qualitatively, the experience of teachers
described as accurate with less time and effort.

This study concludes that though the program was perceived as effective
and helpful to the teachers, still there are factors to be considered to
increase its efficacy, especially in terms of expertise of the respondents to
the excel program. Therefore, further study on plausible assistance
needed by the user to strengthen their expertise on the use of the program
is highly recommended.

Spreadsheets have long played a key role in business operations.

The use and adoption of data analytics has significantly increased over
the last few years and amplified this role. Spreadsheets are often a first
tool for data analytics as such applications provide ease of calculation of
basic statistics and chart development. For much of the last two decades
universities have provided training in Microsoft Excel because that was
what companies used and wanted. Since mid-2020, there has been an
increase in use of Google Sheets causing some faculty to believe that MS
Excel should be replaced. Faculty must always be aware of current and
future employers demands and ensure programs meet the expectations of
employers especially expectations for recent graduates. This study
reviews business job postings seeking employees with two years or fewer
years of work experience between 2019 and 2021 and examines demand
for spreadsheet application experience.

6
 The advent of technology has improved the way statistics is taught
and learned. It is claimed that the use of computer-based instructional
tools can actively explore the meaning of statistical concepts among the
students, as well as enhance their learning experiences. This study aimed
to compare three methods of statistical analysis namely, the traditional
technique (use of the calculator), Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. This investigation utilized the
experimental design, specifically the One-Group Pretest – Posttest
Design. There were six education students who self-assessed their
attitude before and after the introduction of the use of various computation
techniques and performed the statistical analysis considering also the
completion time required for each process. Results of the study revealed
an increase in the level of attitude among the respondents form the pretest
to the posttest. Also, the cognitive level regardless of the approach was
very high. However, the t-test failed to establish a significant difference in
the attitude among the respondents. On the other hand, there were
significant differences in both the test scores and completion time of the
respondents in the three methods in favor of SPSS.

Using Microsoft Excel software in Mathematics education has been

found to improve students' understanding of mathematical concepts and
foster their sense of trust [??]. Integrating Excel into a high school algebra
class has shown a slight increase in student achievement and reduced
variability in student scores, indicating increased interest and engagement
[??]. The use of interactive spreadsheets as a teaching tool in secondary
school mathematics has enhanced pre-service teachers' pedagogies and
classroom management, leading to the development of reform-oriented
teaching practices [??]. Excel has also been found to effectively improve
students' ability in data processing, providing a fast, direct, and simple tool

7
for calculating averages, standard deviations, and fitting equations [??].
However, there is no specific mention of the effects of using Excel on ABM
(Accountancy, Business, and Management) students' learning in making
journalizing data entries in the provided abstracts.

Spreadsheets have long played a key role in business operations.

The use and adoption of data analytics has significantly increased over
the last few years and amplified this role. Spreadsheets are often a first
tool for data analytics as such applications provide ease of calculation of
basic statistics and chart development. For much of the last two decades
universities have provided training in Microsoft Excel because that was
what companies used and wanted. Since mid-2020, there has been an
increase in use of Google Sheets causing some faculty to believe that MS
Excel should be replaced. Faculty must always be aware of current and
future employers demands and ensure programs meet the expectations of
employers especially expectations for recent graduates. This study
reviews business job postings seeking employees with two years or fewer
years of work experience between 2019 and 2021 and examines demand
for spreadsheet application experience. Results overwhelming indicate
that Microsoft Excel still is the most required spreadsheet application by
employers and faculty should pause before changing MS Excel training or
removing certifications.

The ubiquitous use of Microsoft Excel among accountants has

resulted in calls for students to become capable in its use to enhance their
success when entering the accountancy profession. The objective of this
paper is to investigate if, and how, an integrated learning approach can be
designed to develop accounting students’ Microsoft Excel skills as part of
their learning experience within first-year financial accounting modules.

8
The study deployed a design-based research (DBR) methodology, an
emerging approach in accounting education. The study involved 68 first-
year accounting undergraduates in the participatory design of a blended
learning intervention across three design iterations, including integrated
learning of financial accounting and Microsoft Excel. The results
demonstrate that perceived Microsoft Excel skill levels among participants
improved as a result of the intervention, coupled with an expression of
high confidence levels in use of the software. The students valued the
authentic learning experience obtained and felt it would benefit them in
future employment. The research findings provide guidance to accounting
educators wishing to augment their students’ understanding with digital
workplace skills and competency

Living in an era based around business and the economy as the

center-point for making a living, developing entrepreneurial aptitude (DEA)
is necessary for the younger generations of entrepreneurs. This study
aims to determine the DEA of the Accountancy, Business, and
Management (ABM) students at Talisay City National High School. A
descriptive research design was utilized in this study with a sample size of
one hundred (100) respondents out of one hundred thirty-five (135) total
population taken from four (4) sections of the ABM strand using a random
sampling technique. The data collected were analyzed using a weighted
mean and percentage. The research findings revealed an average
weighted mean of three-point zero seven (3.07), which is interpreted as
“Agree,” implying that the students have learned and enhanced their
entrepreneurial aptitude through business enterprise simulation (BES).
The researchers concluded that the DEA of the students through BES has
been learned through theoretical knowledge and hands-on learning
modalities that simulate starting, running, and managing a business.

9
The researchers concluded that students should partake in junior business
managing events as much as possible. In contrast, the business
simulation is closer to an expert level or real-life business managing
program on a larger scale compared to the basic standard to enhance
real-life-based experience being closer to founding an actual business.

Foreign

Mentions that students have varying degrees pf excel knowledge in

her course and it becomes difficult to develop spread sheet assignments
that meet the needs of students [4]. More importantly, Rackliffe and
Ragland (2016) discovered a discrepancy between college students' and
accounting employers' views pf the excel competency of recruits[5]This
study aims or examining the students' opinions and evaluations on an
excel spread sheet. The research objectives are as follows: In excel, some
students can become reasonably knowledgeable via trial and error.
These, however, need adequate encouragement and self-discipline, skills
that not all students have [6]. Due to their lack of understanding of the
applications, it can be hard to work with the program. As a result, some
information technology (IT) studies have been performed in developing
countries and have also demonstrated resistance to the use excel spread
sheet.

Financial modelling is the process of creating a mathematical

representation of a real-world financial problem. It involves using a variety
of tools and techniques to analyze data, make projections, and test
different scenarios. Financial modelling is an essential function in the
finance industry, used for a wide range of purposes from budgeting and
forecasting to valuation and risk management.

10
 Among the various tools that are available for financial modelling, one
stands out as the most popular and versatile: Microsoft Excel. In this
article, we will explore why Excel is the best tool for financial modelling
and its advantages over other tools.

Spread sheets have long played a key role in business operations.

The use and adoption of data analytics has significantly increased over
the last few years and amplified this role. Spread sheets are often a first
tool for data analytics as such applications provide ease of calculation of
basic statistics and chart development. For much of the last two decades
universities have provided training in Microsoft Excel because that was
what companies used and wanted. Since mid-2020, there has been an
increase in use of Google Sheets causing some faculty to believe that MS
Excel should be replaced. Faculty must always be aware of current and
future employers demands and ensure programs meet the expectations of
employers especially expectations for recent graduates. This study
reviews business job postings seeking employees with two years or fewer
years of work experience between 2019 and 2021 and examines demand
for spread sheet application experience. Results overwhelming indicate
that Microsoft Excel still is the most required spread sheet application by
employers and faculty should pause before changing MS Excel training or
removing certifications

In this paper we describe a new release of a Web scale entity

graph that serves as the backbone of Microsoft Academic Service (MAS),
a major production effort with a broadened scope to the namesake vertical
search engine that has been publicly available since 2008 as a research
prototype.

11
 At the core of MAS is a heterogeneous entity graph comprised of six
types of entities that model the scholarly activities: field of study, author,
institution, paper, venue, and event. In addition to obtaining these entities
from the publisher feeds as in the previous effort, we in this version
include data mining results from the Web index and an in-house
knowledge base from Bing, a major commercial search engine. As a result
of the Bing integration, the new MAS graph sees significant increase in
size, with fresh information streaming in automatically following their
discoveries by the search engine. In addition, the rich entity relations
included in the knowledge base provide additional signals to disambiguate
and enrich the entities within and beyond the academic domain. The
number of papers indexed by MAS, for instance, has grown from low tens
of millions to 83 million while maintaining an above 95% accuracy based
on test data sets derived from academic activities at Microsoft Research.
Based on the data set, we demonstrate two scenarios in this work: a
knowledge driven, highly interactive dialog that seamlessly combines
reactive search and proactive suggestion experience, and a proactive
heterogeneous entity recommendation.

This case study looks at the use of Microsoft Excel as a long-term

accounting solution for SMEs, using Bash Coffee Buraydah as an
example. The study investigates how Excel's familiarity, cost-
effectiveness, and customization capabilities contribute to accountants'
skills and the company's long-term success. The research gives insights
into how Excel improves financial data management, reduces subscription
expenses, and improves efficiency and control over accounting operations
using a qualitative case study technique that includes interviews and
document analysis. The findings inform global SMEs about the benefits of
using Excel for cost-effective and long-term accounting processes.

12
 Financial models serve as sophisticated mathematical frameworks
that project future financial performance, evaluate potential investments,
and quantify the ramifications of diverse hypothetical scenarios on an
organization’s financial stability. These models are integral to strategic
planning, capital allocation, and risk management. The efficacy and
reliability of financial models are intrinsically linked to the tools utilized in
their construction, necessitating a thorough understanding of the various
software and methodologies available to financial analysts and decision
makers. Financial modelling traditionally relies on Microsoft Excel, a
ubiquitous tool renowned for its versatility, extensive array of functions,
and intuitive interface. Excel facilitates intricate customization and the
development of complex financial models. These models encompass a
wide range of applications including, but not limited to, revenue
forecasting, expense budgeting, cash flow analysis, asset and company
valuation through methodologies such as Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
and Comparable Company Analysis, as well as scenario and sensitivity
analysis. Despite its pervasive use, Excel is not without limitations; it is
particularly prone to human error and may struggle with the management
of large datasets, which can impede the accuracy and reliability of
financial models.

When applying Excel to finance, there exist many issues, such as

how to focus on hands-on experience, how to inspire students to learn
Excel, how to teach macros and how to get data into our spread sheets in
the first place. This paper offers a brand new approach with the following
features. First, during each lecture, students do at least none hands-on
exercise. Second, students are given many explanations and formulae
that they could access instantly. Thus, they could learn Excel by
themselves.

13
Third, students access a huge amount of data such as US GDP (Gross
Domestic Product), US national debt, unemployment rate, CPI (Consumer
Price Index), Fama-French factors, risk-free rate, historical stock prices,
latest several years’ financial statements for several thousand public firms
in the US. Fourth, students could apply an efficient way to download data,
about 3 second for each time series. Fifth, all supporting materials are
written in a text format. Thus, instructors could modify them easily. The
setup is trivial for both students and instructors: one-page instruction on R
installation plus one-line R codes.

Microsoft Excel (MS Excel) is a commonly used program for data

collection and statistical analysis in biomedical research. However, this
program has many limitations, including fewer functions that can be used
for analysis and a limited number of total cells compared with dedicated
statistical programs. MS Excel cannot complete analyses with blank cells,
and cells must be selected manually for analysis. In addition, it requires
multiple steps of data transformation and formulas to plot survival analysis
graphs, among others. The Megastat add-on program, which will be
supported by MS Excel 2016 soon, would eliminate some limitations of
using statistic formulas within MS Excel.

14
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1

The use of
Microsoft
Excel
EVALUATING THE
EFFECTIVENESS
OF MICROSOFT
EXCEL IN
FINANCIAL
STATEMENT

Financial
Modeling

The conceptual framework in this study shows the students

perceptions of the use of microsoft excel in financial modeling. The
microsoft excel is very beneficial that can be gained by students. Students
benefit from Excel in financial modeling through improved data
management, enhanced analytical skills, real-world applicability, effective
scenario planning,

15
visualization capabilities, time efficiency, collaboration features, access to
financial functions, flexiblity in model adjustments, and clear
documentation for reporting. These advantages enhance their learning
and career readiness in finance. based on the result of the study this study
shows that most of the researchers are more to positive sided on their
findings and they were able to establish a reliable relationship between
microsoft excel and the quality of accounting information.

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18