Microsoft wants to make managing your finances easier. Money in Excel allows you to connect your financial, bank and credit card accounts, view transactions and budget your money. We’ll get you started!
What is money in Excel?
Money is a dynamic template and add-in for Excel that you can download and use in minutes. It offers comprehensive financial management in an application that you already use every day.
With Money for Excel you can do all of the following:
- Connect various financial accounts such as banks, credit cards, investments and loans.
- Synchronize your accounts with just one click and get the latest transactions and account balances.
- View helpful charts, graphs and tables to gain valuable insight into your spending, savings and financial goals.
- Customize categories and use templates to tailor your experience.
Microsoft uses an outside company called Plaid to connect your financial services. The plugin supports most major US financial institutions. If you have any questions, please visit the checkered help page.
To use Money in Excel, you simply need a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription in the US and the latest version of Excel 365. You can use Money in Excel on your desktop or online. Unfortunately, it is currently not available on mobile devices.
Set money in Excel
To get started, go to the Money in Excel website, click “Download Now”
A panel should appear on the right side of the Excel sheet. If not, click “Money in Excel” in the ribbon on the “Home” tab. The pane shows an explanation of the add-in from the Office Store. Click on “Trust this add-in” to continue.
Click “Sign In” and follow the instructions to sign in to your Microsoft account and enable the add-in.
The “Money in Excel” pane appears. Click on “Get started” and “Sign up” again.
Click on “Add an account” and then click on “Continue” to select your first financial institution. If you don’t see the location you want, you can use the search box at the top to locate it.
Enter your details to log in to your financial service, then click Submit.
Depending on the service, you may be asked to verify your identity. Select the account and click “Continue”. It may take a few minutes for the connection process to complete.
Get started with money in Excel
The Money in Excel window on the right side of your workbook is the backbone of the tool. You will find your financial information on the tabs at the bottom.
The “Money in Excel” window
To view all your affiliate settings, click on the “Accounts” tab. Depending on the types of accounts you connect, they will be listed under ‘Cash’, ‘Credit’, ‘Loans’ and ‘Investments’. There is also a link at the top to add an account if you want to connect additional services.
To nickname, hide, or edit an account, click the three vertical dots to the right of the account card.
Click on ‘Settings’ to manage your accounts and communications, get support or log out.
To update the information of your accounts, click “Update” at the top of the panel at any time (make sure you have an internet connection).
The money in Excel tabs
For an overview of Money in Excel features, or to find answers to any questions you may have about the installation process, click the “Welcome” or “Instructions” tab in the workbook.
Click the “Snapshot” tab to see graphs, charts, and tables with breakdowns of your financial data.
In the ‘Transactions’ tab you will see all the transactions from each of your connected accounts. You can view the details by date, seller, category or institution.
Once you get the hang of the tool, make sure to click the “Categories” tab to see the default settings and create custom categories if necessary. These are useful if you want to view your expenses by category in the “Snapshot” tab.
Save your money in Excel workbook
The last important part of setting up Money in Excel is saving your workbook. (Remember, the file you download from Microsoft is just a template). To do this, click File> Save As, give your new finance master a meaningful name and save it in the location of your choice.
Notes on using money in Excel
When setting up Money in Excel only, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- If you use Excel 365 on multiple platforms (such as Windows, Mac and the web), you only need to link your financial accounts in one place. After you sign in to Money in Excel on another platform with the same Microsoft account, your connected accounts will be displayed. Click on “Update” if necessary.
- To share your Excel workbook, your recipient must also download Money in Excel and sign in to your Microsoft account.
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