It's that time of year again...

No, not Christmas (yet), but tax, year end and other financial stuff. For those of us who are not trained accountants (which has to be the majority), we need all the help we can get when it comes to tracking income, outgoings, rents, tax returns, etc etc. Small Business Blog is a recent convert to the power of Excel and can thoroughly recommend you spend some time exploring what it can do for you. Don't expect to become a financial whizz in an hour, but if you invest some effort in setting up your accounts you will reap the rewards. Formatting your data into meaningful spreadsheets will help you understand the figures more quickly and easily. Throw in some conditional formatting (eg, colour the box red if figure Y falls below a threshold) and you'll get a clear picture of what's good and what isn't.

You don't have to start from scratch either - you can find lots of useful Excel 2007 templates here and Excel 2003 here.

And, although we've said it before it's worth saying again - Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 can also make a real difference to your thinning hair/bitten fingernails/waistline/ and general stress levels. 

And some further encouragement - if you never thought Excel could be funny, when you next want a coffee/tea break, take a look at the brief (less than 5 minutes) videos on Excel you'll find here -you will be entertained!