Excel has been the backbone of group reporting for decades. It is flexible, powerful and familiar. But as companies grow, add subsidiaries and operate across several ERP systems, Excel-based consolidation becomes slow, manual and increasingly risky.

Many finance teams reach a point where the question is no longer “How do we fix our Excel file?” but “Is Excel still the right tool for group consolidation?”

In this article, we break down when Excel becomes a limitation, how automated consolidation solves these challenges and why combining both approaches delivers the strongest reporting setup.

Why Excel-Based Consolidation Stops Scaling

1. Multiple companies and multiple ERP systems

If your group uses several accounting systems such as Tripletex, Fortnox, PowerOffice Go, Business Central, Unimicro, 24SevenOffice, QuickBooks or others, Excel quickly becomes fragile.
Different charts of accounts, formats and currencies require endless manual adjustments, increasing the risk of errors.

2. Heavy manual imports and CSV management

Most organisations experience version drift:
report_v4.xlsx → report_final.xlsx → report_final_v11.xlsx

Every import step adds time, complexity and the risk of inconsistencies.

3. No real-time reporting

Excel provides a snapshot in time. If data changes in the ERP, your report is instantly outdated.
For growing groups, this lack of real-time data creates slow decision-making and unnecessary delays in the monthly close.

4. High dependency on key individuals

Macros, lookup chains and consolidation logic often live inside a single person’s head.
If that person is away, the reporting process slows down or stops completely.

What Automated Consolidation Platforms Solve

Automated consolidation platforms like Sumledger remove manual work and give finance teams a unified, real-time view of the entire group.

Key benefits include:

Automatic data aggregation from all ERP systems
A standardised chart of accounts across the group
Real-time dashboards and KPIs
Support for multi-company, multi-currency and multi-ownership
Drill-down to voucher and transaction level
Audit trail and consistent governance

This transforms consolidation from a manual month-end task into a continuous, automated process.

Excel or Automation? The Best Setup Uses Both

A common misconception is that automated consolidation replaces Excel.
It shouldn’t.

With Sumledger, finance teams can choose how they want to work:

1. Report directly in the platform

Access consolidated P&L, balance sheet, eliminations, currency adjustments and drill-down instantly.
Everything is real-time and always up to date.

2. Pull all transactions into Excel with Sumledger EXL

If your workflow relies on Excel, you can bring the entire dataset — every transaction from every ERP — straight into Excel for pivoting, modelling or custom reporting.

This ensures:

• No more manual CSV uploads
• No more outdated extracts
• No more locked-in systems

You get automation for accuracy and speed and Excel for flexibility and analysis.
This combination is one of Sumledger’s strongest advantages.

How to Know It’s Time to Upgrade from Excel

You are ready to switch when:

• Reporting takes days instead of minutes
• Your group operates in multiple ERP systems
• You manage repeated manual imports
• Version control is an ongoing problem
• You need real-time numbers, not static snapshots
• Expansion or acquisitions increase complexity

Excel is excellent for analysis but not for managing a full consolidation workflow for multi-company groups.

Conclusion: Excel Still Matters, but Automation Creates the Scale

Excel remains one of the world’s most important financial analysis tools.
What it cannot do is automate consolidation across companies, currencies, systems and ownership structures.

With an automated consolidation platform like Sumledger, finance teams get:

• Real-time group reporting
• Automated data flows
• Drill-down for accuracy
• Scalable consolidation across ERPs
• The freedom to continue using Excel through Sumledger EXL

You no longer need to choose between Excel and automation.
You can have the best of both in one solution.