The Two Gods of Excel: Social Media Trends vs. Business Management Needs – an example

In today’s digital landscape, Excel experts often find themselves serving one of two “gods”: the god of social media or the god of business management. These two deities demand very different kinds of worship. One seeks engagement, likes, and quick solutions with trending tools. The other demands scalability, efficiency, and long-term sustainability—core requirements of enterprise operations.

Let’s explore this dichotomy through a real-world example: reconciling shared expenses among a group of friends after the holidays.

The Social Media Approach

On December 21, 2019, a popular social media post showcased how Power Query could be used to determine who owes whom in a simple gift-buying scenario involving three friends. The video was bite-sized—ideal for online platforms, trending in content (Power Query), and cleverly packaged to catch attention. The author, the ever-popular Oz du Soleil invites improvements. (One offered by Power Query expert and author Miguel Escobar a week later)

Oz’s technique involved:

1. Unpivoting the data using Power Query.
2. Applying formulas to calculate net balances among friends.

This solution worked well for its intended audience and purpose—quick, engaging, and educational content. However, when viewed through the lens of enterprise or business management, the shortcomings quickly emerge:

• Scalability? No. The model struggles to grow beyond a small dataset.
• Repeatability? No. It’s a one-off, manually driven process.
• Automation? None. A human must interact at each step.
• Reach and Integration? Lacking. All data must be manually entered and gathered.
• Auditability? Minimal, as ad-hoc processes typically lack systematic validation.

This approach, while useful for a solo Excel enthusiast or as a teaching tool, doesn’t meet the rigorous standards of enterprise data management.

The Business-Oriented Solution: Hub-and-Spoke Architecture

In contrast, the same reconciliation problem can be solved with a scalable, enterprise-ready architecture that aligns with the needs of business management—the other “god.” This involves reframing the issue from a one-time task to a repeatable business process, guided by principles of accounting and data architecture.

The core idea is simple: record each financial transaction completely, ensuring that each row in a ledger-style table nets to zero—just as in traditional double-entry accounting. From there, you can:

• Aggregate balances by person using queries.
• Ensure integrity by confirming that every transaction group sums to zero.
• Scale effortlessly from 3 to 300—or even 3 million—participants.
• Automate data input and output, with no manual involvement needed.

Implementation Overview

1. Transaction Recording
   Each transaction is entered into a centralized data table (the “hub”). Each record is complete and balanced, ensuring transparency and auditability.
2. Querying Balances
   Anyone—be it a participant or an administrator—can run queries to view net balances. The spreadsheet simply pulls from the centralized source and filters based on user identity.
3. Cloud Integration
   This entire system can be deployed in the cloud, making it location-independent and massively scalable. Excel’s native capabilities allow for seamless data sending and receiving without needing Power Query.
4. No Admin Required
   The system is built to be unattended. Users interact only with their local spreadsheets. The central hub remains untouched, eliminating human error and reducing maintenance overhead.

The Takeaway

The comparison highlights a critical gap between what looks good on social media and what works in enterprise environments. The social media approach appeals to the crowd but fails the test of business rigor. The business approach may seem more complex at first glance but provides lasting value through scalability, automation, and alignment with organizational goals.

In essence, the question isn’t about whether Power Query is “good” or “bad.” It’s about who you are serving.

• If you serve the god of social media, your rewards are likes, shares, and followers.
• If you serve the god of business management, your rewards are efficiency, trust, and performance.

Both have their place—but only one will scale with you.