Business Consultants Using Excel as a Tool

Excel Department combines business consulting with deep Excel expertise. We help Swedish companies make better business decisions through well-structured decision support, financial models, and automated reports. Instead of just providing advice, we build concrete tools that make your organization more efficient.

With over 200 business consulting assignments completed since 2015, we know that the best analysis is useless if it cannot be applied in practice. Therefore, we always deliver solutions that your employees can actually work with – no complicated systems requiring specialist expertise.

What does an Excel-focused business consultant do?

A traditional business consultant analyzes your operations and provides recommendations in a PowerPoint presentation. An Excel-focused business consultant performs the analysis, but then delivers the tools you need to implement the changes and follow up on the results.

We combine three competencies:

Business Acumen – We understand how companies operate, which key performance indicators drive profitability, and how decisions should be made at different organizational levels.

Analytical Capability – We can analyze complex data, identify patterns, calculate various scenarios, and quantify the effects of different decisions.

Technical Excel Expertise – We build robust, user-friendly tools that automate analyses and make them accessible to the right people in the organization.

This means we don’t just say “you should improve your inventory turnover”; instead, we build a tool that shows inventory turnover per product, identifies slow-moving items, and calculates capital tied up in inventory – and updates automatically every month.

Our Areas of Expertise

Financial Modeling and Budgeting
We build financial models for budgeting, forecasting, and long-term planning. The models can handle various scenarios (best case, worst case, expected development) and show how changes in sales, costs, or investments affect profit and cash flow.

Business Analysis and KPI Tracking
We identify the key performance indicators that drive your business and build reports that make them visible and understandable. Not just “what happened” but “why it happened” and “what it means.”

Reporting and Automation
Manual reporting takes time away from more important work. We automate recurring reports so they update automatically from your source systems and are distributed to the right people at the right time.

Data Visualization and Dashboards
Numbers in tables are difficult to interpret. We build visual dashboards with charts, color-coding, and trend lines that make complex information understandable in seconds.

Process Automation and Efficiency
Many business processes contain manual steps that can be automated – data collection, calculations, formatting, distribution. We identify which processes will yield the greatest impact from automation.

Examples of Projects We Have Completed

Investment Calculation for Real Estate Developer – 12 hours saved per calculation
A real estate developer performed investment calculations manually. We created a standardized calculation template where the user enters project-specific parameters, and the model automatically calculates cash flow, return, and sensitivity analysis.

Customer Profitability Analysis for Consulting Firm – 4 percentage point margin increase
A consulting firm with 50 consultants did not know which customers were profitable. We built an analysis that combined billed time, consultant costs, and travel expenses per customer. The operating margin increased from 8% to 12%.

Automated Monthly Report – 20 hours saved per month
A production organization compiled its monthly report manually (approx. 20 hours per month). We built an SQL-connected solution that retrieves data directly from the ERP system. The controller now only needs to verify the figures (2 hours per month).

Inventory Management Model for Wholesaler – Capital tied up reduced by 2.3 million SEK
A wholesaler with 3,000 items struggled to optimize inventory levels. We built a model that calculates optimal inventory levels based on historical sales and delivery times. Inventory availability increased from 87% to 94%.

Work Process

1. Needs Analysis and Mapping
We start by understanding your business, what decisions need to be made, and what information is required.

2. Solution Design and Specification
We design the solution and specify what calculations, reports, and automations will be built. You will see a prototype and provide feedback.

3. Development and Testing
We build the solution and test that all calculations are correct, performance is good, and the user interface is intuitive.

4. Training and Handover
We train users and stakeholders on how the solution works and how it should be maintained.

5. Follow-up
We follow up to ensure the solution functions effectively in live operation and assist with adjustments if needed.

Common Questions About Business Consulting

How is this different from regular Excel consulting?
Regular Excel consulting focuses on building what you ask for. Business consulting starts by understanding your business problem and then designs the solution that provides the greatest business value.

Do we need to know exactly what we want?
No. It’s enough if you can describe the problem you want to solve or the decisions you want to make better. We will help design the solution.

What does a business consulting assignment cost?
Smaller projects start at approximately 30,000-50,000 SEK. More extensive solutions typically cost 80,000-200,000 SEK. We always conduct a free needs analysis and provide a fixed quote before starting.

How long does a typical assignment take?
From needs analysis to a finished solution, it normally takes 4-8 weeks, depending on the scope.

Can we maintain the solution ourselves going forward?
Yes. We build solutions that can be maintained by individuals with good Excel skills. All logic is documented, and we train your key users.