The Hidden Cost of “Excel Glue” Between Systems
If you’ve worked in finance for any length of time, you know the feeling: one system doesn’t quite talk to another, and the gap gets patched with a spreadsheet. The numbers are moving, the reports get delivered, and on the surface, everything works. Excel becomes the “glue” holding multiple systems together.
On pretty much every ERP implementation project I’ve been on, there’s some Excel involved. It’s familiar. It’s fast. And convincing the team that the system can actually do a better job is often harder than the implementation itself. But that convenience comes at a cost and it’s usually bigger than anyone realises.
Why Excel Glue Feels Safe
There’s a reason finance teams love Excel. It’s flexible. It’s visual. Everyone knows it. A quick formula or a copied table feels faster than waiting for a report from IT or a system update. And in the short term, it works.
But here’s the catch: Excel glue is deceptively expensive.
The Real Cost
Time lost: Hours every week moving data between systems, reconciling sheets, or fixing broken formulas. That’s time your team could spend analyzing numbers, not babysitting them.
Risk of error: One wrong link, outdated tab, or misapplied formula can ripple through multiple reports often unnoticed until month-end, an audit, or a financial review.
Lack of transparency: Spreadsheets often live on a single user’s desktop or in a shared folder. Assumptions and changes are hard to track, and knowledge can leave the team when someone moves on.
Opportunity cost: Experienced finance staff spend more time maintaining Excel glue than improving processes, providing insights, or partnering with the business.
Why CFOs Should Pay Attention
The danger isn’t just the occasional formula error. It’s the systemic drag on efficiency and insight. Excel glue hides inefficiency in plain sight. In many teams, it becomes so normal that no one questions whether the ERP or finance system could handle the same work, often more accurately and faster.
A Better Approach
Integrate processes wherever possible: Let your ERP or other systems do the heavy lifting.
Standardize data entry and reporting: Reduce reliance on manual copies or local spreadsheets.
Reserve Excel for analysis, not reconciliation: Excel shines when you’re interpreting data, not moving it around.
Treat automation as infrastructure: Workflows, reports, and data validation should be built into the system, not patched on top in spreadsheets.
The Takeaway
Excel is powerful, and finance teams rely on it for a reason. But using it as the glue between systems is expensive in ways that are easy to underestimate. It costs time, increases risk, and hides inefficiency from leadership.
CFOs who address Excel glue head-on free their teams for higher-value work, reduce downstream errors, and unlock the true potential of their ERP and automation investments.
The next time your team reaches for that spreadsheet “quick fix,” ask yourself: is this a shortcut, or a hidden cost you’re paying every month?
