When it comes to business reporting, there are generally two ways by which they are commonly presented – PowerPoint and Excel. In the rest of this post, we will have a quick look at some of the reasons why PowerPoint is the better choice for business reporting.
Why Business Reports Are Essential?
Before we discuss the compelling reasons why PowerPoint is better to be used than Excel, let us first have a glimpse at some of the reasons why business reports are important:
- Gives a Clear Picture of the Company: Among others, one of the best things about business reporting is that it can effectively provide insights about the current performance of a company, such as where it stands in terms of its profit and the competition.
- Improves Decision-Making: Business reports are also critical for making the right decisions. It clarifies Key Performance Indicators, which can be used as the foundation for decision-making.
- Takes a Look at Problems: Another benefit of business reporting is the fact that it will make it possible to highlight different problems within an organisation, and in turn, use the findings to formulate strategic initiatives to solve the problem.
- Helps Develop a Marketing Strategy: Based on the findings stated in the business reports, it will also be easier to come up with effective marketing initiatives. For instance, it can outline the latest trends that will be instrumental in crafting strategies for marketing.
From the things that have been mentioned above, it is clear that business reporting is a critical component for any organisation, regardless of its size and nature of operations. Given its significance, it is vital to make use of the right tools. In this case, PowerPoint and Excel are two of the most popular options that are available.
Many people would most probably resort into the use of Excel, given the fact that it provides an easy platform to present numerical data. In addition, you can also automatically create charts and graphs, which will make it easy for the stakeholder to understand the information that is being presented.
In spite of the benefits of Excel, however, it should be noted that PowerPoint can present a better alternative. Why should you use PowerPoint for business reporting? Keep on reading, and we’ll let you know some of the reasons.
1. It is Made Specifically for Report Presentation
One of the best things about PowerPoint is that it is a program that has been specifically made for report presentation. With the tools that are available, including animations, it will be easier to present information in a manner that is easy to understand, and most importantly, engaging. There is more room to use your creativity.
Excel, on the other hand, is used primarily for the collection of data and numbers. It provides an easy platform to make calculations. There are charts and graphs that can be made, but they do not present information in a manner that is as creative as what you can with PowerPoint.
To put it simply, use Excel when performing calculations and use PowerPoint when presenting these calculations.
2. It is Easier to Navigate
When it comes to ease of navigation and presentation, PowerPoint clearly takes over Excel. In the case of a PowerPoint presentation, you will be able to easily move from one slide to another. You can also jump to a specific slide with ease. With this, when you are presenting the business report, it will be a snap for you to show relevant information that your audience needs to know.
In the case of Excel, on the other hand, it does not present seamless navigation. Data will be presented in its raw form. Navigating from one worksheet to another is not going to be easy. Seeing a long list of numbers can be overwhelming and can be confusing. This can lead into disengagement. For this reason, PowerPoint is a better option.
3. It is Easier to Arrange Data
This is a benefit that is closely related to what has been previously mentioned. When using PowerPoint, one of the most useful tools that you will have is the Slide Sorter View. Simply put, this will allow you to highlight a chart that you need to present. It is a breeze to have it placed on the first slide if that is what you need to do.
In contrast, in the case of Excel, flipping from one worksheet to another can be a complicated task. Having data arranged can be challenging.
4. It has Multimedia Capabilities
When it comes to presenting business reports, one of the most important is to make sure that it is going to be engaging and entertaining. Regardless of who your audience is, the assumption is that they can easily get bored. Presenting chunks of numbers and texts can make them lose their interest in what you are saying. The good thing about PowerPoint is that it has capabilities for multimedia integration.
Completing your business reports via PowerPoint is a good thing because it is easy to integrate multimedia content, such as photos and videos, which is one thing that you cannot do with Excel. This will improve the way information is fed to your audience. You can be as creative as you want.
5. It Creates a Cohesive Theme
Another benefit of using PowerPoint for business reporting is the fact that it will make it easy for you to achieve consistency. Whether you want to achieve a professional or edgy theme, among others, you can do it easily. You can change the background and font easily, depending on what is required by the presentation. You can also apply the changes on all slides.
6. It has Better Options for Charts
We have earlier mentioned that Excel is a good choice when it comes to presenting information in graphs, such as charts and bars. However, PowerPoint can do a better job. You will have several options by which it will be possible to create graphical representation of data. One of the best examples of such would be in the form of tachometer. There are many templates that are available for users, and the layouts are richer compared to what you can find from Excel.
With PowerPoint, you will also be able to easily create infographics. This will make it easy to convert textual information into graphics. This is a necessity when it comes to business reporting because of its engagement. This will help to rouse more interest from your target audience.
7. It Offers Options for Automation
It is also a good thing that with PowerPoint, you can download plugins, which can be used to link your report to various sources, including Excel. This will make it a snap to automate the information that is included in the report. This is going to be a convenient feature as there is no need to manually update the presentation when there are changes in data from other sources.
8. It Presents only the Final Data
When preparing a business report, you will most probably have to deal with tons of calculations. Numbers, when presented, tend to be overwhelming, which is why it will be easy for your audience to lose interest. With PowerPoint, you do not have to show the raw data. All that you will present would be the final data, which will be presented in a manner that is concise and interesting. You will be able to show only the information that is relevant to your audience and not the calculations that they do not need to see.
9. It Is Easy to View and Distribute
When preparing business reports, it is important to always keep in mind your end users. With this, PowerPoint is a great choice because information will be easy to view, and more importantly, distribution can be a snap. This is unlike in the case of Excel wherein you will most probably have to send multiple files. In the same way, there are also features that will be beneficial in terms of collaboration, making it easy for other users to contribute and edit data as deemed necessary.
10. It has Better Visual Impact
This is perhaps one of the most significant advantages of PowerPoint over Excel. Your boring business report can come to life and be more interesting when you use PowerPoint. You can add not only visuals but also audio effects, which will captivate the attention of your audience. This will also make presentations more interactive. Nonetheless, make sure that the use of multimedia is limited in order to not lose the essence of the presentation.
11. It Improves Collaboration
Another significant benefit of using Excel is that it is going to be collaborative. Team members can work together to be able to come up with the best way to present business report. There is also a feature wherein users will be allowed to review the content, and consequently, add a comment. These comments can be seen by everyone who has access to the file. This will provide insights on how the presentation can be further improved. Comments can also be added for clarifications.
12. It Can be Viewed as a Video
With a PowerPoint presentation of a business report, you will be able to create an output that can be viewed as a video by your target audience. You can upload it on website like YouTube, and hence, it can be accessed remotely. All that you have to do is to click on “File” then “Save and Send,” and finally, “Create a Video.” This will automatically have the file converted in WMV format. This will make it easy for you to share the content as video and can be accepted in most websites for video sharing.
13. It Is Flexible
Flexibility is another reason why PowerPoint is a better option than Excel when it comes to business reports. You can have it customised based on the intended purpose. You can opt to make a presentation that is text or image-heavy. The best approach, however, it to have a perfectly-balanced presentation, making it able to inform, while at the same time, not lacking in terms of its entertaining value. This is sure to make your audience informed while being engaged instead of losing interest.
14. It Offers Interactive Clicking
Another thing that makes PowerPoint unique is the fact that the audience will have the ability to control the flow of the presentation. This is possible because of interactive clicking. Through the latter, the viewers will be able to control the speed of the presentation. They will also be able to move back or forward.
15. It is Easy to Use
If you are looking for a user-friendly way to prepare business reports, PowerPoint is an ideal choice. Unlike Excel, it is not as complicated. Even for someone who has not used it before, it will be easy to make the most out of this tool and figure out how it can be successfully used for creating relevant and engaging presentations.
Conclusion
In sum, by now, we have already established that PowerPoint is indeed the best way to create presentations for business reports. Nonetheless, this does not mean that Excel should be ignored. In fact, in most business settings, employees use both of these tools. Excel can be useful in terms of making sense of raw data. PowerPoint, on the other hand, is the better choice when it comes to the presentation of information after you have used Excel for calculations.
