A spreadsheet is an essential tools of financial accounting. It is a piece of paper ruled for columns and rows of numbers. A spreadsheet program displays one or more spreadsheet pages on a computer display and allows the user to enter data as numbers, text and as formulae. A formula may be a simple summation of a row or column or a very complex calculation. Each small box in a spreadsheet is called a "cell" and is identified by the column and row in which it appears.
For example
| A | B | C | D | |
| 1 | Name | Grade | ||
| 2 | Joe | 85 | ||
| 3 | Mary | 98 | ||
| 4 | Frank | 62 |
Contains the name "Joe" in cell A2 and the grade "98" in cell B3.
The information displayed in each cell is treated as a small document, for which typefaces and styles may be specified. If a formula is used, it acts as a hidden document behind the visible value resulting from applying the formula. The usual word processing editing commands may be applied either to values or to formulae. In addition, groups of cells may be selected and manipulated. For example, by highlighting the label of a row or a column, the entire row or column may be selected for copying, cutting or pasting.
Spreadsheet programs are used for many practical applications such as keeping the financial records of an individual or a company, recording grades for a teacher, helping to do taxes, making useful graphs of data, of serving as a searchable personal database. In addition to allowing formulae in cells, most spreadsheet programs support a general "macro" programming language such as Basic that may be used for more complex calculations than can be expressed in a simple formula, or to make special forms that can handle specialized applications.
In modern practice, there are two spreadsheet programs with which you need to be familiar: Excel (part of the Microsoft Office suite) and Calc (part of the Sun Open Office suite). There are many books and websites that can be helpful in using these programs. The Baycon Goup provides a tutorial on the 2007 version of Excel at http://www.baycongroup.com/el0.htm. You will find Open Office Calc tutorials at http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/spreadsheet.html.