5 Best Ways to Make Money with Microsoft Excel: Earn Cash Using Your Spreadsheet Skills
Microsoft Excel isn’t just for budgeting your grocery expenses or tracking your fantasy football stats. If you’ve got Excel skills, you can turn them into serious cash! Whether you’re looking for a full-time Excel side hustle, freelance opportunities, or even passive income with Excel, there are multiple ways to monetize your skills.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make money with Excel, you’re in the right place! Below, I’ll show you five proven ways to earn money with spreadsheets, break down earning potential, and give you the pros and cons of each method.
1. Sell Excel Templates and Tools
The Financial Benefit
Creating and selling Excel templates for sale is one of the easiest ways to generate passive income with Excel. Businesses, freelancers, and individuals often look for Excel templates that help them automate tasks like budgeting, project management, and financial tracking. Once you create and upload a template, it can generate sales repeatedly with minimal effort!
How to Do It
- Identify a niche (budgeting, invoice tracking, project planning, fitness tracking, etc.).
- Create high-quality templates with easy-to-use instructions.
- Sell on platforms like Etsy, Gumroad, and your own website.
- Offer a mix of free and premium templates to attract buyers.
Smart Money Move
Bundling related templates can increase sales. For example, instead of selling one budgeting template, create a Budgeting Toolkit with multiple sheets!
Earning Potential
- Beginner: $50–$500/month
- Experienced: $1,000–$5,000/month
- Top Sellers: $10,000+/month
Pros & Cons
Pros: ✔️ Passive income once set up ✔️ No client work or deadlines ✔️ Scalable with minimal maintenance
Cons: ❌ Requires marketing to attract buyers ❌ Competition on marketplaces ❌ Takes time to build a product library
2. Offer Freelance Excel Services
The Financial Benefit
Freelancing is a great way to make money with Excel if you enjoy problem-solving and working with clients. From financial modeling with Excel to Excel dashboard creation, businesses need experts to help them organize data efficiently.
How to Do It
- Create a profile on Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer.
- Offer services like data cleaning, financial modeling, Excel automation, and dashboard creation.
- Promote your expertise with case studies and sample projects.
- Network on LinkedIn to attract high-paying clients.
Smart Money Move
Offer retainer services where businesses pay you monthly for ongoing Excel work. This provides steady income rather than one-off gigs.
Earning Potential
- Beginner: $20–$50/hour
- Experienced: $50–$150/hour
- Excel specialists: $200+/hour
Pros & Cons
Pros: ✔️ High earning potential ✔️ Choose your projects and clients ✔️ Work from anywhere
Cons: ❌ Can be feast or famine (inconsistent work) ❌ Client management can be stressful ❌ Takes time to build a reputation
3. Excel Automation & VBA Consulting
The Financial Benefit
Many companies rely on Excel automation to streamline workflows and save time. If you’re skilled in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), you can charge premium rates as a consultant.
How to Do It
- Learn VBA consulting and automation scripting.
- Offer services like automated reports, data processing scripts, and error-proofing formulas.
- Target industries like finance, supply chain, and HR, where automation saves companies thousands of hours.
- Sell pre-built VBA scripts to small businesses.
Smart Money Move
Offer to train teams on VBA after building automation solutions. Companies love investing in Excel training courses for their employees.
Earning Potential
- Beginner: $30–$75/hour
- Experienced: $100–$250/hour
- Top Consultants: $5,000–$20,000 per project
Pros & Cons
Pros: ✔️ High demand and premium pricing ✔️ Saves businesses significant time and money ✔️ Can be both active and passive income
Cons: ❌ Requires technical knowledge ❌ Clients may need ongoing support ❌ Some companies are switching to Python and Power BI
4. Become a Data Analyst
The Financial Benefit
If you enjoy working with numbers, a data analyst career could be your ticket to financial success! Data analysts organize, interpret, and visualize data, making them essential in nearly every industry.
How to Do It
- Learn data visualization, pivot tables, and Power Query.
- Get familiar with SQL and Power BI for advanced analysis.
- Apply for jobs on LinkedIn, Indeed, and company career pages.
- Offer freelance Excel data analysis services on Upwork.
Smart Money Move
Get certified in Microsoft Excel skills and data analytics (Google Data Analytics, Coursera, etc.) to increase your value and salary.
Earning Potential
- Entry-Level: $50,000–$70,000/year
- Mid-Level: $70,000–$100,000/year
- Senior Analysts: $100,000+/year
Pros & Cons
Pros: ✔️ High-paying career path ✔️ Opportunities for remote work ✔️ Growth potential in tech and finance
Cons: ❌ Requires continuous learning ❌ Competition for top jobs ❌ Can be repetitive work
5. Teach Excel & Create Online Courses
The Financial Benefit
Many people want to improve their Excel for business skills, but don’t know where to start. Creating and selling Excel online courses is an excellent way to earn money with spreadsheets while helping others.
How to Do It
- Identify a topic (Excel basics, dashboard creation, financial modeling, etc.).
- Record step-by-step tutorials.
- Sell on Udemy, Teachable, or your own website.
- Offer live coaching sessions for premium pricing.
Smart Money Move
Start a YouTube channel offering free tutorials and upsell viewers to your paid course!
Earning Potential
- Beginner: $500–$2,000/month
- Intermediate: $5,000–$10,000/month
- Top Instructors: $50,000+/month
Pros & Cons
Pros: ✔️ Scalable passive income ✔️ Helps people improve their skills ✔️ Can be bundled with consulting
Cons: ❌ Takes time to build an audience ❌ Requires video production skills ❌ High competition on course platforms
Parting Advice
If you’re looking to make money with Excel, the opportunities are endless! Whether you’re selling Excel templates, offering freelance Excel services, or building an Excel data analysis career, there’s serious money to be made.
The key is to choose a path that fits your skills and interests. Start small, test the waters, and scale up as you gain experience!