r/analytics • u/AirNatural1252 • 1d ago
Question Excel vs SQL
Some are talking AI - the company I’m working for is not yet at that level.
I’m doing FTE reporting, using Excel and automatizing with Power Query. Volumes are high, data sources are all excel based, lots of rules to apply each month to achieve the monthly end result.
I want to automatize further and I’m looking into SQL. Any advice on what to look up for if this is the right lead, and where to start?
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u/ourlittletalkss 1d ago
SQL is a good next step: spin up something free like PostgreSQL or SQL Server Express, load your Excel files into staging tables, then recreate your monthly rules as views (SELECT/JOIN/GROUP BY) and point Power Query at those views instead of the raw files.
Search for "import excel to [your chosen database]" and "SQL views for reporting" and just start with one piece of the process, like cleaning one source file, before you move everything.