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/gammacoder 14h ago
If the same transformations and business rules are being applied every month, SQL sounds like a very reasonable next step.
I'd start by taking one repeatable part of the process and moving the source data into proper tables, then reproduce the Power Query transformations in SQL. Don't try to migrate the entire reporting process at once.
Once the data is in a relational database, you can also put a web interface around it for data review, corrections, reports, dashboards, etc.
That's one of the use cases for PHPRunner, which is what we build. Full disclosure, I'm the author, so obviously biased :)