Microsoft is shutting down money in Excel and more, according to a recent report. The software giant is making the move to a new system that will save money on data storage and processing. The company is also moving to a subscription-based model for its Office 365 suite of products. The shift away from traditional software licenses will have a significant impact on Microsoft’s bottom line. The company has been struggling to keep up with the competition in the past, and this move could be another sign that it’s losing ground.
Microsoft introduced ‘Money in Excel’ back in 2020, which allowed people to connect their financial data to Excel sheets. Now the functionality is being discontinued, alongside a few other Microsoft 365 features.
Money in Excel was released in 2020, as a dynamic template and add-in for Excel that could connect to financial accounts (such as banks, credit cards, investments, and loans). Data could be synchronized with an Excel sheet in one click, which you could then turn into helpful charts, graphs, and tables. Excel has been a valuable financial planning tool for decades, but the Money ad-in made the whole process much easier.
Microsoft has now confirmed that Money in Excel will be shut down on June 30, 2023. The company said in a support article, “we’ve learned a lot from Money in Excel and appreciate the many needs people have for their families and their money. We believe there are other areas where we can have a greater impact and will be focusing on those going forward.” It’s possible that the feature wasn’t popular, and the cost of the required connecting services outweighed its usage.
Money data already stored in Excel workbooks won’t be deleted, but after June 2023, you won’t be able to import new transactions and other data. Microsoft recommends Tiller as an alternative, which allows you to import financial data into Excel in much the same way as Money in Excel. Microsoft 365 subscribers can claim an extended 60-day trial of Tiller (the typical trial period is 30 days), and after that, the service costs $79 per year.
Microsoft is also discontinuing Wolfram data types, which arrived in 2020 and allowed Excel sheets to import stocks, nutritional information, and other data from Wolfram Alpha. Just like the Money feature, any data already in Excel won’t be removed, but you won’t be able to add new Wolfram data types or refresh existing data. Organization data types and Power Query data types will continue to work as normal.
Finally, Microsoft 365 subscribers won’t be able to redeem “unique offers from partners” after June 30, 2023. This is a list of promotional deals for non-Microsoft products available to Microsoft 365 subscribers, such as free ID protection from Experian, two free photo prints from Shutterfly, and so on. If you’re a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you can redeem any offers until June 2023.
Source: Microsoft
