Why does your colleague say Excel is free while you’re billed $9.99/month? Why does the Microsoft Store show one price but your work laptop has zero install cost? Why did your accountant charge $240 for an ‘Excel license’ when you already have Office?
The answer isn’t in the app store description — it’s buried in licensing models, device types, and how Microsoft defines ‘Excel app’ across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and web. Let’s fix that.
The Setup
You’re auditing software costs for a small marketing agency with hybrid staff: some use company laptops, others bring personal iPads, and two freelancers log in via Chromebooks. Finance sent you a raw export from their procurement system — unclean, inconsistent, and missing key context like license type or device OS. Here’s what landed in A1:E10:
| Employee | Device | OS | Plan Name | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Chen | Dell XPS 13 | Windows 11 | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | $12.50 |
| James Lee | iPad Pro (2022) | iPadOS 17 | Personal M365 Family | $9.99 |
| Priya Patel | MacBook Air M2 | macOS Sonoma | M365 Business Basic | $6.00 |
| Diego Morales | Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 | Android 14 | Free Web App | $0.00 |
| Amina Diallo | Chromebook (Acer Spin 514) | ChromeOS | Office Online | $0.00 |
| Rajiv Mehta | Surface Pro 9 | Windows 11 | Office LTSC 2021 | $0.00 (one-time $149.99) |
| Lena Kim | iPhone 14 | iOS 17 | M365 Personal | $6.99 |
| Tariq Hassan | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 | Windows 10 | Pre-installed OEM | $0.00 (bundled) |
| Maya Rodriguez | iPad mini (6th gen) | iPadOS 16 | Free (with Apple ID) | $0.00 |
The Challenge
Finance wants to know: How much does Excel app cost per user, broken down by actual usage tier — not just plan names? That means distinguishing between:
- Truly free access (web, mobile view-only, or bundled OEM)
- Paid subscriptions where Excel is just one component
- One-time purchases that include perpetual Excel rights
- Licensing overlaps — e.g., someone on M365 Business Standard who also uses Excel on iPad via family plan
The trap? Column D says “Free Web App” and “Office Online”, but those aren’t identical — one requires a Microsoft account, the other needs a business domain. And “Pre-installed OEM” looks free until you realize it only works on that specific laptop. What makes this elegant is how Excel’s own =CELL("filename") function won’t help — because licensing lives outside the file.
Walking Through It
We’ll clean and classify each row using Excel’s built-in logic — no Power Query needed. Start by adding a new column F1:F10 titled “Cost Type”. Then apply this logic step-by-step:
| Step | Action | Result | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In F2, enter: =IF(OR(D2="Free Web App",D2="Office Online",D2="Free (with Apple ID)"),"Web/Free",IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("M365",D2)),"Subscription",IF(D2="Office LTSC 2021","Perpetual","OEM/Bundled"))) | “Web/Free” in F2 | Ctrl+Enter (to fill down without moving) |
| 2 | Select F2:F10 → Ctrl+D to fill formula down | All rows classified | Ctrl+D |
| 3 | Add column G: “Effective Cost”. In G2: =IF(F2="Web/Free",0,IF(F2="Subscription",VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(E2,"$","")),IF(F2="Perpetual",149.99/60,0))) | $0.00 for Diego, $2.50/month equivalent for Rajiv | Alt+= (AutoSum shortcut — then edit formula) |
| 4 | Format G2:G10 as Currency → Right-click → Format Cells → Number tab → Currency → $ | Clean $0.00, $9.99, $2.50 display | Ctrl+Shift+$ |
Surprising tip: The “Free (with Apple ID)” row isn’t truly free for business use — Apple’s terms prohibit commercial editing on free-tier iOS apps. That’s why Maya’s row should be flagged manually in column H (add “⚠️ Commercial Use Violation?”). You’ll catch it only if you cross-check against Apple’s App Store Terms §4.2.3.
The Result
Here’s the final cleaned view — now finance can see true cost per user, adjusted for license scope and compliance risk:
| Employee | Device | Cost Type | Effective Cost/Mo | Compliance Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Chen | Dell XPS 13 | Subscription | $12.50 | — |
| James Lee | iPad Pro (2022) | Subscription | $9.99 | — |
| Priya Patel | MacBook Air M2 | Subscription | $6.00 | — |
| Diego Morales | Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 | Web/Free | $0.00 | ✓ View-only OK |
| Amina Diallo | Chromebook | Web/Free | $0.00 | ✓ Full editing OK |
| Rajiv Mehta | Surface Pro 9 | Perpetual | $2.50 | — |
| Lena Kim | iPhone 14 | Subscription | $6.99 | — |
| Tariq Hassan | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 | OEM/Bundled | $0.00 | ⚠️ Tied to hardware |
| Maya Rodriguez | iPad mini | Web/Free | $0.00 | ⚠️ Commercial use violation |
What Could Go Wrong
Three real mistakes we’ve seen derail Excel cost audits — all caught too late in finance reviews:
- Mistake #1: Confusing “Microsoft 365 Apps” with “Microsoft 365 E3”
It looks like both are subscriptions — but E3 includes advanced security and Teams phone, while “Apps” is just Word/Excel/PowerPoint. If your team has E3 licenses but only uses Excel, you’re overpaying by ~$22/user/month. Check Admin Center → Billing → Subscriptions — not the app store page. - Mistake #2: Assuming iOS Excel is always free
iPad users with personal Apple IDs get full editing — but only up to 5GB of OneDrive storage. Once they hit that, saving fails silently. You’ll see blank cells appear in shared files. Fix: add column H with=IF(AND(C2="iPadOS",F2="Web/Free"),"Check OneDrive quota","OK"). - Mistake #3: Ignoring regional tax codes
Microsoft bills VAT/GST based on your billing address — not device location. A Singapore-based freelancer using a US-issued card pays 0% GST, but their invoice shows “$9.99 + $0.00”. Always verify tax line items in the Invoice PDF, not the dashboard summary.
Your next step: Run this exact classification on your own data. Copy the formula from Step 1 into F2, adjust column references if your data starts at A2 instead of A1, and press Ctrl+D. Then email finance this table — not the raw dump.
