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Accounting · head to head

Microsoft Excel vs Money Forward Cloud

Microsoft Excel logo

Microsoft Excel

Accounting

Spreadsheet software for data analysis and visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Money Forward Cloud logo

Money Forward Cloud

Accounting

Japanese cloud accounting, payroll and back office suite built for Japanese tax law and filing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Excel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Excel free tier limited to 5 GB cloud storage and web-only access; Money Forward Cloud the product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.
  • They diverge on capability: Microsoft Excel covers Advanced formulas, Money Forward Cloud covers Japanese consumption tax handling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Excel and Money Forward Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Excel and Money Forward Cloud differ
AttributeMicrosoft ExcelMoney Forward Cloud
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Web, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded1975Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Microsoft Excel

  • Advanced formulas
  • Pivot tables
  • Data visualization
  • Charts and graphs
  • Conditional formatting
  • Data analysis tools
  • Macro automation
  • Collaboration features

Only in Money Forward Cloud

  • Japanese consumption tax handling
  • Qualified invoice support
  • Electronic record keeping
  • Bank and card feeds
  • Automated journal proposal
  • Invoicing
  • Payroll
  • Attendance and leave

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Microsoft Excel

  • Financial modelingnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Data analysisnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Budget planningnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Reportingnot Money Forward Cloud
  • Business intelligencenot Money Forward Cloud
  • Statistical analysisnot Money Forward Cloud

Money Forward Cloud

  • A Japanese small or medium company moving off desktop bookkeeping and needing qualified invoice and electronic record keeping compliancenot Microsoft Excel
  • A Japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that must file locally in Japan while reporting upward in the group's own systemnot Microsoft Excel
  • A growing Japanese company that wants payroll, attendance and social insurance administration in the same suite as the ledgernot Microsoft Excel
  • A tax accountancy practice standardising its client base on one cloud product with a practitioner access rolenot Microsoft Excel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Microsoft Excel

  • Free tier limited to 5 GB cloud storage and web-only access
  • Paid plans have per-user costs increasing significantly with more users
  • AI features like Copilot limited or unavailable on lower-tier plans

Money Forward Cloud

  • The product, its help documentation and its support operate in Japanese, so a finance function without a fluent Japanese reader cannot run it unaided regardless of any English language marketing, and hiring for that is the real cost of adoption.
  • The tax logic is Japanese, so it cannot serve as the accounting system for entities filing anywhere else, and a group with Japanese and foreign entities ends up running two ledgers with a manual consolidation between them.
  • Modules are licensed separately with per user and per employee components, so accounting, payroll, attendance, expenses and invoicing bought together cost several times the headline accounting plan and the bill grows with every hire.
  • Bank connectivity in Japan relies substantially on scraping and delegated access rather than on a standardised open banking interface, so feeds break after bank site changes and reconciliation stalls until the connector is fixed.
  • In Japanese small business the tax accountant usually chooses the bookkeeping software, and practitioners are divided between Money Forward, freee and Yayoi, so picking it when your accountant works in another product means either paying them to learn it or changing accountant.

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Excel

Free
  • Microsoft Excel (Free)Free
    • Excel for the web
    • Real-time collaboration
    • 5 GB cloud storage
  • Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99/month
    • Desktop Excel app
    • 1 TB cloud storage
    • Single user on up to 5 devices
  • Microsoft 365 Family$12.99/month
    • 1-6 users (AI features for subscription owner)
    • Up to 6 TB cloud storage (1 TB per person)
    • Each user up to 5 devices
  • Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99/month
    • 1-6 users
    • Extensive Copilot feature access
    • Exclusive advanced AI capabilities

Money Forward Cloud

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Money Forward Cloud review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Excel if

  • You need advanced formulas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want pivot tables.
Microsoft Excel review

Choose Money Forward Cloud if

  • You need japanese consumption tax handling.
  • You also want qualified invoice support.
Money Forward Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Excel or Money Forward Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Excel starts at Free and Money Forward Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Excel or Money Forward Cloud?
Microsoft Excel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Excel and On request for Money Forward Cloud.
Does Microsoft Excel or Money Forward Cloud run on more platforms?
Microsoft Excel runs on Windows, Macos, Web, Ios, Android. Money Forward Cloud runs on Web.
Can I use Microsoft Excel for free?
Yes. Microsoft Excel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Money Forward Cloud starts at On request.
What is Microsoft Excel best used for?
Microsoft Excel is most often used for financial modeling, data analysis, budget planning, reporting. Of those, financial modeling and data analysis are not what Money Forward Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Excel do that Money Forward Cloud cannot?
Microsoft Excel covers Advanced formulas, Pivot tables, Data visualization, Charts and graphs. Money Forward Cloud covers Japanese consumption tax handling, Qualified invoice support, Electronic record keeping, Bank and card feeds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Excel: How much does Microsoft Excel cost?

Microsoft Excel is free as a web app with 5 GB storage. Paid options include Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99/month for desktop apps and 1 TB storage, Family at $12.99/month for 1-6 users with 6 TB total storage, and Premium at $19.99/month with extended Copilot access.

Source
Money Forward Cloud: Can I use it if I do not read Japanese?

Not realistically on your own. The interface, support and the tax concepts themselves are Japanese. Companies that succeed with it have a bilingual bookkeeper or an English speaking tax accountant operating it.

Microsoft Excel: Is there a free version of Excel?

Yes, Excel for the web is free and includes sharing, real-time collaboration, and 5 GB cloud storage accessible on web, iOS, and Android without subscription.

Source
Money Forward Cloud: Does it handle the qualified invoice system?

Yes. Capturing and validating supplier registration numbers and retaining invoices in the required form is one of the main reasons Japanese companies moved to it around the 2023 introduction.

Microsoft Excel: What is the difference between Microsoft 365 Family and Premium tiers?

Family tier at $12.99/month supports 1-6 users with 6 TB total storage and standard features. Premium tier at $19.99/month allows extensive Copilot feature access and exclusive advanced AI capabilities including image creation and audio generation.

Source
Money Forward Cloud: How does it compare with freee?

Both are Japanese cloud suites covering similar ground. freee is often described as easier for non accountants, Money Forward as closer to conventional bookkeeping and preferred by many tax accountants. The practical tiebreaker is which one your accountant already uses.

Money Forward Cloud: Can it file my corporate tax return?

The suite supports the bookkeeping and much of the preparation, and there are filing oriented products in the family, but Japanese corporate tax filing is normally done by a licensed tax accountant. Treat it as the record keeping layer, not the filer.

Money Forward Cloud: Is it usable for a company outside Japan?

No, not as an accounting system. Its value is the Japanese tax and filing logic, and none of that applies elsewhere.

Money Forward Cloud: What does it cost to add payroll?

Payroll is a separate module with its own subscription and a per employee element, as are attendance and expenses. Price the whole stack for your headcount rather than the accounting plan alone.

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