# What is a spreadsheet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-spreadsheet/1028642>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 25, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-spreadsheet/1028642 "2026-02-25T21:35:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-spreadsheet/1028642/3 "2026-03-19T08:20:35Z")

</div>

> [@Do you feel it's important for younger generations to be able to read an analog clock? If so why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-its-important-for-younger-generations-to-be-able-to-read-an-analog-clock-if-so-why/1027820/290):
>
> Regarding spreadsheets, while the computerized version is a relatively recent invention, they’re just a digital form of accounting ledgers and workbooks

You can use Excel, or Word, or Outlook as a ledger, but that’s not what they are.  
A ledger is a bookeeping tool. A spreadsheet is an accounting tool.

Spreadsheets became a lot easier to use when you could type them in and print them out, but when I started they were penciled in, then inked in. Nobody knows when the first reporting and planning accounting was done, but at least the Egyptions.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-spreadsheet/1028642)._