5 Reasons You Should Stop Using Excel for Your Portfolio (2026)
We get it. Excel is comforting. You have total control, endless customization, and—best of all—nobody is spying on your data.
For decades, the humble spreadsheet was the gold standard for tracking personal wealth. But in 2026, with the complexity of modern portfolios (multiple brokers, SIPs, SGBs, global stocks), manual tracking has become a liability.
If you are spending more time updating your spreadsheet than analysing your wealth, this article is for you.
1. No Real-Time Pricing (The Lag Effect)
The Sheet Reality: You rely on GOOGLEFINANCE() functions that break
half the time, or worse, you manually update prices every weekend.
The Problem: Markets move fast. If you are making decisions based on Friday's closing price on a Tuesday morning, you are flying blind. A dedicated tracker keeps your portfolio value live, syncing with NSE/BSE automatically.
2. The Corporate Action Nightmare
What happens to your Excel sheet when:
- Reliance announces a 1:1 bonus?
- HDFC twins merge?
- ITC demerges its hotel business?
You have to manually adjust historical buy prices. If you forget, your XIRR calculation is ruined forever. Dedicated trackers handle splits, bonuses, and mergers automatically at the backend, preserving the integrity of your performance data.
3. The "XIRR" Formula Trap
Excel has an =XIRR() formula, but using it correctly for a running SIP portfolio requires
maintaining a perfect chronological list of every single cash inflow and outflow.
Missed one dividend payout entry? Wrong XIRR.
Entered a sell transaction as a positive instead of negative? Wrong XIRR.
Arthavi's engine parses your CAS (Consolidated Account Statement) to reconstruct your transaction history with forensic accuracy, guaranteeing a true performance picture.
4. The "Pinch and Zoom" Mobile Experience
Trying to view a 30-column wide spreadsheet on an iPhone is a miserable experience. You pinch, you zoom, you scroll, and you accidentally type "fgbh4" into a formula cell.
We built Arthavi to be mobile-first. Your wealth dashboard should look as beautiful on your phone as it does on your desktop.
5. The Privacy Paradox
Many investors stick to Excel because they (rightly) don't trust apps that ask for email access. "I don't want an app reading my bank OTPs," is a valid concern.
But local Excel files are risky too:
- Hard drive crashes = Data gone.
- File corruption = History lost.
- Version control (
Portfolio_Final_v3_REAL.xlsx) = Confusion.
The Solution: Excel's Privacy + App's Power
We built Arthavi to give you the best of both worlds.
- Privacy of Excel: We DON'T ask for your email password or read your SMS. You upload your CAS file manually.
- Power of an App: Real-time prices, automated XIRR, corporate action handling, and beautiful mobile UI.
- AI Insights: Can your spreadsheet tell you if you are over-exposed to mid-cap stocks? Our "Ask AI" feature can.
Conclusion
Excel was a great tool for the 2010s. But in the 2020s, with multiple asset classes and volatile markets, you need a smarter co-pilot.
Don't be a data entry clerk for your own wealth. Be a portfolio manager.