Bridgly vs Excel for Bookkeeping

Choosing between Bridgly and Excel for your UK micro-entity bookkeeping? Here's an honest comparison to help you decide.

Many UK micro-entity limited companies start their bookkeeping journey with Excel (or Google Sheets). It's familiar, free, and flexible. But is it the best tool for the job? Let's compare Excel with Bridgly, purpose-built bookkeeping software for UK micro-entities.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Excel	Bridgly
Cost	Free (with Office) or ~£80/year	£2.99/month or £29.99/year
UK micro-entity focused	✗ General purpose	✓ Built specifically for UK micro-entities
Import bank transactions	✗ Manual copy/paste	✓ Direct CSV/Google Sheets import
Smart categorization	✗ Manual for every transaction	✓ AI-assisted suggestions
Automatic reports	✗ Build your own formulas	✓ One-click P&L and Balance Sheet
Cash-basis accounting	✗ You build it yourself	✓ Built-in and automatic
Plain-English guidance	✗ No guidance	✓ Explains each section
Accountant export pack	✗ Send your spreadsheet	✓ Professional CSV + summary pack
Learning curve	Moderate - need spreadsheet skills	Low - designed for non-accountants
Time required	High - manual categorization	Low - smart suggestions speed things up
Flexibility	✓ Completely customizable	Focused on micro-entity needs
Risk of errors	High - formula mistakes, manual entry	Low - built-in validation and checks

Excel for Bookkeeping: Pros & Cons

✓ Pros

Free if you already have Microsoft Office
Completely flexible - you can do anything
You probably already know how to use it
Works offline
No monthly subscription

✗ Cons

Very time-consuming to set up properly
Easy to make formula errors
No built-in knowledge of UK accounting rules
Manually categorizing transactions is tedious
Creating reports requires spreadsheet expertise
No guidance on what categories to use
Hard to share with your accountant professionally

Bridgly for Bookkeeping: Pros & Cons

✓ Pros

Purpose-built for UK micro-entities
Saves hours with smart categorization
Built-in UK accounting knowledge
One-click reports (P&L, Balance Sheet)
Plain-English explanations for non-accountants
Easy to share with accountants
Validates your data to reduce errors
Affordable (£2.99/month)

✗ Cons

Monthly/yearly cost (though very affordable)
Focused only on micro-entities (not for larger companies)
Less flexible than a blank spreadsheet
Currently in early access (launching soon)

Which should you choose?

Choose Excel if:

You're comfortable with spreadsheets and formulas
You have very few transactions (under 20 per month)
You enjoy building your own systems
You have plenty of time to manually categorize everything
Budget is your absolute top priority

Choose Bridgly if:

You want bookkeeping to be quick and simple
You're not an accountant or spreadsheet expert
You have dozens or hundreds of transactions per month
You'd rather focus on your business than on spreadsheet formulas
You want built-in guidance and validation
You value your time (Bridgly pays for itself by saving hours)

The honest truth

Excel is a powerful tool, and it's absolutely possible to do your bookkeeping with it. Many micro-entities start this way. But most discover that:

It takes far longer than they expected
They're never quite sure if their formulas are right
They put off bookkeeping because it's so tedious
Year-end becomes a stressful scramble

Bridgly is designed to solve exactly these problems. It's purpose-built for UK micro-entities using cash-basis accounting, so you get:

Correct UK accounting treatment built-in
Smart suggestions that learn from your choices
Reports that your accountant will understand
Plain-English guidance when you need it

At £2.99/month (or £29.99/year), Bridgly costs less than an hour of your time. If it saves you 2-3 hours per month, it's already worth it.

Ready to save hours on bookkeeping?

Join Bridgly's early access waitlist. The first 100 companies get 6 months completely free.

Join the waitlist

Still have questions?

Check out our FAQ section or getting started guide to learn more about bookkeeping for UK micro-entities.