Spreadsheets form part of a family of tools for storing and manipulating numerical data. At their most basic, they perform the simple arithmetical calculations normally done on a handheld calculator. Several good programs are available that will simulate such calculators. Many of the calculator programs available provide facilities such as scientific functions, weight and measure conversions, and statistical and financial functions. They are often included in a package with other programs such as Windows or WordPerfect.

If you need to perform multiple calculations on a collection of data a spreadsheet program becomes invaluable. Spreadsheets were used before computers for bookkeeping and business accounts. However, maintaining accuracy when adding or performing the calculations on the figures within a spreadsheet was always a problem. A computer spreadsheet overcomes this problem. The calculations are always accurate, and if you make an alteration in a massive spreadsheet, the hundreds of calculations required to update the figures and totals are done in seconds.