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Almost Every Simulation Model Started in Excel
Almost every simulation model I have seen at customers started in Excel. That is no accident. And it is no problem either.
Excel is the best tool when you need to calculate something with moderately complex logic. Fast, flexible, and still understandable to the next person weeks later. For the first driver relationships and the first what-if calculations there is hardly anything better. Excel is simply there.
It gets critical when the file is meant to become the foundation of a process. When five people want to change assumptions at the same time, three scenarios need maintaining in parallel, and the board asks in the meeting: and what if both happen together? Without waiting a week for the answer.
At that point two purposes compete inside the same file: flexibility for the individual and reliability for everyone.
Many companies passed this tipping point long ago. Not all of them have noticed.