Excel can read from databases. Writing back is where everyone gets stuck.
Power Query made pulling database data into Excel trivial. Refresh a query, watch a million rows land in a worksheet, pivot it, filter it, share it. Everyone uses it. But the moment you need to write back — fix a value, bulk-update records, input new data — Excel has nothing. You're back to copy-paste into a database client or writing a script.
Most finance and operations teams work around this by emailing Excel files to a developer, who then writes a one-off SQL script to apply the changes, which gets tested, reviewed, and finally run. It works. It's also slow, error-prone, and creates a dependency between people who should be able to do their jobs directly.
Writing to a database from Excel requires validation, transaction control, audit logging, error handling, and security — things Power Query doesn't offer because it's read-only by design. Writing needs a different tool, and until now that tool had to be custom-built per use case.
Rubi's Excel add-in for databases.
We built an Excel add-in that reads AND writes to databases without leaving the spreadsheet. The add-in installs from the Office Add-In Catalog, appears as a new ribbon tab in Excel, and exposes connect-to-database and write-back functionality in a native Excel experience.
Select rows in Excel. Click "write to database." Done, in seconds, with full audit logging.
Python on Azure)) EX -->|Write| MIDDLE MIDDLE -->|Auth + validate| PG[(PostgreSQL / SQL)] MIDDLE -.->|Audit log| AUDIT[(Audit store)]
Key advantages.
Use cases.
- Finance teams bulk-updating vendor terms, customer credit limits, or tax codes after a rate change
- Operations teams correcting data in inventory records, customer attributes, or project fields without waiting on IT
- AR/AP teams applying bulk adjustments, credit memos, or write-offs based on an Excel review spreadsheet
- Sales teams updating opportunity stages, close dates, or custom fields across many records at once
- Data correction workflows where a monthly reconciliation reveals 50 records that need to be fixed — no more handing that spreadsheet to a developer
Technology stack.
- JavaScript frontend — using the Office JS API, the same technology Microsoft's own Excel add-ins are built on
- Python middleware on Azure — handles authentication, validation, schema introspection, and safe SQL generation
- PostgreSQL / SQL Server / others — target database is configurable; the middleware translates Excel operations into safe, parameterized SQL
- Office 365 auth integration — users authenticate with their existing Microsoft account; no separate login
Frequently asked questions.
Yes — we've deployed it on top of Q360 specifically for finance and operations teams who want controlled write access without giving them direct SQL rights. Works with Q360 Live Data and the SQL Report API.
The middleware enforces schema validation, required fields, foreign key checks, and any custom rules you define (e.g. "status can only be one of these 5 values"). Bad data gets rejected with a clear error before it hits the database.
Yes. Every write is transactional — if any row in a batch fails, the whole batch rolls back. We also retain per-write snapshots for a configurable window (typically 30 days) so Admin users can reverse an individual bulk update.