I think it's just what you're used to. If counting from smallest to largest was inherently better, then a dozen would look like 21, not 12. Little vs Big Endian, I suppose.
The issue is when you do Month/Day/Year, then you lose consistency. Both Year/Month/Day or Day/Month/Year are more logical.
It would be interesting to know if your Excel correctly interprets 1/2 as 1st February based on your international settings.