luckyluci:
If you want to take data from excel and transfer it to an existing template, why not just insert fields in the template. You can set the fields up so they update manually (press F9), or you could write a macro that updates the fields from excel.
An easy way to insert feilds is to copy the cells in excel that you want word to link to, then goto word and click on "Edit" and select "Paste Special..." then select the "Paste link:" option button and select "Formatted Text (RTF)" from the box then click ok.
If you don't want the link to update automatically, highlight your field then click on "Edit" and select "Links..." At the bottom of the links box, the update options are listed and you can choose how your field updates.
To update these fields from excel, you can write a macro. I used a commandbutton to update my word document:
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Documents("Document1"

.Fields.Update
End Sub
You need to make sure that you have referenced Word in VBA for the code to work (click on "Tools" and select "References..." then check the box that coresponds to your version of word while you are in the VBA editor. For word 2000, the box to check is "Microsoft Word 9.0 Object Library"

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Hope this helps!
jproj