Are You Spending Too Much Time With Excel?

Summary

Many years ago when first working with VisiCalc on an Apple III, a manager insisted that row totals and column totals be compared to prove accuracy.  This tradition came from the days of paper-based ledgers necessitated by the potential for arithmetic errors.  Spreadsheet programs, like VisiCalc, Quattro, Lotus 123, Excel, etc., replaced paper ledgers and greatly reduced errors through automation.  However, tradition lives.  New traditions just replace earlier ones. 

Traditions

Spreadsheet programs support wide ranges of analytical and reporting activity through sophisticated functionality and graphics capability.  They are available both as standalone applications and through web interfaces.  Anyone familiar with spreadsheets can easily perform complicated arithmetic.  With a little study, gaining proficiency at the next level comes quickly.  Before long, users might find themselves consumed with spreadsheets-programming them and wondering how something someone else did affects current results.

 Since spreadsheets offer no inherent discipline or audit trails, errors and usage mistakes leave no evidence.  Formerly simple tasks suddenly become formidable and consume more time than value derived from information generated.   A company's spreadsheet "Guru" does enjoy certain prestige and job security.  If that "Guru" happens also to have other responsibilities, like running the organization, it might be time to look for an alternative.

The Alternative:  Databases

Database programs offer many advantages over spreadsheets.  Basic spreadsheet programs have limits of a few thousand rows, dozens of columns and process data inefficiently.  Database programs handle complex relationships, offer virtually limitless storage, include potential for sophisticated programming and protect data integrity through inherent security mechanisms.

Unlike spreadsheets where multiple copies may contain different versions of "truth," databases maintain a single copy of information and enable many individuals to read, contribute, update or remove data according to predefined permissions-regardless of their physical location.

Ten reasons you might be spending too much time with Excel...

• 1. Excel starts up with the power switch on your PC.
• 2. A power failure that suddenly resets your workstation triggers a drinking binge.
• 3. You line up family members in rows and columns for photos at Christmas.
• 4. You cannot remember your youngest offspring's birthday because Excel's date function does not format correctly.
• 5. When your child's teacher tells you your daughter excels in Math, it makes no sense.
• 6. You named your dog "Macro."
• 7. VBA spells trouble.
• 8. A protected cell has nothing to do with Homeland Security.
• 9. You confuse "Home on the Range" with "named range."

 A Few Stories

The incidents related below may or may not be true.  Where possible, names of those involved have been obscured to avoid litigation.

·         For years, a controller spent 10 hours per week copying and pasting data from one spreadsheet to another for import into a general ledger program.  Macro automation reduced the effort to a few minutes.

·         The manager of a multimillion-dollar department received financial data in spreadsheets on a daily basis.  Each spreadsheet was handcrafted and unique precluding retrieval of vital information for periodic accumulation and reporting.  Thousands of spreadsheets resulted, provided little value after initial reading and were stored into perpetuity.

·         Copying half of the available cells in a blank worksheet to the other half of the worksheet requires the same extraordinary amount of time as if the cells contained values.

·         A billion-dollar corporation provides no technical support for executive administrative staff or managers leaving them to their own spread sheeting skills resulting in huge inefficiencies and substantial costs.

·         Financial institutions often use spreadsheets to reconcile Multi-million dollar accounts.

These are but a few of the stories.  Please add your own below.