SPREADSHEETS

 

In business, strategic planning is essential and requires valid information in order to make key decisions. Choosing the right tools for inputting, tracking, analyzing and storing data will help business owners and managers make the best choices for their company's business. One of the components within software productivity suites is the spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are popular among accountants and among those who like to collect and track data, yet there are some limitations, which may not make them the best choice for every office application.

Spreadsheets are frequently the go-to tool for collecting and organizing data, which is among the simplest of its uses. Information can easily be placed in neat columns and rows and then sorted by information type. Although a large collection of data may be overwhelming to view in its raw state, tools within the program allow the user to create presentations where the data is analyzed and plugged into pie charts or tables for easy viewing and interpretation.

No one likes to spend all their time at work doing repetitive calculations. The great appeal of spreadsheets is that the program does all the mathematics for the user. Once a formula is written and the program has a set command, complex calculations can easily be computed for the related data that has been input. This allows users to ask "what if" types of questions and to easily get the answers they need without the need to rework the calculations.

For example, if the spreadsheet is set up to calculate your gross profit, when any variable such as cost per unit, shipping costs, or sales discount are changed, the software automatically recalculates the new gross profit based on the new information.

In today's collaborative work environment, multiple users within an office often need access to the same documents. If using Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheets can be shared, but only one user can change data at a time. If local copies are made and updated, other users will not have access to the new data. Google Sheets offers the solution of file sharing and allowing multiple users to access and update a single form.

Be aware that, in both cases, there is no file history. Therefore, no matter who makes changes at any time, when any changes are made, the previous information history is lost.

However, the downside is that only the information that the user chooses for analysis is included in these presentations, and therefore, other pertinent information that may influence decision making might be excluded, unintentionally. To make reporting of data more user friendly and comprehensive, companies are choosing to use other reporting tools, instead of relying solely on the spreadsheet.

The difficult part for many users, is that the calculations must be entered into the spreadsheet as formulas. This requires learning the correct syntax for each type of calculation you wish to make. Although many classes are available to learn the skills necessary to use these formulas, many users still find them difficult. If the syntax is incorrect, the program will not return the correct information when the calculations are run. Additionally, if users input the wrong data, even in only one cell of the spreadsheet, all related calculations and cells will be affected and have incorrect data.

Another spreadsheet disadvantage is the lack of security for your files. Typically, spreadsheets are not that secure and therefore are at greater risk for data corruption or mismanagement of information. Files that contain sensitive financial information may not be safe from hackers, even if password protected.

Other types of data collection software therefore may be a more suitable option. Access, Oracle or some other form of relational database has built in safeguards that protect data integrity and prevent the reorganization of information. For example, in a spreadsheet, a user might sort a column of information and may inadvertently cause related information, such as first and last name, to become out of sync. In contrast, a database will keep all parts of a record unified, thereby ensuring better data integrity.

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