Excel’s availability and ease-of-use is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is sensible and productive to make use of software that is designed with the non-specialist in mind. On the other hand, the vast majority of Excel users have had little formal training and risk developing spreadsheets that are poorly designed, poorly constructed and impossible to review.
Organisations place huge reliance on spreadsheet use for analysis and decision-making. They also place huge reliance on key individuals as well – those individuals that developed the spreadsheets in the first place. Knowledge and expertise is locked up within those key individuals with little thought given to succession planning.
And spreadsheets proliferate. What starts off as a simple piece of analysis becomes the kernel of an organisation’s entire regular reporting process.
We work with clients to address problems arising from the chaotic use of Excel.
Our approach
Excel is often a critical component of a business’s commercial or reporting processes. Pricing systems, management reporting, strategic planning, investments and transactions are a few examples of how Excel is used in the key decisions and performance management of an organisation.
With so much at stake the mitigation of the risk of error and the need for structure, transparency and consistency are a high priority. Sometimes in getting to a more reliable state, it’s a question of establishing where and how to start making improvements.
For some of our clients, before a single keystroke is made it’s important to understand the scope of the challenge and what range of potential solutions are possible.
This is where our consultancy team can help. As a team of experts in the use of Excel we offer a range of services designed to work with clients to ensure that the system or model build project sets off on the right footing.