Spreadsheet Spaghetti

You may have realised that you have spreadsheet spaghetti and its becoming more difficult to manage your reporting. Reporting times take longer, there are too many errors slipping into the numbers and there is little flexibility in the way you report and plan.

1. You have Spreadsheet Spaghetti when you are experiencing 3 or more of the following symptoms:
2. You have more than 10 interlinked spreadsheets.
3. Spreadsheets templates have to be continuously fixed numerous versions are sent out to the business.
4. You’re never sure if you are using the correct version of the spreadsheet.
5. The spreadsheets are riddled with macros that have evolved over time and no-one is brave enough to tamper with them.
6. Only one person in the department knows how the system works and if he or she leaves the knowledge will leave with them.
7. The system is not fully tested and the errors keep on surfacing in the numbers and they have to be reworked
8. The system is not documented ( there never seems to be a good time for this either)

Spreadsheets are great for a user to quickly record something or create a model that calculates something very specific. the moment you try and make the same tool into an enterprise solution it becomes a challenge that must be managed very carefully. If you neglect this it will come back to bite.