5 Reasons to Ditch Your Error-Prone Spreadsheets

With the accounting world becoming more and more complex and accounting standards shifting, it can be really difficult to keep up. Pressures to be more accurate and more transparent have never been so high, and with those increased pressures comes additional stress and risk of mistakes occurring.

Times are changing, but luckily so are the means by which your Office of Finance and Accounting can get their work done in an effective and efficient manner. But one major element of the processes needs to be left behind – spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets have long been the backbone of any Office of Finance. But in this technology-forward age, the once innovative tool is quickly becoming outdated and error prone.

We know it can be hard to accept such a drastic change, even if the current process has a few bumps. So here are five reasons to ditch the spreadsheets and look toward the future.

1. No Real-Time Visibility into Processes
   Just about every vital spreadsheet in the Office of Finance goes through several versions and iterations in its lifetime, passing through several people’s hands and computers before being signed off on. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the complexity of this process can be a real hotbed for errors and mistakes to happen. An old version overwriting a new one, two different people making edits separately – the list of possible errors goes on and on.
2. They Are Error Prone
   All it takes is one wrong number, and suddenly the data for the entire spreadsheet is incorrect. People make mistakes and shouldn’t be expected to be perfect – that’s where automation helps. These mistakes can cost corporations thousands or millions in restatement-related damages. Automation eliminates that risk ensuring truthful, accurate and error-free results.
3. Lack of Control Framework for Compliance
   SOX, GRC, HIPAA and more – compliance is a key part of the Office of Finance, and spreadsheets lack key functionality in managing and navigating this important area of your financial close. An automated solution is built with these important functionalities in mind, so you can focus on analysis and understanding your close, rather than tearing your hair out worrying about meeting these high standards manually.
4. Inefficiency & Decreased Productivity
   While the work that’s done in spreadsheets manually is vital to the success of your business, it’s tedious and time consuming. Hours are spent on what takes an automated solution no time at all. Refocus your talented staff on producing more meaningful, valuable tasks and leave the menial labor to the solution.
5. Lack of Scalability
   Maybe your spreadsheets are working for now, even with their inefficiencies. But what happens when your business grows? If it undergoes an acquisition. Is your current system able to manage double, or even triple what it currently handles? The flexibility and scalability that an automated solution can offer lets you focus on establishing those meaningful growth opportunities, without worrying about whether or not you can support it from a technical standpoint.

As you can now tell, spreadsheets are a major liability where your Record to Report process is concerned. Learn more about why spreadsheets are such a problem – and more importantly, what you can do about it.

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Written by: Sam King