December 4, 2018Tags : Categories
A single worksheet in the current version of Microsoft Excel® is comprised of 17,179,869,184 cells. Yes, that’s over 17 billion cells, and over 17 billion opportunities for errors and risk. The prior version of Excel had 16,777,216 cells in each worksheet. The massive amount of data that can be stored and manually manipulated provides Excel’s users with not only a nearly endless array of information, but also a nearly endless opportunity to make errors.
With tax laws continuously evolving and the sheer number of uncontrolled cells at our disposal, the risks of overreliance solely on Excel to manage tax processes cannot be ignored. When it comes to our corporate tax processes, the more we can trust systematized technologies, the more confident we can feel with the output generated. Let’s discuss some of the risks we experience when relying solely on Excel for critical business computations generated by the tax department.
Although Excel spreadsheets are necessary and provide a variety of integral functions and ad-hoc calculations for businesses, companies are putting themselves at significant risk by relying solely on the accuracy of spreadsheets with over 17 billion cells in a single worksheet for their corporate tax processes. We need Excel, but we need more than only Excel, and companies are learning this expensive lesson 17 billion cells and endless dollars at a time.
With tax laws continuously evolving and the sheer number of uncontrolled cells at our disposal, the risks of overreliance solely on Excel to manage tax processes cannot be ignored. When it comes to our corporate tax processes, the more we can trust systematized technologies, the more confident we can feel with the output generated. Let’s discuss some of the risks we experience when relying solely on Excel for critical business computations generated by the tax department.
Formulas
Formulas that can be included in one Excel spreadsheet can range from straightforward addition and subtraction to complex including data push and pull from external sources. As we add layers of formulas to produce the calculations we need, our spreadsheets become more convoluted, causing a slew of inefficiencies that could result in delayed financial statements to inaccurate totals. If one single symbol or number is incorrect in just one formula, every dependent cell connected to that formula is now erroneous. Just ask JPMorgan Chase, who suffered a $6.2 billion trading loss because of a formula that added amounts rather than averaging them.Hidden Cells
Appearances can be deceiving, especially in Microsoft Excel®. It’s hard to beat the convenience of the ability to hide a few columns and rows of information to make navigating around a spreadsheet easier and more visually appealing. However, even when you can’t see hidden cells in Excel, the information is still there, and it’s still potentially affecting every other number in your workbook. Barclays learned this lesson the hard way when they were forced to purchase nearly 200 unwanted assets from Lehman Brothers.Links
Embedded links can make pertinent information user friendly and easy to navigate to, but they’re often less than reliable. Links among various workbooks within Excel can work for a minute, but with heavy usage and file movement and updates, they run the risk of severing without being noticed. Active external links carry even more risk, particularly if they link to a website or a separate file. Website data becomes stagnant, files are moved and renamed, and before long those links lead to dead ends, creating the potential for chaos in your calculations.Although Excel spreadsheets are necessary and provide a variety of integral functions and ad-hoc calculations for businesses, companies are putting themselves at significant risk by relying solely on the accuracy of spreadsheets with over 17 billion cells in a single worksheet for their corporate tax processes. We need Excel, but we need more than only Excel, and companies are learning this expensive lesson 17 billion cells and endless dollars at a time.