Spreadsheets have been your tried and trusted business tool for decades now. But whether you realize it or not, they have their challenges. The reason? Spreadsheets don’t know when you have entered inaccurate data, and as a result, you may not know it either.
Here are five reasons why it might be time for your business to replace spreadsheets with a custom reporting tool.
#1 Dueling Spreadsheets
The trouble a lot of companies have is multiple spreadsheets. Copy down a spreadsheet from the server, make a change, and send it by email; the receiver makes a change and then they upload the spreadsheet to the server. You have a version, they have a version, the server has a version… and there is no way to tell which is the correct version. Changes may be manageable if only one employee was doing them, but when multiple employees are involved, it’s chaos.
#2 Copy and Paste
Copy, cut, and paste. Easy enough, you figured this out in kindergarten, right? Maybe.
Copying and pasting, while a user’s favorite time-saver, is a major contributor to spreadsheet errors. There are some estimates that claim 88% of all spreadsheets have errors in them. Bad data copied and pasted is still bad data. But now it’s your bad data.
#3 To Err is Human
88%… yes, you read that right. It’s estimated that 88% of all spreadsheets have errors in them, while 50% of spreadsheets used by large companies have material defects. And unfortunately for businesses, errors go unnoticed.
Consider this: “Research shows just how prevalent errors are: 35% of their recent survey respondents said they were aware of data errors in the spreadsheets used for the organization’s most important processes.” (Tech Target). Whether your business flat-out misses the errors or sees them and doesn’t fix them, it’s still human error.
#4 Don’t Bet On It Intelligent Cells
Cells: basic building blocks packed with intelligent life. But do spreadsheet cells measure up to that standard? It’s questionable. Formulas are expressed in terms of cell addresses but the cell address has no intelligence to the data it represents. Cells without intelligence are hard to keep straight and harder yet to detect for errors. Isn’t it time to get smarter?
#5 Formulas Are Not a Formula for Success
“Troubleshooting an Excel worksheet’s formulas and functions can be a big job. Errors just come with the package.” (Tech Republic) So to recap, Excel formulas and functions are a time suck and errors are going to be made anyway? Are you ready for a better way to do business with a custom reporting solution?
At AxiaTP, we’re experts at addressing these data issues. Our custom software solutions for web applications and database software fit the bill for those who have challenges like the ones listed above. If you’d like to find out how we can help you replace spreadsheets with custom software, contact us today.