A version of "How To Take Control of Spreadsheet Risk" was given by Diane Robinette, president of Incisive Software at the Los Angeles chapter of the IIA's March meeting.

1. Taking Control of Spreadsheet Risk
Diane Robinette, President
April 8, 2014
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

2. Objective
2
 Help you understand where spreadsheet risk hides so
that you can have informed conversations with your users
to:
 Improve the quality of spreadsheets
 Reduce the time spent finding errors
 Implement effective internal controls
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

3. Agenda
3
 Business Challenges
 Technology’s Role
 Spreadsheet Uses
 Areas of Spreadsheet Risk
 Case Studies
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

4. 4
Companies have spent millions of dollars on enterprise software
TRYING to replace spreadsheets
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

5. Spreadsheet Uses
5
Simple Calculations “What if?” Analysis
Collect data from
multiple people
Charts and Reports
User Interface to
Software Systems
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

6. Spreadsheets: Love Me, Love Me Not
6
• Allows for flexibility and agility
• Does not require IT intervention
• Does not require users to change the
way they work
• Cost of entry is “free”
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

7. Spreadsheets: Love Me, Love Me Not
7
• Allows for flexibility and agility
• Does not require IT intervention
• Does not require users to change the
way they work
• Cost of entry is “free”
• Error prone
• Possibility for data corruption
• No data validation
• Security and controls is limited
• Cost and complexity increases over
time
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

8. Mistakes happen…
8
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

9. Bad happens…
9
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

10. Early Spreadsheet Technology
10
 1979
 Software ArtsVisiCalc
 Columns and Rows
 Formula command line
 Ran on an affordable, personal
machine
 1983
 Lotus 1-2-3
 Quickly replacedVisiCalc
 1985
 Microsoft Excel
 Pull down menus
 Point and click using a mouse
Sources: www.bricklin.com, http://www.dssresources.com/history/sshistory.html
VisiCalc v1.0
1-2-3 v1.0
Excel v1.0
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

11. Today: Microsoft Excel 2010
11
 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns
 66,530 hyperlinks
 Length of formula contents = 8,192 characters
 Dependency on a single cell = 4 billion formulas
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

12. Areas of Spreadsheet Risks
 Formula Errors
 Defies Best Practice
 Hidden Information
 Difficult to see
12
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

13. Formula Errors
 Formula Fails to Cover Area
 Inconsistent Formulas
 Data in Formula Range
 LOOKUPValidation
 Currency Error
 Complexity
13
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

14. Defies Best Practice
 Constant in Formula
 Forward Reference
 Number Formatted as Text
 Referencing Blank Cells
 ReferencingWhite Space
14
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

15. Hidden Information
 Hidden Rows and Columns
 Hidden Sheets
 Hidden by Color or Formatting
 Hidden by Protection
15
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

16. Difficult to See
 External References
 Missing External References
 Conditional Formatting
 Reference Named Ranges
 Formulas Reference No Other Cell
 Outlayers
16
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

17. Standardize Spreadsheet Models
17
Company
 Real estate development, investment and management
firm with $24.8B in assets under management
Objective
 Improve the quality of spreadsheet, consistent models
Solution
 Create “perfect” templates
 Deploy technology for Internal Audit to compare
spreadsheets to templates and evaluate discrepancies
Benefits
 Consistent and accurate spreadsheets
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

18. Spreadsheet Governance Program
18
Company
 $1.2B global chemical products manufacturing company
Objective
 Reduce risk of critical spreadsheets on the organization
Solution
 Develop spreadsheet inventory to identify top 1000 “In Scope”
spreadsheets
 Deploy technology for users of critical spreadsheets to scan
spreadsheets to highlight risks
 Implement internal control: users must scan critical spreadsheets at
least once a quarter
Benefits
 Scalable spreadsheet governance program
 Improved spreadsheet quality
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

19. Proactive Business Unit
19
Company
 Fortune 10 International Oil and Gas Company
Objective
 Accurate and reliable global tax spreadsheets
Solution
 Deploy technology for global tax users of spreadsheets to
scan spreadsheets to ensure spreadsheets are working
properly
Benefits
 Confidence in tax spreadsheets
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

20. Contact
20
Diane M. Z. Robinette
President
diane@incisive.com
408.660.3077
© 2014 Incisive Software Corporation. All rights reserved.