Uncontrolled spreadsheets present serious risks for
virtually every enterprise, analyst firm Gartner has
warned.
Although nearly all financial statements and tax returns require
the extensive use of spreadsheets for both data entry and
manipulation, Gartner analyst Jay Heiser warned that there was
little awareness of the need for spreadsheet governance.
In a paper looking at the risk, he said, "Even though governance
regulations such as the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act have resulted in
higher levels of visibility and control for enterprise
applications, spreadsheets remain a source of both inadvertent
error and deliberate manipulation."
Heiser said comparatively few businesses had methodically
implemented across-the-board spreadsheet quality control.
Gartner has identified two types of products which can be used
for spreadsheet auditing. The first is quality control products
such as Spreadsheet Professional, Space and Spreadsheet
Detective.
The second is governance tools such as Cluster Seven's systems
and Prodiance's Remediation Services for Microsoft Excel.
Heiser believes Compassoft's acquisition of Speadsheet Auditing,
the UK-based developer of the Exchecker spreadsheet validation
product, announced in September, will boost spreadsheet
auditing.
He said the acquisition meant Compassoft was the first provider
able to address both key elements of spreadsheet management:
quality control and governance.
"If enterprises do not simultaneously address both of these
issues, spreadsheets will always be a source of losses," he
said.
Auditing spreadsheets
- Locate and document all spreadsheets that are financially
material or relevant to regulatory compliance.
- Implement mechanisms to ensure that all spreadsheets are used
accurately and appropriately.
Source: Gartner