Spreadsheet Solutions
Spreadsheets are incredibly useful and a natural part of the way most finance and corporate treasury departments operate, but the flexibility that makes them so useful can also be very dangerous. Spreadsheet errors can cause major problems in three areas: 1) errors in the data: incorrect data entry, incorrect specification, etc.; 2) formula and macro errors; 3) applying an incorrect template. Then there are the security problems in terms of access and who is approved to amend the spreadsheet, the lack of security in temporary spreadsheet files, and the lack of audit trails on the development and amendment of spreadsheets
To comply with the Sarbanes Oxley requirements companies in their company accounts need to be able to justify the source of their data and how was calculated. This requirement is covered in today's corporate treasury management systems (CTMS), but not necessarily in internal stand-alone spreadsheets, such as those for budgeting and cash flow analysis which are often too open and insecure. To meet this requirement a whole range of new secure and unalterable spreadsheet applications are emerging: stand-alone applications and control and compliance spreadsheet management systems. Although these new secure spreadsheet applications and spreadsheet management platforms are reducing the use of stand-alone spreadsheets they will still be around for many years.
Stand-alone Spreadsheet Applications
There are now a wide range of stand-alone spreadsheet applications for corporate treasury departments including cash flow forecasting services from the banks which use highly secure spreadsheet macros to collect data and produce forecasts, and dedicated risk management macros supplied by specialist risk management companies that can be used as stand-alone routines or integrated with a CTMS.
Stand-alone spreadsheet applications cannot provide the full functionality and control of a full CTMS, they will always just be used for managing or analysing small areas or functions in cash and treasury management.
Control and Compliance Spreadsheet Management Systems
Spreadsheet management is a complex task and can be a major source of operational risk. Control and compliance spreadsheet management systems are now very sophisticated. They are now able to identify and track key spreadsheets, store and control these spreadsheet in a central repository, identify and correct errors, and manage the links to key data used in the spreadsheets. When selecting control and compliance spreadsheet management systems key features to look for include role-based monitoring of all spreadsheet elements, encryption, locking of data at spreadsheet level and of formulae and macros, full audit trail for all changes including changes to spreadsheet macros, management and control of distribution of spreadsheets, support for IT-based testing of formulae and procedures, flexibility in allocating user roles and responsibilities, and functionality to track the use of data, formulae and templates across spreadsheets.