Spreadsheets have an important place in almost every business. They’re quick, flexible and familiar, making them useful for calculations, planning and ad-hoc analysis.

The problem starts when spreadsheets gradually become responsible for processes that should ideally be managed within your accounting or business management system.

Quotations are maintained in one workbook. Stock movements are tracked in another. Expenses are captured manually. Management reports rely on someone copying figures out of Sage and combining them with information from several other files.

Each individual spreadsheet may work perfectly well. Collectively, however, they can create unnecessary administration, fragmented information and increased risk.

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When does a spreadsheet become a business risk?

The issue isn’t spreadsheets themselves. It’s what happens when a spreadsheet becomes a critical part of an operational or financial process without the controls that would normally exist within a business system.

Some common warning signs include:

• Multiple versions of the same spreadsheet circulating between employees
• Figures being copied manually from one system or file to another
• Reports depending heavily on formulas created or understood by one person
• Staff spending significant time reconciling spreadsheets with Sage
• Important information being stored on individual computers
• Limited visibility over who changed information and when
• Processes stopping when the person who manages a particular spreadsheet is unavailable
• Management reports taking days to compile because information comes from multiple sources

As transaction volumes and teams grow, these problems tend to become more noticeable.

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The hidden cost of duplicate data capture

One of the biggest problems with spreadsheet-dependent processes is duplication.

For example, information might first be entered into a spreadsheet to prepare a quotation, then entered again when an order is received, and finally captured into the accounting system when an invoice needs to be raised.

Every additional capture takes time and creates another opportunity for an error.

The same problem can occur with stock, expenses, customer information and management reporting. Reducing unnecessary duplicate capture can improve both efficiency and data accuracy.

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Which processes could potentially move into Sage?

The answer will depend on the Sage solution your business uses and how it has been configured, but it is worth reviewing processes such as:

• Quotations and customer documents
  • If quotations are being created separately and then manually re-entered later in the sales process, consider whether more of this workflow can be handled within Sage.
  • Keeping documents and transactions within a connected process can reduce repetitive capture and make it easier to follow a transaction from quotation through to invoice.
• Stock and inventory
  • Stock spreadsheets can become particularly difficult to manage when several people are buying, selling or adjusting inventory.
  • Where appropriate functionality is available, managing inventory through your Sage environment can provide a more consistent view of stock movements and reduce the need to reconcile separate records.
• Expenses and transaction capture
  • If expenses or other transactions are collected in spreadsheets before eventually being captured into Sage, there may be opportunities to simplify the process.
  • The fewer times the same information needs to be handled, the lower the administrative burden and the opportunity for capture errors.
• Management reporting
  • Many businesses export Sage information into spreadsheets every month to create management reports.
  • There will always be situations where Excel is useful for further analysis. But if the same reports are being manually rebuilt every month, it is worth asking whether more of the reporting process could be generated directly from your accounting data.
  • This can reduce preparation time and help management work from more consistent information.

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Keep spreadsheets where they add value

Moving processes into Sage does not mean eliminating spreadsheets.

Excel remains extremely useful for modelling, forecasting, scenario planning and specialised analysis. The goal is to use spreadsheets deliberately rather than allowing them to become an unofficial parallel business system.

A useful question to ask is: “Are we using this spreadsheet to analyse our information, or are we using it to run a core business process?”

If the answer is the latter, the process may be worth reviewing.

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Start with the spreadsheets your business depends on most

You don’t need to overhaul every process at once.

Start by identifying the spreadsheets that are essential to day-to-day operations. Look at how information enters each spreadsheet, who maintains it, where the information goes next and whether the same data is captured elsewhere.

Then ask whether your existing Sage solution already provides a better way to manage some or all of that process. You may find that functionality you already have is being underused, or that a relatively small change to your workflow could remove several manual steps.

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Get more from the Sage system you already have

As businesses evolve, processes often develop around immediate needs.

A spreadsheet that started as a quick solution can quietly become an essential part of the business several years later. That makes periodic process reviews valuable.

MRBM can help you assess how your business is currently using Sage, identify processes that are unnecessarily dependent on spreadsheets, and explore practical ways to make better use of your existing Sage environment.

Speak to us about making your Sage processes simpler, more connected and easier to manage.