Errors in Spreadsheets are Pandemic

G Roper writes "Studies show that most spreadsheets have critical errors in one percent of their cells, well beyond a permissible level. Here are some news stories about spreadsheet errors. Spreadsheets won't protect a firm from liability when they are audited and spreadsheet errors found: spreadsheets are not secure, provide no audit trail and won't pass HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley auditing. How are Slashdotters coping with the proliferation of spreadsheets in the face of greater legal accountability and auditing?"

Comments

Spreadsheet errors are a doddle

[Anonymous Coward]

You should see what the "business" jackasses do with MS Access at the bank of the northern hemisphere! It's like watching three monkeys trying to fuck a football.

I despise Access...bringing poorly implemented database technology to the untrained masses.

Re:For one thing, don't use Excel

[Luscious868]

Were you born a douchebag?

people use excel for a reason

[cinnamon colbert]

its simple, i can understand it, and i can get my work done today. these are all important things, so all the programmers should stop being snotty and superior , and instead focus on being helpful, which would mean providing excel add ons and training that solve a lot of the problems.

I bet you dollars to donuts tht 90% of the errors come from a small number of mistake classes, that could be handled easily.
I furhter bet that the smart it guys have scripts that check all the spreadhseets for some of the common errors.