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Errors in Spreadsheets are Pandemic

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the obscure-but-significant dept.

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?"

14 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. Easy question. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "How are Slashdotters coping with the proliferation of spreadsheets in the face of greater legal accountability and auditing?"

    With a pencil. haha.

  2. Yeah.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Back to ledgers and slide rules I say!

  3. I hear we need: by j2crux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well as one of my bosses says, "We need more Double E masters."
    Alas he doesnt mean Electrial Engineers, but "Excel Experts."
    He's very bitter about his education :P.

    --
    j^2
    1. Re:I hear we need: by BMonger · · Score: 5, Funny

      I hear they have some great "Excel Expert Masters" in the department of redundancy department.

    2. Re:I hear we need: by dna_(c)(tm)(r) · · Score: 2, Funny
      I was thinking women.

      Try to focus, will you. All of us men must write our responses through a haze of testosterone...

      Now, what was it you wanted to say?

  4. Spreadsheets by Hawat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Blame it on the users of course, especially the accountants.

  5. Re:Hardware? by j0e_average · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, the editors had all the stories queued up for the day in Excel. They managed to sort the list incorrectly, which caused this story to be posted under Hardware by mistake.

  6. large spreadsheets? by goodminton · · Score: 2, Funny

    "...they are also used to develop many large applications."
    You think they're large now? Wait 'til the million row version of Excel is phased in and you'll see some LARGE spreadsheets.

  7. How can we be sure? by ehlertjd · · Score: 2, Funny

    How can we be sure that the 1% is an accurate figure? Word is, spreadsheets aren't totally reliable. :)

  8. Re:For one thing, don't use Excel by winkydink · · Score: 3, Funny

    What color is the sky on your planet?

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  9. Next up: Bugs in Computer Programs are Pandemic by Shimmer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Film at 11.

    --
    The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
  10. Minimize the errors by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is difficult to eliminate the errors, so a better solution is to minimize them. The easiest way to do this is to add extra workbooks named "sheet2" and "sheet3" with thousands of extra cells in them. Then, the percentage of error is 3 times lower. Example:

    Before: "sheet1" has 50x50 cells, with 25 errors. That's 25 / 50^2 = 1% errors.
    After: Add "sheet2" and "sheet3" with another 50x50 cells. Now, the error rate is 25 / 50^2 / 3 = 1/3 % error.

    According to my spreadsheet, that is a much better error rate!

  11. Never had a problem with it. by zwilliams07 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just don't know. I've never had a problem with keeping track or accuracy of any of my spreadsheets. But then again I use Subversion to keep backups and logs on who uses what and when. Anyways back to waiting for my $2.1 billion tax return.

  12. Re:spreadsheet errors are hard to fix by heinousjay · · Score: 4, Funny
    Type-o's?

    Negative.
    --
    Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.