Why is it that we love our spreadsheets so much?
They are labour intensive, they’re often very complex and we all know about the risk of errors, yet we continue to nurture and protect our increasingly unwieldy spreadsheets like they are family.
In spite of the seriousness of the potential risks, including lost revenue and profits, mispricing and poor decision making, fraud due to malicious tampering, and difficulties in demonstrating fiduciary and regulatory compliance; New Zealand businesses have been reluctant to end their love affair with the trusty spreadsheet.
(I like this cartoon from Jocelyn Paine’s blog)
Don’t get us wrong, we can relate to the attachment to spreadsheets, but there is a time and a place for everything and we don’t think spreadsheets are the place for managing complex financial derivatives…
If you would like to entertain yourself reading about other people’s misfortune at the hands of their trusty spreadsheets you may enjoy reading this article from CIO magazine about “Eight of the worst spreadsheet blunders of all time”
If you are still convinced that spreadsheets are right for you, or just can’t bear to part with them, this article provides some good tips on how to minimise your risk (courtesy of www.louisepryor.com).
But if you think it’s time to move your organisation’s financial risk management into the 21st century, we would love to show you Hedgebook.