Overview

This practical session shows how to prevent user errors in Excel using six proven techniques

• We'll look at real-world examples the good, the bad, and the ugly and walk through simple changes you can make to protect your spreadsheets and your reputation
• I'll share with you a checklist of tips to apply right away

Why you should Attend

• You're frustrated by unclear spreadsheets
  
• You want to make your workbooks safer and easier to use
  
• You've seen formula cells overwritten or deleted
  
• You've found incorrect data in your reports
• You need a simple checklist of Excel best practices
  
• You want practical advice from someone who's seen it all

Areas Covered in the Session

• I'll show you three versions of a simple model: the good, the bad, and the ugly!
  
• Then I'll show you how to get an ugly model to become a bad model and finally a god model, i.e. one that' easy to understand and use and where the risk of user-error is reduced
  
• We'll cover these 6 key techniques to reduce user error risk:
  
  • File naming & version control
    
  • Restricting access to authorised users
    
  • Clear layout, labels, and workbook structure
    
  • Consistent formatting for input cells using cell styles
    
  • Data validation to ensure only valid inputs
    
  • Worksheet protection & macros to lock key areas
    

Who Will Benefit

• Anyone wanting to analyse their data to better understand their business make better decisions
  
• Finance Professionals
  
• Excel Power Users
  
• Controllers and Analysts
  
• Excel Modellers and Report Developers
  
• Anyone creating workbooks that others use