Tracking changes in Excel spreadsheets

The importance of organizing work arises due to the fact that critical indicators for all business activities must be formed on time, and in case of necessity of extra verification there should be a person who can clarify the issue.

Comprehensive enterprise performance management software (or EPM) includes the tracking function. Often, such business software as resource planning software, financial analysis and planning (FA&P) software, sales and operations planning (S&OP) software and other types of planning and budgeting software make it possible to return to previous versions of a document and look at initial data more properly to find out what contradicts the company's business logic.

Nevertheless, for the initial collection of information, many companies continue to use Excel templates, which contain the necessary detail, as well as key parameters for filling in. Even despite the availability of specialized software for planning and budgeting, companies still utilize planning and budgeting Excel templates for the first stage. Why? Because they are flexible, adaptive, and easy-to-change. For instance, users do not have to wait for a long series of approvals to introduce changes to the template, they can simply add a new column or row.

However, this approach is fraught with a number of problems that can greatly complicate the planning and budgeting process. For example, the aggregated data is no longer associated with the source, which means that it will be difficult to carry out additional verification. The final file does not provide the possibility of auditing and tracking changes. As a result, it is not clear what employee introduced what amendments.

Spreadym allows users to save time on verification and data consolidation due to the fact that all participants work on one file. The consolidator can monitor how the form is filled in in real time, and all changes made are recorded by the system. Spreadym is powered by Excel spreadsheets, so users can collect information immediately in a familiar format. Data consolidation takes a couple of clicks.