10 Ways "The TABULUS® Solution" can Reduce your Spreadsheet Errors
Business decisions made on incorrect data will cost an organization exponentially in the long run, and most decisions at
some point involve data in spreadsheets.
Studies have shown that large spreadsheets nearly always contain errors. When trying to manipulate financial data, P&L's,
Budgets, Forecasts, as well as sales and customer data, spreadsheets can become error prone and difficult to manipulate.
This leads to spreadsheet paralysis, where no one in the organization wants to change or update the spreadsheet.
1. BROKEN LINKS: The tooth decay of spreadsheets.
Traditional Spreadsheet: In order to display data on multiple worksheets, traditional spreadsheets require
the data to be placed in a single worksheet, and then linked to other worksheets. These links create confusion and are easily
broken, creating bad reports, errors, or worse yet, hidden inconsistencies.
The TABULUS Solution: Like a Database, TABULUS® stores all data
in a central location, and never needs links, so without links there is nothing to break. Data can be placed in as many
worksheets as you want, in as many forms as you want. Edit data on any worksheet, and TABULUS®
maintains the data throughout your file.
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Traditional Spreadsheet: Formulas must be applied cell by cell to all items individually, even if there
are thousands of items. Mistakes are almost impossible to find. Furthermore, data analysis requires consistently applying
formulas across thousands of cells. To make matters worse, the cells may not be in contiguous rows and columns.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® applies single formulas to as many
cells as you wish, using a logical systems of ‘Scopes’ which determine the cells a formula applies to. Formulas are applied
consistently to all cells. For the purposes of calculation, data is held together in a logical fashion, even if the data
does not appear together in the spreadsheet.
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3. BROKEN GROUP SUMMARIES: Your tiresome cleanup chore.
Traditional Spreadsheet: Summary formulas must be applied correctly, or they can inadvertently miss a required
item, or shift unexpectedly when items are deleted causing hidden errors. How many hours are spent reviewing and cleaning
up avoidable errors?
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® applies summaries, counts, averages,
and other commands to groups of items automatically. Simply drag items into, or out of a group, and the totals are updated
automatically and correctly every time. TABULUS® allows you to show a subset of
items, and hidden items will be added to the total so there are no discrepancies in the report.
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4. BROKEN RUNNING TOTALS: The twisted trap.
Traditional Spreadsheet: Running totals make creating summaries particularly difficult, because a single
sum formula cannot be used. When cutting and pasting rows between running totals, all formulas must be hand adjusted in
order to maintain the integrity of the spreadsheet.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® is structured so running totals
are always calculated correctly even if information is added, deleted, or moved within the file.
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5. INCORRECT CELL REFERENCES: Your spreadsheet is speaking Latin.
Traditional Spreadsheet: Traditional spreadsheets use relative references which look like Latin. When the
position of a cell changes, the spreadsheet tries to guess how to rewrite the formula based on the new position. Guessing
is not how you do business so don’t let your spreadsheet software off the hook. If the guess is wrong, you’ll never know,
because the formula looks like Latin.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® always references by name, not
position in a worksheet. There is never a possibility to break cell references or formulas by moving items within the worksheet.
Formulas are words so they are always readable.
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6. INVISIBLE EXCEPTIONS: Bear Traps in the woods.
Traditional Spreadsheet: Often, a large model will contain a formula applied to tens, hundreds or even
thousands of cells, with a small number of exceptions which require an alternative formula. In a traditional spreadsheet,
there is no way to visualize these exceptions reliably. If just one exception is missed your model is broken and you will
never even know it.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® allows the user to create exceptions
to formulas which cover large numbers of cells, and highlights those exceptions automatically. The exception can be deleted
at any time, in which case the cell will revert back to the underlying formula.
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7. MISMATCHED MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, AND YEARLY NUMBERS: The Gordian knot.
Traditional Spreadsheet: Coordinating monthly, quarterly and yearly numbers in a traditional spreadsheet
is a difficult exercise which demands such a complex web of references and summaries. The question is not are there errors
in your file, but where are the errors. As the worksheet becomes larger, it’s nearly impossible to keep all of these views
properly summing. There are additional difficulties when using income/expense accounts which sum, together with balance
sheet items, which do not.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® automatically maintains the relationships
between monthly, quarterly, and yearly numbers, as well as other time frames such as weeks, and days. Calendars are a part
of TABULUS® so additional hand written formulas are not needed.
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8. COORDINATION BETWEEN FISCAL YEARS AND CALENDAR YEAR: The Pandora ’s Box you never open.
Traditional Spreadsheet: For companies on a fiscal year, maintaining calendar year data is impossible with
a traditional spreadsheet. You wouldn’t even try it.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® automatically converts between
fiscal years, and calendar years, “No problem”. Changing the checkboxes in the calendar settings dialog box you can customize
your file no matter what the time frame or if you are working with calendar vs. fiscal.
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Traditional Spreadsheet: Millions of spreadsheet users write the same formulas over and over every day.
It’s easy to make mistakes writing common formulas, because we do it so often.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® writes common formulas for you,
so there are no mistakes. This leaves you to concentrate on those formulas where special attention is needed and
TABULUS® does the rest. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
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Traditional Spreadsheet: Spreadsheet formatting such as highlights must be manually placed one by one.
Once formatted, a spreadsheet takes a lot of time and effort just to change the look. Imagine you need to change the spreadsheet
data after you have set your formatting. Now you need to basically start all over with your formatting. This is a waste
of time and time is money.
The TABULUS Solution: TABULUS® formats worksheets based on the
type of data. TABULUS® knows the difference between groups, running totals, etc,
it’s easy to format similar types of data automatically. Best of all, TABULUS®
can switch between formats, including highlights, right from a dropdown menu. These are built-in themes that can be customized
to meet your needs.
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