Spreadsheet Check and Control: 47 Key Practices to Detect and Prevent Errors

This spreadsheet book is quite different from every other book on Microsoft Excel. If spreadsheet users had a driving licence, this would be their seat belt, air bag, navigation aid, repair kit, hazard indicators, and the rules of the road.

This new book describes how to produce well-crafted spreadsheets that are easy to understand, maintain, audit, and operate. It shows how to ensure data quality and accuracy and protect against formula and operational errors.

Each of the 47 techniques is explained with examples and has a self-test practical question with answers at the back of the book. The book¡¦s support web site provides sample spreadsheets for these tests.

The material gives spreadsheet users more confidence in their work, and saves time chasing and fixing easily preventable errors. Those whose job is to check the work of others, whether they are software testers or auditors, will learn formula auditing techniques and be able to reveal hidden data and formulas. This book should be adopted by organizations concerned to reduce compliance costs by being able to demonstrate management of material risks and increase controls on spreadsheet based financial reporting.

Patrick is Managing Director of Systems Modelling Limited since 1981. His current focus is spreadsheet systems modelling and auditing services as well as general IT consultancy. He lectures on Quantitative Methods in the Irish Management Institute. He is current chair of the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group (EuSpRIG) and of SoftTest Ireland, and a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society. He advised the ECDL Foundation on the content of a syllabus for a new certification in good spreadsheet practices. His latest book is "Spreadsheet Check and Control" (Systems Publishing, 2005, ISBN 190540400X)