middleRight - preface

From the Book Preface...

There's a very large community of business professionals who regularly work with spreadsheets. They are not spreadsheet experts and don't claim to be. They don't have enough time; they're too busy meeting deadlines. The budget implications take precedence over the details of preparing a well-designed budget spreadsheet.

However, this "business before technology" attitude comes at a price. All too often, business professionals are caught short of time and find themselves designing spreadsheets inefficiently. Many business people have told me that they know they are not preparing spreadsheets as well as they could and should be doing. They work hard (perhaps too hard) to meet deadlines. The process feels like, and often is, an exercise in "electronic pencil pushing." Once done, they move on to the next task at hand and promptly forget their work until exactly one month rolls by. Then they repeat the whole process, inefficiently resorting to "one-offs."

This state of affairs would not be so bad were it not for the fact that the current business and economic climate demands greater efficiency. Furthermore, business decisions must now be performed according to "Internet time." Crucial decision making in a shortened time frame, coupled with the critical consequences of those decisions, increases risk exposure to businesses and thereby the likelihood of fallout for individual business managers. No one can afford to be wrong in today's warp speed and closely watched business environment.

How do we meet these challenges? Corporate practices relating to spreadsheets often amount to leaving people to their own devices to work their way through the task, picking up what they can from books and colleagues, repeating what worked the last time, and if necessary, force parts of their spreadsheet to work in order to complete their spreadsheet.

My starting point for addressing spreadsheet practices and features consists of what you need to be able to do in the day-to-day business setting. In the process of explaining techniques and practices, I introduce spreadsheet features where they are needed and have a clear purpose. I point out the "gotchas" and stubbornly refuse to sweep details under the rug. Providing techniques and guidance for real business situations is what this book is all about.

Because this is a book about techniques, you’ll find plenty of "Take-Aways" on the accompanying CD that you can immediately put to use. The examples illustrated throughout Excel Best Practices for Business all incorporate Excel 2003. Fortunately, best practices are largely independent of which version of Excel you happen to be using. You need to be aware that Excel 2003 introduces many new XML-related features not found in the earlier versions of Excel. These XML- and Web-related features play an important role in Chapter 12, “Spreadsheet Portals, XML, and Web Services.” To gain full benefit of these capabilities, you need to work with Excel 2003.

From a stylistic standpoint, I favor providing industrial-strength spreadsheet examples and try to present concepts from a mature business perspective. I want you to be able to pinpoint where and when specific techniques and practices come into play. An added benefit of these full-featured spreadsheets is that they are rich in "mini-techniques" that often are unrelated to the main theme or purpose of the spreadsheet. My hope is that you can harvest these components and use them within your spreadsheets. Finally, these full-featured spreadsheets can be turned into production-quality spreadsheets. Whenever possible, I outline features that you may want to incorporate to ready them for a production environment.

Now, you’d better hold on to your hat, because Excel is getting a second wind. Fanning the sails is XML. Microsoft has decided to embrace XML and integrate it heavily with Excel 2003 and Office 2003. This is a smart move on Microsoft’s part. In the coming years, XML will be the ubiquitous medium for virtually all electronic data exchange for business. This development will catapult Excel to center stage, and Excel Best Practices for Business readies you for this by introducing the topic of Spreadsheet Portals, among other things.

Also important is the need to make the contents of spreadsheets accessible to individuals with disabilities. For federal agencies, making electronic information accessible has been mandated by law under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. To address this need, a significant amount of the text (Chapter 13) is devoted to the topic of Assistive Portals, which provide an elegant means to grapple with the serious challenges faced by users and preparers of accessible-friendly spreadsheets. To serve as a hands-on example, the basics of setting up screen reader software are included, along with simple, practical methods for making spreadsheets accessible.

Almost every chapter compiles information that you may not easily find elsewhere. I have prepared much of this information in a form intended for easy reading and reference. Also, you’ll find a cross-reference listing (Appendix C) of many of the specific best-practice techniques that the book highlights.

Chapter 8, "Analyzing Data," is a good deal more mathematical than the rest of the book. A second track that is largely non-mathematical in nature is also provided, allowing you to obtain beneficial information and useful tools for data analysis. The technical rigor in selected portions of the chapter is needed to place the validity of certain topics on firm ground. In particular, the section on the quantification of uncertainty involves a methodology borrowed from mathematics and physics called "Addition in Quadrature." This method is applied to financial analysis and is fully integrated with spreadsheets. Financial analysts, MBAs, and actuaries will need the mathematical rules that formally spell out this body of knowledge. For this reason, I felt it necessary to include these topics, even though some of you will find it reaching beyond your needs or interests.

Throughout this book, you may encounter unfamiliar topics. My goal has been to provide enough initial knowledge to bring you to the doorstep of a discipline that you may then feel encouraged to explore on your own.

I purposely pose questions and prod you to look at things from a new perspective and think outside the box. I am confident that as you make your way through the techniques presented here, you will select the styles, methodologies, and practices that work best for you.

Loren Abdulezer
September 2003