In the post-pandemic world, no business can afford to waste time or money. However, many managers and employees are losing around a day each month on manual expense processes.1

Even the routine operation of consolidating and reconciling Excel spreadsheets is taking significant time and resources for finance teams and small business managers. More time is wasted when the spreadsheet crashes or freezes, or is found to be an old version. Some of the key time-wasting activities involved in Excel spreadsheets include:

  • Consolidating and reconciling data from multiple sources and systems. This is a key challenge and frustration for finance teams because by the time the data is consolidated, it is often out of date. It is also frustrating for other work teams when the time taken to access critical data may be the difference between closing a deal or not.
  • Employees may need to copy data from one spreadsheet and paste it into another system. This repetitive activity can have a multiplier effect if it is done few times each week, quickly adding up to a lot of wasted time. In many organisations, more than one employee will be doing this process, which results in significant time and resource losses for the business.
  • Recreating spreadsheets after a spreadsheet owner leaves the company. Other teams may not understand the formulas used in the original spreadsheet. This is a key failing with spreadsheets because they are personalised, which makes it difficult for other employees to take ownership of when someone leaves a company.
  • Spreadsheets can be emailed creating issues with version control. A lot of time is wasted when employees realise they have populated the wrong version of the spreadsheet.
  • Data and formula errors easily occur. This results in significant time-wasting trying to identify and resolve the error which, if not fixed quickly, could potentially be costly for the organisation.
  • Spreadsheets weren’t designed for organisational budgeting and planning. They heavily depend on manual data entry, which is time-consuming and can literally take months to complete depending on the size and complexity of the organisation.
  • Performing critical tasks using manual processes. This creates significant compliance issues that can take extensive time to resolve. Even tracking compliance using spreadsheets is a time-intensive task.
  • Spreadsheets can’t be secured. This leaves the organisation exposed to data breaches that can cost the business both financially and reputationally, not to mention the time that is needed to resolve a breach.

All of these issues can be easily fixed through the use of cost-effective, cloud-based business planning and reporting tools. These secure tools significantly reduce the time, costs and risks of working with Excel spreadsheets. They also facilitate better business collaboration, which helps drive innovation and builds a more resilient business, especially in a volatile market.

To learn how your organisation can save time and money, while improving business collaboration and data security through automated business planning tools, read our checklist, or contact the Planning Systems Group today.