By John Orlando

Excel is the world’s most popular budgeting software.  But as we’ve pointed out before, Excel is really not the best way to budget, forecast and plan.  The reasons for moving to purpose-built budgeting software and off of Excel are myriad.

There are some signs you should look for; these will help you determine if Excel still works for you, or if you need to make a change.  See if you recognize any of these:

• Your business is forced to accommodate your planning solution
• You can’t synchronize b
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By John Orlando

Everyday organizations of all sizes base decisions on data they compile and calculate in Excel spreadsheets.  Most of the time those decisions appear to be OK.  But sometimes the decisions made on information contained in Excel are wrong.  And in some cases, they are egregiously wrong.

A recent simple Excel error has had worldwide ramifications.  Two Harvard economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrote a paper that identified a tipping point for government indebtedness.  This resulted...

By John Orlando

In an earlier blog post we discussed some of the risks when using spreadsheets for budgeting.  Now we’re going to look at some real world examples of the ramifications of errors in spreadsheets.

Lost Money

This multi-billion dollar food service contractor signed a contract with a major entertainment resort.  The contract was for $20 million in food services.  The Pro Forma budget included account food cost and service expenses; initial calculations showed a $3 million dollar net profit.

Unfor...