Spreadsheet Integrity Review

Increased and complex reporting requirements mean that organisations are relying on volumes of spreadsheets, whereby excessive time is spent on manual retrieval, searching, and re-keying of data. We can identify the most critical files, access the controls and integrity of the data, and develop a long term strategy to effect timely, accurate, and flexible reporting.

Spreadsheet models are developed to fill the gap between the information needs of an organisation and the information it actually obtains from existing systems. It is not surprising therefore that spreadsheet models are widely used throughout organisations and in particular their finance departments. Unnoticed errors in spreadsheets have resulted around the world in significant financial losses and damage to reputation of respectable organisations.

Spreadsheet models are most of the times not developed and supported in a controlled environment. This will in most of the times lead to one or combination of the following:

• Interface errors, e.g. incorrect links to other spreadsheets
• Logic errors, e.g. use of incorrect formulae
• User errors, e.g. incorrect input of data and sorting

If this is your situation

• You use spreadsheets to facilitate monitoring and tracking of workflow to support operational processes, such as listing of open claims, unpaid invoices and other information that previously would have been retained in manual, paper folders
• You use spreadsheets to support analytical review and management decision-making, such as disposal decisions and bids for major contracts
• You use spreadsheets to directly determine financial statement transaction amounts or balances that are populated into the general ledger and/or financial statements.

How can PwC help you

• Identify whether there are appropriate controls to mitigate the risks inherent in a spreadsheet environment and document them. Examples of such controls are change control, version control, access control, logic inspection, security etc.
• Evaluate existing controls against a checklist of "necessary" controls. Any gaps between existing and “necessary” controls will be identified as remediation items as well as any gaps in operating effectiveness
• Develop an action plan for each control gap identified
• Determine whether the calculations in your models are in all material respects internally consistent and mathematically correct
• Comparison reviews of changes to updated versions of models.