Automated Excel

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Analyst Reporting Budgeting
Automated Excel management reporting and
budgeting without any spreadsheet headaches
Martin Watson Tel. [phone] Martin.Watson_at_glb
soft.com
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Agenda

• Key reporting issues
• Analyst Solution
• - Reporting
• - Budgeting Forecasting
• Demonstration

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A Selection of Users

gtgtback
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Reporting - Have we lost the plot?

• the industry has applied querying tools to
  mainframes, report generators to departmental
  processing in the finance department, and
  functionally rich spreadsheets As a result, it
  is no wonder that reporting in many organisations
  is fractured, slow and unreliable. Somewhere in
  this transition from primitive end user reporting
  through to sophisticated slicing and dicing we
  have lost the plot! For example, we can produce
  any number of complicated colour graphics from
  our spreadsheet with the click of a couple of
  buttons but we cannot produce that vital profit
  and loss account for a week without an army of
  spreadsheet jockeys. Gary
  Simon
• 
  Deloitte
  Touche
• Financial Systems News

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Management Reporting The Issues

• What the market wants
• Prompt Automated Reporting
• Integrated Reporting - Actual, Budget etc
• Precise Variance Analysis
• Flexible Formatting
• Automated Maintenance
• Transaction Detail
• Enterprise-wide distribution, security etc
• Reporting from multiple systems and companies
• Intuitive reporting
• Corporate information - financial non-financial
• . One Solution

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Management Reporting The Issues

• What the market gets
• Manual cycle, re-keying, re-formatting etc
• Late reporting
• Non-integrated reporting - actual, budget etc
• Dual maintenance
• Balance only reporting
• Poorly formatted standard report sets
• Reliance on IT/key individuals proprietary
  systems
• Difficulty handling changes last months cost
  centre groupings have changed and so must all our
  reports
• A spreadsheet

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Management Reporting Research shows...

• 92 of all companies use MS Excel for financial
  reporting and budgeting even where they have
  already invested in a business intelligence tool
• Deloitte Touche

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Spreadsheet Culture
Positives

• Superb familiar reporting interface
• Ownership and control
• Integrating environment
• Portable environment
• Graphics and powerful formatting

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Spreadsheet Culture
Negatives

• Manual re-keying
• Re-formatting
• Linked spreadsheets, macros maintenance
• Manipulating large directories
• Excel used as a database
• Performance and instability
• Reliance on key individuals
• Meeting expectations

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Analyst Components
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Analyst Reporting Overview
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Delivery Mechanisms
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Workbook Generator
Analyst Database
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Demonstration

• 1. Analyst Reporting
• Sample pack of reports, inc drill down
• 2. Workbook Generator
• Automation and distribution
• 3. Analyst Budgeting
• Create a budget template for distribution and
  entry
• Enter data, spread methods, protection
  writeback

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Budgeting Forecasting
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Analyst Budgeting Overview
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Benefits

• Speed, Ease, Accuracy, Flexibility
• Time in production and distribution
• Presentation meaningful reports
• Maintenance of spreadsheets removed
• Detailed transaction analysis
• Finance look good to business and Board
• Accuracy and confidence
• Stable application