It’s highly likely that the Excel spreadsheet you’ve just created for work contains significant errors. Or at least this is what a recently published study says. Its authors are warning Excel users that 94% of these documents can lead to serious problems within their companies.
Please review your Excel sheet. The study, conducted by professor Pak-Lok Poon and involving multiple academic centers in Hong Kong, reveals that the majority of spreadsheets used in business applications may contain errors that impact decision-making processes. According to Poon, the high rate of errors detected is “concerning.”
Financial implications. The study says these errors can result in poor operational and economic decisions, financial losses, pricing errors, and risks in sensitive areas such as healthcare and nuclear power plant operations. Poon suggests that “these mistakes can cause major issues in various sectors.”
Previous training. Additionally, the study found that an increasing number of people are creating spreadsheets without proper training, leading to a rise in the number of inaccurate documents.
Analyzing tables. Poon’s team analyzed studies published in scientific journals over the past 35 years, as well as reports from conferences in the last 10 years. They focused on the quality of these spreadsheets and discovered issues such as incorrect formulas leading to wrong conclusions.
Quality control. The researchers suggest that these spreadsheets should undergo review during the design and creation process, rather than after their completion. Poon proposed implementing a spreadsheet development life cycle in which quality control is an integral part of its creation.
This article was written by Javier Pastor and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.
Image | Konior21
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