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Spreadsheet Professional Features
| Overview | Features | Benefits | FAQ | Free Download | Pricing | Training | Auditing Services |
Spreadsheet Professional's tools are divided
into 4 groups:
Building Tools
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Spreadsheet Professional contains five tools
to assist you in the building of your spreadsheet models. Each is
described below.
1. Set up sheet in standard format
This tool enables you to create spreadsheet
models in the best practice standard format. It has been shown that
spreadsheets built in this format contain less errors and are easier
to understand.
2. Build Bar
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The build bar is designed to reduce the number
of key strokes required to enter a formula, format the formula and
copy it across the spreadsheet.
The build bar enables you to enter all these
details and then simply apply the formula the number of times
required - no more dragging and dropping.
As the build bar remembers the last entered
details, it is possible to create, format, choose colour, select
borders and copy a cell with a single key stroke, thereby
encouraging proper formatting and colour coding of cells and saving
significant time.
Furthermore, if the automatic colouring option
is selected, Spreadsheet Professional will automatically analyse the
contents of the cell and select a colour for the cell depending on
whether the cell contains a formula or an input.
3. Translation bar
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The translation bar provides a translation of
the current formula into English at the bottom of the screen. This
enables you to quickly verify the accuracy of the formulas that you
have entered.
We have found that the translation bar is
normally best anchored to the bottom of the spreadsheet, and
provides a quick and easy way to ensure that the formulas entered
make sense. By providing a visual check in English of the meaning of
the formula, it enables you to quickly identify any errors that may
have occurred when inputting the formula.
4. Spreadsheet Painter
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The spreadsheet painter colour codes each of
the cells of the spreadsheet depending on what is contained within
it. This has two benefits - It enables the users of the spreadsheet
to see what cells require inputs, and it enables you to quickly spot
where the pattern of formulas and inputs does not seem correct (for
example - when a formula has been inserted into the middle of a row
of inputs).
In this example, headings and labels have been
coloured light blue, inputs purple and formulas yellow. You can
change the colour scheme to your preferred colours by selecting the
options button.
5. Spreadsheet Formula Tracer
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The spreadsheet formula tracer enables you to
trace the antecedents of any formula to any depth and so understand
how it was derived. It does this by providing a visual
representation of how each formula is calculated.
This visual representation can be altered in a
number of different ways in order to suit your particular needs. The
representation can also be saved or printed, thereby providing an
easy way to document the relationships between the different
formulas within the spreadsheet.
Testing Tools
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Spreadsheet Professional will examine your
spreadsheet for 25 common types of error. Each cell that might
contain an error is flagged in a report, together with the reasons
why Spreadsheet Professional has been programmed to flag up the
cell.
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Part of an error report for a small spreadsheet.
Although it is never possible to guarantee
that a spreadsheet is completely free from errors, Spreadsheet
Professional will enable you to quickly eradicate many of the most
common errors that occur.
Documenting Tools
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Spreadsheet Professional contains a full range
of tools to automatically document your spreadsheet. This
documentation significantly enhances the value of the spreadsheets
that you produce by enabling them to be understood and maintained by
others.
The product also enables you to document
spreadsheets that you have inherited from other people, making them
easier to understand and to use.
A description of each of the reports is given
below.
1. The Summary Report
This report is a brief summary of the
spreadsheet model, when it was produced, the sheets within it etc.
2. The Range Name Report
This report contains a list of the range names
and external references used within the spreadsheet model and what
they refer to.
3. The Maps Report
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This report contains a map of the spreadsheet,
showing where all the inputs, unique formulas etc occur. It is
useful to identify inputs and potential anomalies within the
spreadsheet.
Key to codes:
L = Label
N = Numeric input
F = Unique formula
< = Formula copied from left
^ = Formula copied from above
+ = Formula copied from both left and above
4. Translation of Calculations Report
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Possibly the most useful report. This report
translates each of the unique calculations into English so that it
is easy to understand.
5. Blank input sheets and current input values
report
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The blank input sheet report identifies each
input within a spreadsheet and prepares a blank input sheet that can
be used to collect the data.
The current input values report details the
value of each input on the spreadsheet.
6. The test reports
These reports detail potential errors that may
have occurred during the building of the spreadsheet.
Usage Tools
Having developed a spreadsheet model, there is
often little time left to use it.
These tools enable you to quickly run
sensitivity analyses and produce sensitivity reports, compare two
different versions of a spreadsheet and produce a series of quick
reports on the model.
The sensitivity and breakeven analysis tool
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This tool enables you to quickly produce and
report sensitivity and breakeven analyses for any cell within the
spreadsheet. The sensitivity analysis enables you to select a range
to vary any input cell and see the impact on any other cell within
the spreadsheet.
The breakeven analysis enables you to see what
value the input cell has to be so that the other cell has a value of
zero (or any other value that you are trying to achieve).
This is particularly useful when you are
trying to establish answer such questions as "How far can
revenues drop before we stop making a profit".
Using this tool it is possible to run many
analyses very quickly and produce answers and reports for
discussion.
The sensitivity and breakeven tool
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A sample sensitivity report
By pressing the document button at the top
left hand corner of the sensitivity tool, a report of the results
can be quickly created.
The Spreadsheet Comparison tool
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Very often you will want to compare two
different spreadsheets, two versions of the same spreadsheet or even
two runs of the same spreadsheet. This tool enables you to perform
these comparisons and produces a table showing the differences.
The tool enables you to select whether you
want to see the differences in the inputs, the formulas or the
results of the spreadsheet.
If you're involved in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, this is just what you need!
Benefits >>
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