Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
Many large financial planning models are written in a spreadsheet programming language (usually Microsoft Excel) and deployed as a spreadsheet application. Three groups, FAST Alliance, Operis Group, and BPM Analytics (under the name “Spreadsheet Standards Review Board”) have independently promulgated standardized processes for efficiently building such models. These spreadsheet engineering methodologies provide detailed guidance on design, construction process, and quality control. We summarize and compare these methodologies. They share many design practices, and standardized, mechanistic procedures to construct spreadsheets. We learned that a written book or standards document is by itself insufficient to understand a methodology. These methodologies represent a professionalization of spreadsheet programming, and can provide a means to debug a spreadsheet that contains errors. We find credible the assertion that these spreadsheet engineering methodologies provide enhanced productivity, accuracy and maintainability for large financial planning models.
Recommended Citation
Grossman, T. & Ozluk, O. "Spreadsheets Grow Up: Three Spreadsheet Engineering Methodologies for Large Financial Planning Models". Proceedings of EuSpRIG 2010 Conference, July 2010.
Included in
Databases and Information Systems Commons, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, Software Engineering Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons
Comments
Presented at EuSpRIG 11th Annual Spreadsheet Risks Conference 15th - 16th July 2010 at the University of Greenwich, London, UK.