Development and Experimentation of a Software Tool for Identifying High Risk Spreadsheets for Auditing

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Author
Thorne, Simon
Shubbak, Mahmood
Date
2016-01-01Acceptance date
2015-07-01
Type
Conference paper
Publisher
European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Heavy use of spreadsheets by organisations bears many potential risks such as errors,
ambiguity, data loss, duplication, and fraud. In this paper these risks are briefly outlined
along with their available mitigation methods such as: documentation, centralisation,
auditing, and user training. However, because of the large quantities of spreadsheets
used in organisations, applying these methods on all spreadsheets is impossible. This fact
is considered as a deficiency in these methods, a gap which is addressed in this paper.
In this paper a new software tool for managing spreadsheets and identifying the risk
levels they include is proposed, developed and tested. As an add-in for Microsoft Excel
application, ‘Risk Calculator’ can automatically collect and record spreadsheets
properties in an inventory database and assign risk scores based on its importance, use,
and complexity. Consequently, auditing processes can be targeted to high risk
spreadsheets. Such a method saves time, effort, and money.
Journal/conference proceeding
European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group;
Citation
Shubbak, M., Thorne, S., (2015), 'Development and Experimentation of a Software Tool for Identifying High Risk Spreadsheets for Auditing', Proceedings of the European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group Conference on "Spreadsheet Risk Management", ICAEW, London, pp 31-53
Description
Conference paper published in Proceedings of the European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group Conference on "Spreadsheet Risk Management"
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