Improving the average level of Excel-IQ within an organization makes a huge improvement to the overall productivity of staff.

 

Use the questions below to assess how Excel-backwards (or not) your organization is in 4 key areas.

 

Upon completion, you'll get a personalized assessment and a suggested action plan.

Reporting/Dashboards/KPIs

Excel reports are setup so that data is extracted directly from our data sources and that data is refreshed automatically (i.e. no re-keying) then published to the web if required.

We are able to link to both internal (on-premise) and external (cloud) data sources to make the most of our organisation data & the data that is available to us.

We use Excel’s reporting capabilities such as Pivot Tables, VBA Macro automation, charts, Power BI visualization and drill-down.

Financial Modelling & Budgeting/Forecasting

Financial modelling standards have been implemented in our organisation so that models are consistent.

Our financial modellers understand both finance and the business, and are able to analyse and interpret the results of their models so management clearly understands the implications.

A regular risk assessment process has been implemented to identify, independently review and assure key models.

Budgets & forecasts are flexible so that new accounts and cost centres can be added easily, and relevant data from different systems within the organisation can be easily integrated.

Training

All regular Excel users: receive training when new Excel versions are released and when they join the organisation to ensure they make maximum use of the most relevant features.

Administrative & clerical staff are efficient in the essentials of data manipulation, data validation, data entry, keyboard & mouse shortcuts.

Finance staff are proficient in core Excel functionality that avoids the need to re-key, copy/paste, and manually filter and sort data.  They also have a good understanding of advanced functions and functionality.

Analysts can quickly manipulate data to provide insightful analysis using their proficiency in Excel functions/functionality: INDEX/MATCH, SUMIFS, PowerPivot & PowerQuery, data tables, Pivot Tables, charting, formula-driven range names, VBA macros etc.

Processes

Processes are reviewed regularly to identify repetitive, time-consuming Excel tasks, which are then automated using appropriate Excel functions and/or VBA Macros.

Excel-based processes are documented & instructions are clearly mapped out within the files so that other staff can perform these tasks easily.

Version control is well maintained and appropriate levels of file protection are applied.