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Twenty Principles For Good Spreadsheet Practice 1606374704

This document outlines 20 principles for good spreadsheet practice according to guidance from ICAEW (the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). The principles provide high-level guidance for achieving good practice in spreadsheet design and use. They include determining the role of spreadsheets, adopting organizational standards, ensuring user competence, collaborative development practices, testing workbooks, and including protections against unintended changes.

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anver2679
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104 views1 page

Twenty Principles For Good Spreadsheet Practice 1606374704

This document outlines 20 principles for good spreadsheet practice according to guidance from ICAEW (the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). The principles provide high-level guidance for achieving good practice in spreadsheet design and use. They include determining the role of spreadsheets, adopting organizational standards, ensuring user competence, collaborative development practices, testing workbooks, and including protections against unintended changes.

Uploaded by

anver2679
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FINANCIAL MODELLING CODE

Twenty principles for good


spreadsheet practice

The guidance in this document is based on ICAEW’s Twenty principles for good spreadsheet
practice (see below). The Principles are a high-level set of guidance for achieving good practice
in any spreadsheet environment.

Determine what role spreadsheets play in your business, and plan your
PRINCIPLE #1
spreadsheet standards and processes accordingly.

PRINCIPLE #2 Adopt a standard for your organisation and stick to it.

Ensure that everyone involved in the creation or use of spreadsheets has


PRINCIPLE #3
an appropriate level of knowledge and competence.

PRINCIPLE #4 Work collaboratively, share ownership, peer review.

Before starting, satisfy yourself that a spreadsheet is the appropriate tool


PRINCIPLE #5
for the job.

Identify the audience. If a spreadsheet is intended to be understood and


PRINCIPLE #6
used by others, the design should facilitate this.

PRINCIPLE #7 Include an ‘About’ or ‘Welcome’ worksheet to document the spreadsheet.

PRINCIPLE #8 Design for longevity.

PRINCIPLE #9 Focus on the required outputs.

PRINCIPLE #10 Separate and clearly identify inputs, workings and outputs.

PRINCIPLE #11 Be consistent in structure.

PRINCIPLE #12 Be consistent in the use of formulas.

PRINCIPLE #13 Keep formulas short and simple.

PRINCIPLE #14 Never embed in a formula anything that might change or need to be changed.

PRINCIPLE #15 Perform a calculation once and then refer back to that calculation.

Avoid using advanced features where simpler features could achieve the
PRINCIPLE #16
same result.

Have a system of backup and version control, which should be applied


PRINCIPLE #17
consistently within an organisation.

PRINCIPLE #18 Rigorously test the workbook.

Build in checks, controls and alerts from the outset and during the course
PRINCIPLE #19
of spreadsheet design.

PRINCIPLE #20 Protect parts of the workbook that are not supposed to be changed by users.

Refer to icaew.com/excel20principles for more details.


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