Zombie SpreadsheetsZombie spreadsheets should be dead – for all intents and purposes they should have been put in the ground long ago – but they refuse to die. Budget templates are the most prevalent form of zombie spreadsheets. They’re complex. They’re prone to error. They’re difficult or impossible to fully audit. Only a handful of people… Read More |
The Best Time to Replace Your Excel-BasedWe like to invite others to share what’s on their mind. Today Ted Dacko, the CEO of XLerant. Inc. speaks out on the topic of the inertia that can slow (or even stop) progress. Ted has been CEO of four other software firms prior to XLerant. Most recently, Ted was CEO of HealthMedia which he grew… Read More |
Hacking the BudgetWhat’s the one thing every Finance person complains about if their organization uses Excel for ng? That users break links or overwrite formulas or somehow introduce errors into the spreadsheet that Finance worked so hard to create. Intentional hacking? Unintentional hacking? Doesn’t matter — the results are the same. The implications are truly frightening. A… Read More |
RFP’s Don’t WorkMany organizations still issue RFP’s for selection of software products. Issuing and RFP is an extremely poor way of evaluating software in today’s world, particularly end user software such as budgeting software. RFP’s are generally a generic wish list of historical features and functions that are also normally equally weighted. The process is outdated… Read More |
10 Problems Colleges & Universities Have With BudgetingThe problems that colleges and universities face when it comes to budgeting are significant. Given all the economic challenges higher education faces today and the need to do more with less, budgeting is clearly mission critical. That makes addressing the problems associated with budgeting a top priority. One of my old bosses used to say… Read More |
Someday is now… Somebody is youSomeday we’re going to make our budget process better… somebody should really do that. How often have you thought that? How often have you discussed that with the people you work with? Well… that some day is now, and that somebody is you. I know firsthand that leading an effort to redesign the planning process… Read More |
Why is my general ledger vendor not the best choice for budgeting?Do you wonder why everyone currently uses Excel for budgeting? One of the reasons is institutions believed that their general ledger vendor had a budgeting module that they could use. It turns out that many of these “budgeting modules” just don’t work as advertised. So these institutions wind up falling back on Excel for budgeting…. Read More |
Budgeting to Strategy in Higher Education – A Recorded WebinarWe ran a webinar last week that drew a lot of attention in higher education. If you work for a college (or if you’re planning on sending your children to college) you want to watch this. As one person attending the event commented afterward, “We’ve been struggling with financial issues since 2008, and this is… Read More |
The Moon Shot for Higher Ed – Make College AffordableWhen President Kennedy challenged the country to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of the decade, it became known as “the moon shot.” The challenge was bold, the mission was clear, and everyone knew sacrifices had to be made to accomplish a great goal. The moon… Read More |
Why Forecasts Fail. What to Do Instead.I was very intrigued by a recent MIT Sloan School of Management Whitepaper, “Why Forecasts Fail. What do to Instead.” Authored by Anil Gaba, Robin Hogarth and Spyros Makridakis. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2010-winter/51214/why-forecasts-fail-what-to-do-instead/ As you probably know, MIT’s Sloan School is among the top quantitative business schools in the country. It’s the bastion for better business through data… Read More |
