Excel Guideline #04: Separate Input and Output
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Guideline #04: Separate Input and Output
Did you ever get a visit from an accountant? Did they check that one important spreadsheet containing the investment plans? Maybe they asked questions like: What are the input values? What are the assumptions the calculations are based on? Can you give an example of a calculation? Where are the conclusions?
These are moments you will benefit from a clear Excel model. The rule of thumb is: Separate input and output. Read more.
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Jerts Consulting & Services
7 年If there was only 1 concept I could encourage spreadsheet creators to embrace, the separation of data from calculations from presentation would be that concept. When data, calculations and presentation are not separated the spreadsheet is painfully difficult to maintain and increasingly difficult to modify for even the most minor change in business requirements. Show me spreadsheet someone dreads maintaining and I'll show you a spreadsheet that fails to apply this concept. In fact, a lot of clients come to me when the spreadsheet they built has become so painful to manage that they realize, intuitively (or out of exasperation), that there has to be a better way. I'm always happy to tell them the solution to the problem is a pretty simple concept, applied rigorously. For that reason, separation is a key learning point in the courses, webinars and guru sessions we run. If anyone asks for spreadsheet advice, the first thing I say is "Separate your data from calcs and presentation!".