I'll see your Excel in court

Spreadsheet spats have been central to 12 lawsuits brought in the US and UK over the past two years leading to $210 million in alleged company losses.

“Adding cells”, “failing to show calculations” and “failing to submit a breakout spreadsheet” are among the litany of Excel offenses heard by courts?in previously unreported court cases.

Our new report, “Bad Spreadsheet Cases: Lawsuit Tracker,? has been carried out with Dr Simon Thorne , Senior Lecturer in Computing and Information Systems, Cardiff School of Technologies and programme chair of the European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group (EuSpRIG ), a group which studies the phenomena of spreadsheet error, risk and productivity.??

The analysis reveals that 12 lawsuits between 2022 and 2024 have seen Excel files appearing as a starring exhibit in court cases. In each case corporate fortunes are falling on th eturning on the formula, cells, and calculations particularly in large government procurement cases.??

The study reveals errors in spreadsheets including Virginia-based Aurora failing to win a contract for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ($138, 572) for “adding cells”.

In a 60-page complaint, Ahtna, a construction and logistics company, tried to invalidate the awarding by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of a $200m contract after a rival failed to show “certain calculations in their spreadsheets” in a procurement for facilities at Port Isabel Detention Center in Texas.

Meanwhile, technical consulting company Aspire’s failure? to “submit a cost in a breakout spreadsheet via Microsoft Excel” saw the company lose a contract with the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)– a decision overturned by the court.?

Download the new study here

FP&A Today ??Getting to big wins with AI in FP&A – Don Tomoff?

“Not having the answer is no longer acceptable because you are 30 seconds from having the answer. You’ve just gotta ask.” – Don Tomoff?

Don Tomoff, MBA founder of Invenio Advisors, is a finance rockstar and a trailblazer in AI adoption for finance. As a CMA his life’s mission is to make work easier for literally everyone he encounters. The CMA and finance expert? has more than 30 years of experience spanning accounting, being a CFO, and consulting. Don Tomoff is not just an expert in his field including AI. He’s a passionate advocate for using technology to drive efficiency and innovation.

In this episode speaking to Glenn Hopper Don emphasizes how AI has transformed the speed at which financial professionals can access information and solve problems.

“Right now, if you’re doing AI, you have a huge advantage against those that aren’t. But I think in the next year or so, you’re going to quickly shift to, it’s a liability for you if you aren’t doing it.”

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