Authors
Jeffrey N. Barnes, David Tufte, & David Christensen
Abstract
Just as good grammar, punctuation, style, and content organization are important to well-written documents, basic fundamentals of spreadsheet design are essential to clear communication. In fact, the very principles of good writing should be integrated into spreadsheet workpaper design and organization.
The unique contributions of this paper are an integration of a review of the literature on spreadsheet design, with the results of a convenience survey of CPAs, and a "Spreadsheet Design Checklist" for pedagogy.
The checklist is intended as a reference for use until the student or professional becomes proficient in basic spreadsheet design and organization and the checklist becomes just as "second nature" as creating well-written memoranda.
Sample
This is part of the survey results. Public accounting industry respondents rated perception of importance of generally accepted spreadsheet design checklist items on a 5-point Likert Scale.
Publication
2009, American Journal of Business Education, Volume 2, Number 9, December, pages 117-130
