Authors
Grenville J. Croll
Abstract
The first fully-documented study into the quantitative impact of errors in operational spreadsheets identified an interesting anomaly.
One of the five participating organisations involved in the study contributed a set of five spreadsheets of such quality that they set the organisation apart in a statistical sense.
This virtuoso performance gave rise to a simple sampling test – The Clean Sheet Test - which can be used to objectively evaluate if an organisation is in control of the spreadsheets it is using in important processes such as financial reporting.
Sample
Five organisations contributed five operational spreadsheets for detailed examination.
The researchers found 381 issues, which translated into 117 agreed errors.
For organisation five, the number of issues found was very low and the number of resulting errors was nil.
Given the ubiquity of spreadsheet error as reported in every other study, the existence of one organisation producing five error free workbooks appears to be anomalous.
Publication
2008, EuSpRIG
