65. Financial Transformation Live - Breaking the Excel Addiction

65. Financial Transformation Live - Breaking the Excel Addiction

Hannah Munro:  

Introduction to Financial Transformation Live 0:48 

Hey everybody and welcome to this episode of CFO 4.0 and thank you for listening. We've got a slight change the usual viewing agenda and this week we are sharing with you our very first financial transformation live session. Now these are live sessions that are going on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and a few other platforms and it's all about giving you practical hints and tips about getting into the deep end with financial transformation. So, we are still going to be continuing our interviews with CFOs and thought leaders, but we're also going to be adding into the mix these monthly sessions on different topics. So, this week's topic is all about removing the Excel addiction that is so, common in finance teams. And how do you start? How do you approach? And what are some of the things you need to consider along the way? We also talk about some of the top areas where people are using Excel spreadsheets, and perhaps they shouldn't be, the types of spreadsheets. And in the link in the show notes below, you will see all of the links that you need to, you can download, including the PowerPoint, if you want to see it in real life, the link to the video, and of course, a link to our Excel audit template. I hope you enjoy, would love your feedback. Speak soon. What are we going to come today?  

The Excel Addiction in Finance 2:00 

So, Excel is this mysterious thing that seems to take over finance departments. And today we're going to understand how we break the Excel addiction. How do we know we've got an Excel addiction and how do we address it? And it's really interesting. It is very much a trigger. So, when I'm working with other people, you know, clients of ours that are looking to transform and go through this. This is one of the big, you know, the big conversation starters for us. And it's one of the most unbelievable It's one of those things that people know they have a problem, but it's very much hidden in the depths. And people very often don't understand how bad the issue is, okay? So, we're going to talk today about how do you get hold of it? How do you understand if you have a problem? How do you start to address it as well? Some practical hints and tips as well. You know, this is not about product. This is all about approaching this from a transformation perspective. Okay, so, signs you have a problem. So, if you are sitting there going, I don't have an issue with Excel in my team. My team, it's not something that comes up a lot. If you have seen any of these phrases, so, if there's conversations about... you know, oh my God, I sent that spreadsheet to the wrong person, it had this information in, or oh my God, I deleted it by accident, or can you jump out of that Excel spreadsheet so, I can get in and add some more information? If any of these conversations are going on, you probably have an issue here, right? So, I mean, you will probably recognize a lot of these phrases from conversations, right? But again, it's about understanding. If you've heard these conversations, then you might have an issue. Which brings us on to the cycle of change. So, with any change, regardless of... what kind of change it is, you need to understand that cycle. And we talk about seller's addiction because it's a habit. It's something that people do without thinking. So, how do we break that cycle? So, the first thing you've got to understand is where are you at in your cycle of change? So, if I just talk you through the steps and then we'll take a step back and then figure out how we move it forward. So, the first thing is pre-contemplation. So, depending on whether you know you have a problem, you might sit in this bucket. So, you might be sitting there thinking, oh, I don't know. You know, I'm not sure. Your team are probably sitting in this bucket because they're sitting there not realizing that they have an issue or that it's not a big issue. So, the second stage is contemplation, which means if you're on this webinar, there's probably something where you think you have a problem. You know, you want content. You know you need to address it, but you're not actually putting the steps in place to do so, So, that's what we call contemplation.  

The Cycle of Change 05:00 

The third step is preparation. This is when you're getting ready to make a change. And make no mistake, you have to get yourself ready. You have to get your team ready. And we'll talk about that a bit more as we go through this cycle. Action is actually changing the behaviour. And you have to create an environment that allows for that change to take place. You have to make sure that you've cleared the way, that you've not put a lot of barriers in place to that change to allow that to happen. And then maintenance. You have to keep on top of it. Your team are not going to overnight go, no more Excel. We're stopping this. You have to encourage, support, and monitor to ensure that that you, that behaviour is sustained and continues. And then last, of course, remaps. And this will happen, right? So, Excel is, like I said, Excel is a habit. So, people will fall back to it, and you have to keep encouraging and driving that change of behaviour forwards if you want it to be a permanent shift, okay? So, you know, we talk, you know, there is a cycle of You'll get relapses. But what you should see as you go through, as you challenge the fact that new spreadsheets are being created, is that the relapses, the scale of the relapses gets smaller and smaller. So, you're in this cycle of uplift and you're driving that forward. OK, so, the first step is admitting you have a problem. So, A lot of people that I speak to, they know they have a problem. The challenge they have is they don't actually understand the scale of the problem, right? And so, we are going to get into that. But I think it's always important to address why we like Excel, right? Why do we use it? Why has it become like one of the most commonly used pieces of software in the finance team? And it's easy to use. We all know it, right? It is super easy to use. Everybody knows it because they've used it throughout their, you know, all of their working life and some very often through their student life as well. It's cheap. It doesn't require somebody to go and have a conversation to understand whether you've got budget to shift. It's super flexible. People can do anything with it. There's a few things they shouldn't be doing with it, but honestly, you should see some of the spreadsheets that I come across. They are incredible. You have to take your hats off to some of these Excel whiz kids that are building these really big spreadsheets. But That is not what Excel is designed to do and to be used for. And I think that's the important piece. To understand why we shouldn't use Excel is really important. Okay, so, the first thing is accessibility. So, I said, if you've heard these phrases, then you might have an issue. So, one of the big things, if you're sitting there going, can you jump out of that spreadsheet so, I can update it? Your Excel is not being used in the right way. Okay, so, accessibility can be access to spreadsheets at the same time. It can be also, you know, getting into spreadsheets because very often they're hidden in different OneDrive’s, in different layers, somebody saved it in a different place, versions as well, in different areas. So, accessibility is a real issue, right? And I guess that comes along with editability so, that Anyone can edit if they have permissions, and you can't control the degree of editability. And if you think about how complex some of the spreadsheets, certainly the ones I've seen, have been, the thought of letting anybody loose onto that if they don't understand and haven't built it, that's really worrying. So, editability is one big thing, the fact that they can be edited. And people say, well, that's one of the great things about Excel. Yes, but, all right, so, editability. You know, the fact that things can be changed. And if you're making important decisions based off this information, the fact that it can be changed and you've not necessarily got all of the tracking behind that as well, that is an issue. And it's something that happens quite a bit. maintenance so, you know things change businesses change if you think about the you know the degree of change we've seen over the last 18 months well that's huge um and certainly from a maintenance perspective say you change your chart of accounts which your reporting relies on say something else changes um you know there's a massive shift there to be aware of so, um if you change the you know, your formulas can go out of whack. So, again, one of the really common signs you've got an issue is, oh no, that's a formula error. I need to change that. Because if you seem to hear that, you know, warning bells should be ringing in your ears. Security as well. So, you know, I've seen people holding, you know, confidential data in spreadsheets and they've locked it with a password, but everybody knows that password. Anybody can get in and they can edit it. So, security, Excel is not designed to be a database storage. People use Excel for things it's not to be designed for. And we all know this. So, it's just thinking about, you know, should this data be stored in here? What are the security around it, both around changes to the actual spreadsheet, but also changes to the data that sits within it? You know, how confident are you when you speak to your auditors? that that information hasn't changed.  

Why We Use Excel 10:00 

And scalability, right? So, you know, if you are on a growth trajectory as a business, just adding more spreadsheets to the list and the time it takes to prepare and maintain and manage those spreadsheets, it isn't scalable. So, this is why we have to make the shift, and we have to decide if the degree or the dangers of the usage that we're using Excel for warrants a shift. And I don't know the answer to that because obviously very small businesses, Excel is a brilliant tool to allow them to grow to certain areas. But even at that level, you need to make sure that you're using the right tool for the job. Okay, second step, and I said this earlier, didn't I? Knowing how bad the problem is. Okay, so, this genuinely amazes me, especially, and I'm going to go back a step before I skip too far ahead, especially when I speak to leaders within the team. When you sit down and you do process reviews and somebody's saying, oh, I store that in a spreadsheet, that sits in a, oh yeah, that's in a spreadsheet, and we put it in here, then we shift across to here, and then it goes into another spreadsheet, and you can just see the faces of the people that I'm speaking to. So, if you don't be surprised if you just discover this whole warren of spreadsheets sitting on your hard drive, it's normal. And the fact that you've identified it means you can change it. So, just look at it in that kind of positive way. Right. So, we're going to talk about how we know we have a problem. So, the first thing I want to explain is what are the different types of spreadsheets you may use? that may exist in your system. So, the first one is what I call working spreadsheets. And this is probably the best use for Excel in my personal opinion that you can find. So, that is when you're just doing, you know, ad hoc calculations.  

Risks and Issues with Excel 11:56 

You're just using it to play with some data, shift, you know, to do some elements, right? So, you're not, you're not using, it's not reporting. It's for, you know, just doing some odd calculations to understand, you know, if this happens, you know, what does this change? So, working calculations, which is what it's designed for. It's basically designed to be a calculator, wasn't it? So, that is the purpose of Excel originally. It's just kind of grown a whole new set of legs. So, what are the other types of Excel sheets that you may have on your system? So, it is very likely you have ad hoc reports. And again, depending on the volume of ad hoc reports, I'm not overly concerned in this. There's always a space to be able to just pull something out, quickly change it. There's always something there. But then when I start to get into other types of spreadsheets, this is where my warning flags, my warning bells start to ring. So, the first one is regular reporting. If you are putting the same reports every week, every day, every month, then you should really be considering whether Excel is the right reporting tool. Because that regular reporting means it's preset format. It means it's coming out constantly. And it probably means there's a degree of effort in putting that together. And that probably also means that that has been shared with multiple people. OK, so, you need to think about classifying your reports into ad hoc or regular. So, that's my first tip. Next, we have data storage. So, that means storing data. Now, I've seen everything. I've seen employee salaries. I've seen customer data. I have seen customer emails. I've seen so, many different types of spreadsheets, contract end dates, all of that. So, data storage is one of those where You really should be understanding whether in your existing infrastructure or around your existing infrastructure, there's a better place to put that, okay? Imports. So, what do I mean by imports? So, very often, you know, we're shifting into a world where we're using lots of different systems, and that's a good thing, you know? You know, and very often systems will be added together with no thought for how they connect, okay?  

Types of Excel Use 16:45 

So, you may have in your list of Excel sheets, what we call import sheets. This is when you're transferring data from one place to another. So, it could be you're exporting your payroll from your payroll system into your finance system. You could be exporting a list of invoices from your project management system into your finance system. You know, it's those kind of sort of shifts. And very often, so, the bit you need to think about with import spreadsheets is how often is that import happening? You know, what is the time it takes to get it into the right format to shift it across? Yeah. And once you understand that you can figure out how much of an issue those types of sheets are. And the last one on the list is what I call process sheets. So, this is when a spreadsheet is required for a process to function. So, it's very often used, but a classic example is purchasing orders. So, I've seen it where finance will have a list of, will have an Excel spreadsheet with a list of PO numbers and they'll issue, they'll use a spreadsheet to issue a purchase order number. They'll then track who it was issued to. the status, which is where we get into the process of that spreadsheet. So, that's a common usage. I've also seen things like using spreadsheets to collect expense claims, for instance. So, there are, and you could argue that there's a bit of crossover with data storage. Absolutely. And I'll show you the format that I like to use for things like Excel audits. Okay. So, one of the things you need to understand is what are the types of Excel spreadsheets you have in your team? And then you need to do an Excel audit. Okay. So, this is a scary thing for most finance teams to do, especially the day-to-day users, right? Because I think there is an underlying acceptance that, perhaps they're overusing Excel. And so, you do, when you're having these conversations with people, you do need to make everybody aware that you're expecting to see a lot. And actually, this is kind of the baseline. It's setting the understanding of where we're at now in order that we can improve and address these issues moving forward. So, please encourage your team. Don't frown every time they add someone to the list. You want them to be as open as possible because you know where all these spreadsheets are. You know what they're used for and why they are there, you can address the problem. Okay, so, here's an example of an Excel audit. And for those of you that would like to, we actually do have a link, and we will pop it in either the chat and also it will be published on our LinkedIn page, or you message me directly if you haven't found the link. But you will then get access to this and we will be sharing the PowerPoints as well on our website afterwards so, that you can get access to this template it's just a very basic template and actually sometimes I find I've seen some beauties again you know and it is I will accept it is ironic we are using an excel sheet to do an excel audit but it is you know it's the easiest and quickest way to get it out in this scenario so, I'm What are the pieces that we need to collect?  

How to Perform an Excel Audit 17:33 

Well, this is the bare minimum, all right? So, you may add more columns. You may add more information as you go through. But for me, I want this done as quickly as possible. And I want it done as thoroughly as possible so, that we can start thinking about solutions. Yeah, so, very basically, you have a spreadsheet name. So, what is it that you are, what is the name of the spreadsheet, I.e. the name of the saved ad? What types? If you go back to the types, and again, if you want to, go back and re-watch this episode and or download the PowerPoints. We will be releasing this on YouTube. So, follow us on YouTube, follow us on LinkedIn, and you'll get that. So, the types, if you pop in the type, you'll notice I did put in the example, you can have multiple types. So, if you're not sure about whether it's a working spreadsheet or an import spreadsheet, or if it crosses over, don't get into that. Don't get into an argument between the team. Just put down what you think and move on, right? So, with all of these things, you're just better getting it down and then we can move that forward and refine later if we need to. A brief description. Okay, so, it's really important that you understand sort of a bit about that spreadsheet. You know, what it does and a bit of context around if there's multiple tabs, et cetera, because that's always something that can catch people out. Who owns it? So, who is responsible for that spreadsheet? And if you have spreadsheets where you don't have a designated owner or person that's responsible, then that is something you really need to address ASAP. Location. Okay. So, having a look in there. And I always put the full location because I find it's really interesting to understand where things are saved. If we go back to that conversation about accessibility it's quite interesting to see that location and if you I know we'll come back to that in a second frequency of use so, how often is this used right and you might have a never used and that's fine right and then the question is why is that excel sheet there deleted can you get rid of it etc and So, then we have frequency of use. So, how often are you logging onto it? How often are you updating it? So, there's a difference between how often somebody is accessing it versus how often somebody is updating it, because that can be really complicated. interesting from a timing perspective. And it kind of leaves on my next piece, but very often what will happen, if I think about revenue recognition spreadsheets, classic example, it's viewed once a month. And so, the CFO is just like, oh yeah, we only view it once a month, view the journal it's done. Well, actually, no, that's not what happens. What happens is every time you produce an invoice, you are going into that spreadsheet and adding that in. Every time you're adjusting or editing something, you're going in and editing the contents, right? So, you need to think about your, you know, your frequency of accessibility as well as your frequency of updating, okay? And time spent. Now, this is really, really important. So, it's understanding the time spent, looking at it, using it, maintaining it, and send it, you know, you know, sending it around as well. So, yeah, especially for complex spreadsheets, because a lot of the time can be spent in either pulling data out or updating formulae to make sure that the report works. And, you know, I've, Again, that's a hidden time waster in finance. You're just checking that the figures match because you would not believe the amount of conversations I have where people say, well, we pulled this out, put it into a spreadsheet, and then I have to go back and check because somebody's done something in the other system. And I just need to triple check that those figures are right. So, understanding the time you're spending on all those activities with that one spreadsheet can be a huge eye-opener. Okay. And then priority. Now, priority, I just want you to pause on for a second because I am going to sort of take that away and have a chat about that later. So, with all of this, a couple of tips is once you've got, give everybody, you know, get everyone to put their own list together. If you look at a spreadsheet and you're wondering how much time they actually spend, one of the things you can do is actually watch So, you can actually spend some, people can spend time together watching what people do to prepare reports and understand how long it takes them to update. And then you can do things like multiples, like how many records, how many new invoices do we do? It takes us three minutes to do the updates and check into all those things. And then it's really interesting to see that number grow. And then the question you need to ask yourself, if we scale so, far, the number of invoices we produce over the, next year or two doubles because that's our growth plans you know we've got serious investment and we need to hit those goals then that gives you a business case for investing in a solution to that excel problem um and then the other thing as well is once you've got this and you need to verify okay so, Go on to each person's system. Just ask them to do a .xls search on Windows Explorer and just look at the volume. If you're... Volume of spreadsheets does not match the volume of lists that you've got. To say to them, look, you know, this isn't me going to hold this against you. Oh, my God, look how many spreadsheets. These are all the problems I have. And this is how I'm going to help you fix them. Right. So, you just need to make sure that openness is there. And I also recommend you maintain this ongoing. So, as you address these, the volume of spreadsheets, you start removing them. If new spreadsheets are created, you need to get them to add them onto this list because you need to monitor. And you can use this as a great way of sort of, you know, we talked about change cycle, about maintaining and monitoring behaviour. This is a great way to do it and just do, you know, a yearly audit of spreadsheets, you know, or quarterly if it's a real big problem, just to monitor and see the size of the audit and document dropping as well it's also good to get a view of where things are as well so, many people store files on their local drives and that's again why I put location in because you can instantly see if people are storing things locally versus on shared drives and people will hide stuff locally because they almost don't want to admit that they're using excel for a purpose okay a couple of other things um you might want to add in so, other things I've seen is like last updated volume because you might have a monthly report but you've got like 15 versions. So, you can have other columns, but this is kind of the minimum that I would ask for and expect as part of an Excel audit. Okay, so, now we're on to the change that is needed. Okay, and this will be different for all of, for most people I speak to. So, I want to talk through some common solutions, right?  

Solutions to Replace Excel 35:00 

And it's not always about ripping everything out and putting in a brand-new system. It can sometimes be that, but very often there are small changes you can make now. And I say that to people, if you can make small changes now that allows you to create space to shift onto a new system, there's nothing bad about that. That's only going to add value. So, Common solutions, so, especially around either reporting or data storage, is adding custom fields. So,, you know, for instance, if you're using any of the Sage guys, obviously that's our specialty, but if you're using any of the Sage platforms, for instance, Sage 50's got free analysis codes, 200's got up to 20, depending on which version you're using. Intact has loads that you can create for custom fields, right, versus analysis codes. So, there are lots of options for you to add more data into the system. And a lot of people don't do that because finance sort of puts a ring around the accounting system goes no one else can touch this or no one else can maintain this but actually that's a really good conversation about having a shared data set it often opens up a conversation about integrations as well so, about connecting the dots between different systems and there are lots of different ways to integrate you can do direct API to API and integrations you can use their party all those sorts of things so, um Custom fields slash integrations, always a way to get rid of some spreadsheets. Very often people aren't using the system they've got already. So, like implementing existing functionality. I've had this conversation with people that are on existing systems. They don't know what they can do there. So, purchase ordering and digital purchase approval processes. So, controls over spend are a big reason for people sort of reusing spreadsheets. So, that's a huge one. Bank reconciliation. So, it's becoming less and less than goodness, but I still speak to people who are doing Excel bank reconciliations on spreadsheets or manually, which I think is even worse. So, they're just literally highlighting and doing bank reconciliations there. All good software has bank reconciliation options that are digital. The best ones, of course, have bank feeds and automatic matching rules. So, if you're doing any of that in Excel, have a conversation and look into it. You very likely can reduce some of those. Reporting training. So, reporting. Very often, like, and I, you know, I'm lucky enough to work with some amazing systems that have incredible reporting tools. But even those that when I speak to people that are on, say, some of the smaller packages, they don't even know that they've got reporting tools in the system or reports, right? So, they won't even have spent the time looking to see if there's a report in the system that they could use. And so, I do believe that training on reporting tools is really, really important for finance teams, particularly in this day and age. You need to be able to manipulate and use data. And what tends to happen is people are pulling stuff direct, like TVs or just lists of data, and then using Excel to do reporting. And certainly, for the tools that we work with, everything about station tech has got amazing inbuilt reporting capabilities. So, it's about training people on how to use those and making sure they are comfortable enough that using those tools is their natural instinct versus using Excel. And sometimes that's just an instinct piece. And that goes back to that change cycle in terms of habits, expense systems. Like this is one of the, this is one of the biggest Excel creators in my, you know, one off I say, um, This, you know, like having your expenses, people submit them via Excel, they store it all in there, they upload it as journals, and everything is just stored in Excel. So, expense systems, there's some great ones, you know, and some of them are not expensive either. You know, obviously, it depends on the degree of sort of complexity you need, but that's a really good way to just get rid of some of those initial systems. Plus, you get, you know, all of the digital traceability. It makes it easier for people to submit. Tends to mean you get it quicker. There's loads of benefits to implementing those. Reporting tools as well. So, there's reporting training, which is using the tools you already have, but you can often put on a layer of reporting on top. Now, I always say to people, if you're going down that route, you need to evaluate your basis first. So, don't put a reporting tool on top without thinking, have I got the right call? And that's where we go to is my core right so, um and that kind of that is a conversation to have if you have problems all over the place right as in you've got lots of different excel spreadsheets for different reasons you've got all of the above that I've talked about today then you need to take a pause and say is it that my systems aren't fit for purpose Or is it that I just not using them? Okay. And then you need to get somebody in to help you support and make sure you know what is available in your system. But I'm going to be honest and say, if you're at that level where everything is in Excel spreadsheets and you're almost using Excel as your finance system, there probably is something fundamentally wrong with your core system. So, that is definitely a conversation with both your existing provider and maybe evaluating other providers to see if there's a different option for you. Very often reporting is driven not just by the tools, but also by the data. So, the charts of accounts, I've seen it a few times where it's just been, it's just been, added to it's never been reviewed for fit to see if it's fit for purpose so, revising your track accounts and actually I'm hoping to do a session on that in the future financial transformation live um because that is one way you can revise um you can sort of save yourself sometimes get data out in a better format and more able to be used because that can sometimes be the limit of the reporting doors if you're not entering the data in the right way or it's not being coded correctly or how you would like it to be as correctly as the wrong word is you know um then the reporting tools that are in there aren't as fit for purposes as they could be. Okay, so, once you've figured out your solutions, obviously you're going to need to do an ROI and that's where that time saved comes in handy. And you know, think about not just the time element, but also scalability. think about the risks as well.  

Prioritising and Managing Change 50:00  

So, here's a list of things you might want to consider when thinking about which solutions to prioritise first. So, firstly, talk about time saved. How much time is it going to save my team both now and in the future? So, if we grow according to our goals and our budgets for the year, what will that mean? What does that mean one, two, three, four, five years in the future? The last thing you want to be doing is when you're, you know, when you're twice the size or, you know, you've grown by 50% is then having to implement systems when you guys are already over capacity. So, you do need to think ahead from a capacity planning and perspective in finance because it is one of the dangers. A lot of people don't invest early enough in finance process improvement. So, when they hit scale, it's a harder shift and also, it's a riskier shift as well. Ease of implementation. So, there will be some solutions that are really quick to implement. Classic example is bank reconciliations, right? So, you can quite easily, you know, without a shift onto using the existing in the bank feeds and implementing those matching rules and just shift over, right? It's not going to take a major planning project unless you guys are just really interested with bank reconciliations. You know, those small projects are, you know, a really good starting point to get team into the flow. They get them used to change. And they also give the team a bit of a bus, right, which helps you then continue the journey on to the bigger, more challenging projects. Time to implement. So, how long is it? So, just by ease, how easy is it to implement? And the second thing is, how long is it going to take? As in, what is the time span? So, implementing a new system, you know, can take anywhere from, you know, two weeks. a couple of months to a couple of years, depending what system you'll use that you're looking at. So, how long is this going to take me versus how easy is it to do? Obviously cost, you know, and you're probably in budgeting planning season at the moment. So, you know, cost is a factor, and you need to make sure, you know, if you have it in budget, you're brilliant. And hopefully you're sitting here thinking, I can get, I've got, you know, I'm thinking ahead so, we can get this into budget. But if there was going to be certain solutions that are low cost to implement, certain that can be a bit more expensive and need further approval levels. Risk. So, risk is a big thing. So, if you think about your spending, what is the risk of fraud? If you think about purchasing controls, what is the risk of us going over budget? You've got to assess each spreadsheet in terms of risk to go wrong. Things like reporting and how much time are we spending checking this? What is the risk that it could come out and it's wrong? What is the impact on the business? So, that is a really big thing. And there are lots of other impacts. So, it could be your relationship with the wider team. If you're having lots of challenges with, say, sales around sort of quality of information coming through, so, you can do your invoicing. Implementing an integrated sales force and saving tax solution, as an example, is going to give you other benefits. There may be strategic priorities that are going to help other teams that might fall into your prioritization sequence. Okay? 

So, that's it for prioritization and election. So, hopefully by this stage, you know you have a problem, you know the scale of the problem, and you've identified potential solutions. Managing change. These are just a few top tips, right? So, change and leading change is an absolute art. And I'm still learning it. You know, I've been doing this for well over 10 years, whatever decade, which is slightly scary. But it does take, you know, it takes a certain skill to lead and manage change. So, the first thing is leading from the front. It's one of the things I really believe. If you are asking for things in spreadsheets, rather than asking them to give, you know, So, asking, say, can you just do that on a spreadsheet? I need it, you know, I need it in the next hour versus saying, can you just spend the time and build that report for me? Because I know I'm going to need it next week and every week thereafter. You are creating more of a problem. Yes. So, lead from the front, led by example and think about how you're using Excel. Think about how you're asking others to use Excel. Be clear on the reasons, right? So, we think about the degree of change that we've had in the last 18 months in terms of COVID and the shift to flexible working. We had to shift, right? Urgency and imperative is one of the biggest drivers of change, because if you have to do something, then you will. And that force is what you need to create to make this change move forward. Other ways you can drive it is around KPIs. So, again, that's a great reason for that sort of Excel spreadsheet, the Excel audit. It allows you to understand where your spreadsheets are and the volume. So, you can challenge each individual to reduce their volume of Excel. Obviously, remember, you need to verify. You don't want them to just not put them on the spreadsheets. But actually, helping to drive those pieces. And also, it's a great opportunity to give them, you know, the personal development to lead a mini project on implementing expenses. You know, all that kind of stuff. I'm sure this is, you know, obvious, but it's amazing how many people don't do it. Think about what you're going to stop doing. So, especially if it's a big change like, you know, a system implementation, I always ask, well, what can you stop doing? Because if you're going to implement, you're going to need more time to do this, right? So, how are you going to sort of backfill that? So, it could be that you limit the ad hoc reporting externally, you know, with other departments for a few weeks while you make the change in terms of training and building out a suite of core dashboards. Yeah, or you resource up short term. So, think about how are you going to create space to make this change happen and to allow it to become habits? And focus on the quick wins. We talked about this, but if there are mini projects that you get in and get in quick, absolutely focus on those, get those in, give the team a sense of achievement and that will help drive the change.  

Wrap-Up and Resources 37:19 

Okay. So, I'm really hoping you found this useful, and I would love some feedback. So, if you're watching this, whether it's sort of live or on demand and you have questions, you have thoughts, you found it useful, please do reach out to me. You can reach me on my personal LinkedIn. Just search for Hannah Munro or go onto IT Solutions and reach out there through the website. We'd genuinely love to hear from you. But perhaps you're at a point where you just want to explore some options. So, the first thing is that we do... have a particular webinar on how Sage and Tap can help you get rid of spreadsheets. So, that is coming up. Again, we'll put the links in the show notes when this goes live on YouTube with a link to all of these resources, including that webinar. So, please do join us and we'll help show you some of the, you know, sort of the most common examples of ways that people can remove spreadsheets by using Sage Impact. I did say that we have a downloadable example of an Excel audit spreadsheet. If you would find it useful, please, please just jump onto our spreadsheet, jump onto our website, check the show notes for this. We'll add all those links in there. And we'll happily send that through to you so, you can, you know, at least you've got a starting point to use it. And last but not least, if you're looking for a bit of inspiration around, you know, some of the things I've talked about today, but also a lot of others, we've actually written a blog called 10 Spreadsheets You Shouldn't Have in Your Finance Dooms. And it's got loads of links, loads of information, you know, for you to explore in terms of how to get rid of that. So, yeah. I want to say thank you so, much. If you made it to the end, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you. Please do join us. Like I said, this is going to be a monthly event. We are going to be running these. We want to build a community. So, we want people to ask questions, get engaged and drive that. We've got topics coming up around implementing digital purchasing processes, not necessarily the technology, but what are the things that go around that technology to make it work? We are going to be reviewing, going through a process. How do you review your chart of accounts? How do you know it's good for purpose? How do you change yet how you figure out what she'd be looking like. There's some pieces coming on building out requirements documents if you've decided that actually you do need to review a new system, that's coming soon. There are so, many topics and you can jump onto our website, www.ifssolutions.co.uk, resources, and there's a whole section for Financial Transformation Live so, you can get alerts when we're going out. Or if you want to make it super easy for yourselves, follow us on LinkedIn and obviously we will be promoting on there. So, follow me, send me a LinkedIn message, reach out, I'd love to hear from you. So, thank you again for listening for watching. I really hope this has been helpful and useful and yes, I hope to see you at the next one. Take care everybody. Speak soon.