Universal Global Standard Logical Spreadsheet (Professional Spreadsheet)

Honestly, I am not quite sure what to call it.  So for now I am settling on Universal Global Standard Logical Spreadsheet. I will just use the term Logical Spreadsheet for now.

Excel and Google spreadsheets have their place.  But the "freedom" offered is both a strength and a weakness at the same time.  What if there was another additional type of spreadsheet in addition to Excel and Google spreadsheets?

Imagine a special purpose tool, a logical spreadsheet designed specifically for accountants, auditors, and analysts.  A professional tool for accountants, auditors, and analysts which addresses the limitations and inherent risks when making use of traditional spreadsheets. The tool can output global standard XBRL and conforms to the Standard Business Report Model (SBRM).  Both models and facts can be imported, output, and exchanged using that standard technical syntax and other formats like Excel and JSON.

A logical spreadsheet is a type of deductive spreadsheet or logical spreadsheet or semantic spreadsheet.

Contemporary or "traditional" electronic spreadsheets have their advantages; but they also have their  disadvantages.   A general lack of spreadsheet creation methodologies lead to non-uniform spreadsheets as a result.  This lack of "best practices" then leads to spreadsheets that are notoriously plagued by errors (84 percent of spreadsheets contain some kind of materially significant error), auditing the spreadsheets tends to be very difficult, and underlying spreadsheet business models that are difficult to understand.  All of these characteristics lead to spreadsheet maintenance nightmares.  Most of us that have tried to understand and use a spreadsheet created by someone else understands that daunting task.  These disadvantages are amplified as the complexity of what is represented by the spreadsheet grows.

To get a good appreciation for the problems of contemporary spreadsheets, watch this video Spreadsheets: The Unundersood Dark Matter of IT. Quantrix points out issues with spreadsheets. (This video shows you Quantrix)

Is there a better way? We don't need to restrict the freedom of spreadsheet creators for all spreadsheets; but what if we had an additional tool in our arsenal of tools.  What if we had another, additional type of spreadsheet.  A "professional" spreadsheet.  More formal.  Imagine:

  • Spreadsheet best practices that can be controlled and therefore actually enforced leading to increased consistency.
  • Spreadsheets that, rather than being presentation oriented using "workbooks" and "sheets" and "columns" and "rows" and "cells" to identify a spreadsheet; logic of the business model is used to understand and make use of the spreadsheet.
  • Business rules that enforce relationships between facts provided by a spreadsheet can be completely separated from the actual spreadsheet, making auditing a spreadsheet easier and error detection far more controllable by those making use of spreadsheet information.
  • Spreadsheet business model design errors are reduced or even completely eliminated.
  • Spreadsheet errors are reduced or even completely eliminated.
  • Spreadsheets that are easier to understand.
  • Spreadsheets that are easier to maintain.
  • Spreadsheets that are easier to exchange effectively.
  • Spreadsheets that are based on an agreed upon global standard technical syntax.
  • Spreadsheets that can be understood the same by 30+ different off-the-shelf software applications.
  • Spreadsheet information that is machine understandable.
  • Querying across spreadsheets is possible and reliable.
  • Software applications assist business professionals in the creation of spreadsheet models.
  • Spreadsheets that are more powerful.

What if spreadsheets had a built in multidimensional model.  What if a spreadsheet had a built-in pivot table that did not have the limitations of contemporary OLAP pivot tables.  What if you could document spreadsheets consistently.  What if you could formally debug spreadsheets?

Spreadsheets have risks.  Those risks need to be managed. Spreadsheet based processes can be improved by using a more professional oriented approach using logical spreadsheets.

Accountants could use that professional spreadsheet tool for creating accounting working papers and audit working papers and schedules.

Here is a Showcase of what the user would work with (what we have so far).  And below are three software applications that already allow business professionals to work with these logical spreadsheets.

Software Application 1:


Software Application 2:


Software Application 3:

Per the Law of the Instrument: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail." Maybe there is a better approach to create certain types of spreadsheets.

Resources:


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