Financial Reports in a Snap
A simple, do-it-yourself electronic tool. Would you like to distribute financial reports throughout your organization electronically rather than on paper? Even better, would you like to give your reports drill-down capability that permits a user to get down to the sources and details of any number in the report? When you transmit the reports electronically, would you prefer not to use the Internet or an intranet--or any kind of e-mail technology at ail? And, finally, would you like to set up this sophisticated reporting and distribution system yourself, using only your existing hardware and software? You'll be happy to know that--thanks to the hyperlink function of Microsoft Excel--all of the above is not only possible but is actually relatively inexpensive and easy to do. I know, because I've done it. I'm the accounting manager of a small public company One of my responsibilities is to provide management with monthly financial reports. Before I converted to the electronic system, I produced the reports on paper. The documents were voluminous, and there was no way they could provide the depth, flexibility and convenience of an electronic version. You might say that the high cost, inflexibility and inconvenience of the paper reports were the mother of the process described here. Although the electronic process functions similarly to an Internet, its technology is totally embodied in Excel and an office network. Why use a network and Excel hyperlinks rather than an existing Web-based system? There are several reasons: * Copying an Excel financial report to a network drive is simpler than converting the data to an HTML file and uploading it to a Web server. * Since you can link Excel files to other Excel files, users retain the full flexibility and power of workbooks, including dynamic reports--in which any change in underlying data gets updated in the displayed data. In contrast, converting Excel reports to HTML files results in static reports with no automatic updating capabilities. * Users retain full control of the data presentation, formatting and the printing setup. * No additional hardware or software is needed. * Excel hyperlinks can open any Microsoft Office file--Word, Access and PowerPoint. * Users can drill down into reports for details. * You can restrict access to files with network security. * All the data are available with a click of a mouse and can be stored as archives in one place. In addition, hyperlinks used with an Excel file can do more than just distribute reports. They provide links to, among other things, templates, forms and documents. During budget season, staff people can use them easily to call up budget templates, for example. Workers also can bring up expense report templates, phone lists or a repository of various company documents. Such a system is versatile and can be tailored to meet many needs, and users do not have to have any special expertise to activate it. HOW IT'S DONE Begin by creating an ordinary Excel file on your network. If you wish to follow the steps in this tutorial, call the file "index.xls." Then place a shortcut to index.xls on the desktops of all personnel who should have access to your company's financial reports. Once the shortcut is created, a staff member simply double-clicks on the icon and the index opens to an Excel workbook that has hyperlinks, hidden gridlines and the look and feel of a Web site (see exhibit 1, at right). As you'll see, the index can contain links to various documents in the network. Besides using an index to provide financial data, I use an index of this sort to distribute information such as headcount reports, forms and operating information. [Exhibit 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Notice that the index.xls file created to illustrate this article contains two hyperlinks, Current Reports and Past Reports. …