A $28 Billion Excel Sheet: Why Finance Needs Better Tools

Johan Smith

Recently, the NZ Herald published a shocking story: Health NZ, responsible for billions in public healthcare spending, was managing a NZ$28 billion budget using one single Excel spreadsheet. The management of one of the largest public organisations in New-Zealand depended on .. one single Excel file.

Let that sink in. One spreadsheet. For $28 billion.

It may sound like a joke, but for many finance professionals, this scenario hits a little too close to home. Because while Excel is a powerful tool, it was never designed to serve as the core system for enterprise reporting, forecasting, or financial consolidation — let alone for managing multi-billion-dollar budgets.

And that's exactly the issue.

The Limitations of Excel as a Core System

Let's be honest — we all use Excel. And for good reason: it's flexible, familiar, and capable. But when spreadsheets become the primary system for managing data from multiple entities, currencies, or reporting structures, risk creeps in fast:

• Error-prone: One wrong formula or copy-paste can skew millions in reported numbers.
• Version chaos: Which file is correct? Who made what change?
• No audit trail or control: It's hard to track changes, let alone enforce accountability.
• Lack of scalability: As your business grows, Excel doesn't scale — you build workarounds, not structure.
• Lack of process: Excel does not help following due process.

So, yes — the concerns raised by New Zealand's auditor are valid. It's not just about a tool choice. It's about confidence in financial governance.

What if there's a better way?

At XLReporting, this is exactly the problem we solve. We bring together the flexibility of spreadsheets with the structure and reliability of a purpose-built reporting platform.

With XLReporting, you keep the power of Excel — but lose the pain:

• Connect to your accounting systems – No more import/export. Always up-to-date data.
• Standardized reporting – One single source of truth. No more “Q1-Final-Final-v7-draft.xlsx”.
• Process-driven - Ensure the numbers result from good process and workflow, instead of ad-hoc data entry.
• Full access control and audit trail – Know who did what, and when.
• Automated consolidation & forecasting – Less time fixing spreadsheets, more time analyzing.

From Spreadsheet Jungle to Reliable Insights

Health NZ might be an extreme example, but the underlying issues are widespread. In many organizations — from mid-market to enterprise — finance teams are stuck in time-consuming, error-prone Excel processes. Not because they want to be, but because the alternatives often seem too complex or expensive.

At XLReporting, we prove that's not the case. We offer a scalable solution that empowers finance teams to:

• Report faster
• Forecast smarter
• Work more securely

All without giving up the spreadsheet experience they're used to — just with the structure, automation, and control they need.

Curious how XLReporting can help your finance team grow without the spreadsheet headaches?

Book a demo to find out more.