If You Break It, You Own It

Johan Smith

You're making a last quick change in an Excel spreadsheet just minutes before the deadline .. and then it all breaks .. formulas are suddenly broken, and numbers don't make sense anymore.

If you've worked in finance long enough, you have lived the experience. And felt the pain.

If You Break It, You Own It

Are you familiar with the general custom in department stores and tourist shops: "If You Break It, You Buy It"? This is the case with spreadsheets as well. It does not matter if you created the spreadsheet, or someone else did .. it is now your problem.

The Myth of Control

I built, improved, and maintained many complex models in Excel. They worked. They were clever. They were 100% mine .. which meant they were also 100% my problem.

Any change to the business? Any question from the board? Any new scenario? Back to the spreadsheet maze.

How do you even name the next version, as you were already on "last_final_v17.xlsx". Maybe "very_last_final_v18.xlsx"? What again was in the previous 16 versions? Final or draft? Anyone?

Here's the brutal truth: what feels like control ("it's so flexible") is often just a bottleneck in disguise. We bury errors under layers of fixes and hope that cool KPI's will distract from it.

We deliver reports and forecasts that may look polished but are shaky underneath.

Effort and dedication is no substitute for effectiveness.

We're doing finance the hard way, and many of us don't even realize it.

Fix the Tool, Not the Numbers

We don't need a new macro. Or a cheat sheet with 50+ complex functions, 100+ keyboard shortcuts, and lookup tricks. Or yet another linked spreadsheet.

No. We don't need any of that. We need a shift in mindset.

• Forecasting isn't about guessing a number, it's about understanding activities.
• Reporting isn't about formatting, it's about insight.
• Automation isn't about speed, it's about reliability.

What finance really needs is structure. Not rigidity, but well-defined processes, shared logic, and tools that support collaboration, transparency, and auditability.

If you are a CFO, a controller, or an FP&A lead, ask yourself this question:

“Do we want to use Excel to fix reports, or use reports to fix the business?”

The Better Way

That's why we built XLReporting. Not because we don't love Excel (we do). But because we love clarity and confidence more.

We designed a platform that gives finance teams control which helps you:

• Build activity-based forecasts (what are we planning to do, and what will it cost?)
• Let budget holders participate in a controlled environment
• Consolidate everything automatically and traceably
• Eliminate version sprawl and copy-paste gymnastics

Say goodbye to broken formulas, hardcoded values, invalid references, and data hidden in 18 or more tabs. Forget about confusing file names and endless versions.

XLReporting works, because we've lived the pain ourselves.

Curious for a better approach?

We'll show you, no slides, no fluff. Just the real web-based application.

Do you want to explore how XLReporting can help you? Request a demo today! Click here