SPREADSHEET

DEVELOPMENT AARON CROCKETT

Spreadsheets used in the real

worldExamples of different

spreadsheets Features used within

spreadsheets

Improving Productivity &

Usability

Advantages

Disadvantages

References

SPREADSHEETS USED IN THE REAL WORLD Spreadsheets are used by many organisations, in various of different ways all depending

on the type of business. Some examples spreadsheets are used for are records of

students exam results, assessment grades. The reason why businesses use

spreadsheets is because they obtain special features and tools that are available. For

example, formula to perform much more complex and complicated calculations that a

human wouldn’t be able to do very quickly. This would certainly be a benefit for

businesses such as accounting. Also spreadsheets are useful for exam results because

spreadsheets can hold large amounts of data in one file.

EXAMPLES OF TWO ACTIVITIES GROCERY SPREADHSEET TOOLS AND FEATURES

ACCOUTING SPREADHSEET TOOLS AND FEATURES

GROCERY ACTIVITY • USING A SPREADSHEET FOR A GROCERY

STORE IS VERY USEFUL BECAUSE IT WILL PRODUCE CALCULATION AUTOMATICALLY. FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU WAS TO CHANGE THE PRICE OF THE POTATOES, THE SALES WOULD AUTOMATICALLY BE CALCULATED FOR YOU.

• ALSO THIS SPREADSHEET USES HLOOKUP. THIS SEARCHES VALUES IN THE

SPREADSHEET ROWS.e.g. (lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup])

ACCOUNTING ACTIVITY • USING SPREADSHEETS FOR ACCONTING IS

DIFFERENT TO GROCERY STORE. THIS

SPREADSHEET USES VLOOKUP, THIS

MEANS THAT ALL THE DATA IS VERTICALL

UNDER THE HEADINGS.

• TO SEARCH A VALUE IN THE FIRST COLUMN

OF A TABLE AND THEN RETURNS THE

VALUE FROM ANOTHER DIFFERENT TABLE

e.g. (lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup)

FEATURES USED WITHIN A SPREADHSEET

- Formulae’s are used in spreadsheets so

that when a piece of data is changed, the

formulae would make sure that the piece of

data changed is updated all the way

throughout the spreadsheet where

necessary.

- Accountants could use graphs and charts

allow to present the data in a visual and

much more exciting form. IF statements can

be used to highlight a certain cell group and

give them their particular value. Hyperlinks

can also be used to locate you to another

page within that spreadsheet.

Tools:

- VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) &

(Horizontal Lookup)

- (=SUM)

- IF

Grocery store Spreadsheets allow large supermarket chains to store high volumes in data in

one spreadsheet. Also spreadsheets allow you to do automatic calculations when necessary,

for example when price of groceries change it will automatically be updated onto their

spreadsheet. This therefore allows users and businesses to enter any mathematical formulas

ranging from simple calculations to complex statistics which aren’t as easy to work out

mentally. To perform a calculation from different cells on a spreadsheet you have to press a

mathematical symbol on the keyboard, for example ‘+’ sign, then click the second cell. This

is an advantage to humans as it takes less time to perform complicated sums.

In accounting spreadsheets, the usability allows the user to analyse data in simple ways just

by creating borders. Most spreadsheets that people have can create graphs, pie charts and

bar charts. This is used to improves visual learning and improves the way the spreadsheet is

presented and much easier to understand.

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY & USABILITY

ADVANTAGES - What “IF” sum, allows complicated calculation to be worked out via spreadsheets.

- Information can be presented in an organised way for example A1:A10 and

E1:E10.

- Insert borders, bold titles and headers to make tables clearer and easier to understand.

- Align data to the Right, Centre, or far left.

- Format the cells to represent what the numbers mean i.e. currency.

- Share the data between different people within the business.

- Saves time and much cheaper than printing out paper.

- Produce graphs to represent information visually.

DISADVANTAGES - Spreadsheets aren’t as secure as databases

- Cannot create reports or queries in a spreadsheet.

- Spreadsheets wont check validity of the data that is inserted into the spreadsheet.

- Equipment and software can be very expensive to buy.

- Staff within the business would need to be trained on how to use the software and

equipment.

REFERENCES http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/modelling/0spreadsheetsrev1.shtml

Slide 3 Figure 2 – Accounting Spreadsheet http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/Basic-Sole-Trader-Product.do

Slide 3 Figure 1 – Grocery Sales & Prices