Monday, October 15, 2012

The Work Of An Excel Programmer

By Leigh Bean


Going by the words of one pundit, the successes of every excel programmer have allowed accountants to make mistakes faster than at any other time in history, the only exceptions being the age before computers existed. Ancient bean counters would probably agree; the work of keeping financial records was extremely painstaking; first, it had to be written down with quill on delicate parchment, then additions had to be done manually. Analysis of data was even more demanding.

Microsoft's spreadsheet applications have made this process much easier, and these can be further customized by a computer expert to satisfy any specialized needs. There are a number of individuals and firms offering these services around the world. They are experts at figuring out what an organization needs, and customizing the software accordingly.

Customization has a number of benefits. For one, it makes it possible to automate some procedures. This is particularly useful for processes that tend to be done in the same way, just manually. This helps save a lot of precious time, money and minimizes errors. According to one study, human beings made about three hundred of these for every thousand ages; a computer application made one in three trillion pages.

Giving a hungry person fish may satisfy their hunger for the day, but it also may create dependence on the giver. To solve this, it is generally better to show the individual how to fish. This philosophy underlies a service that computer firms offer; teaching clients how to customize spreadsheet applications themselves. They will look at an individual's work, find out what skill sets are missing, and then conduct training to fill such gaps.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what they learnt, an old saying puts it; once a trainer has left the premises, and there is no recourse but notes and fellow students. This problem can be solved using cutting edge video technology; the sessions are recorded, and the results made available on websites and discs. Students can carry them in flash drives, laptops and so on, and view them virtually anywhere. This way, they can forget a lot less.

Spreadsheet applications are excellent for manipulating large amounts of data, something ancient analysts would have killed for. One can use formulas, filters among other tools to cycle through thousands or millions of entries and make any changes necessary. Software customizers can create the code necessary to make this happen automatically. These solutions enable a firm to handle unbelievable volumes of data with minimal or no errors.

Even in their basic form, spreadsheets allow user configuration. However, if this is done incorrectly, the application's functionality can be damaged, which could lead to loss of data. To prevent this happening, software experts can code in protective features, which prevent changes that would corrupt the application. The result is increased reliability.

Finding the right excel programmer need not be an exercise in hair pulling. The first step involves getting a several recommendations from a variety of sources, or advertising in local media, including websites. The field needs to be narrowed down, and this can be done by doing background checks and checking the quality of their previous work. It is important to remember that soft skills, such as the ability to get along with others, matter as much as technical abilities.




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