The spreadsheet is a powerful tool for people who want to take control of their financial planning and personal budgeting. Templates for personal financial management on spreadsheets can be downloaded from a variety of websites or people can create their own from scratch.
However, effective spreadsheet finance management does rely on the ability of the user to input good quality information and interpret the output correctly. A spreadsheet is simply a software program that behaves in a way defined by the person who set it up. By itself it cannot provide a solution to personal finance issues - but spreadsheet planning can be a great help.
Here are some tips on how to get the best from spreadsheets in personal finances.
The Fundamentals of Spreadsheet Finance Planning
1. Be clear about the objectives of the finance planing. Without knowing the exact reason for stating a financial planning project, it is hard to know how to approach it.
Different people plan their finances for different reasons. Some want to form a clear understanding of their income and expenses, to help them identify opportunities for saving money. Others want to know whether they can afford to take on extra costs, such as increased mortgage repayments.
Finance planning can be over different time periods. For some it is important to analyse finance weekly, or even daily. Others may be planning for the long-term and looking years ahead, perhaps to see how they might pay off their mortgage or live off a pension.
Whatever the reason, be clear about the objectives before even opening spreadsheet software. With the desired result in mind it is then possible to work towards it.
2. Consider using pre-defined templates for spreadsheet finance. There are no shortage of mortgage calculator and personal cash flow spreadsheets available for download from the internet. The advantage of these is that they can save time and suggest new ideas to the user. The disadvantage is that all their formulas are written by someone else and it is possible to mis-interpret the information being given.
Anyone who uses a pre-defined template should make sure they thoroughly understand what the spreadsheet is doing with the information they are putting into it. They should also be alert to the possibility of errors by the original designer of the spreadsheet. A small mistake in a formula can lead to errors in the results but these may not be apparent to the user unless they double check the figures.
Good Housekeeping for Spreadsheet Finance Planning
3. Remember to back up regularly. This is very simple to do and yet is so easy to overlook. When someone is working hard on a financial planning spreadsheet they can forget to save it regularly. Ideally the auto-save function will be switched on, ensuring that a copy is stored every few minutes.
But even if the spreadsheet is being saved frequently, it should also be backed up to another location, such as different hard drive or cloud storage. A finance planning spreadsheet can represent many hours of work and contain very important information, so measures should be taken to minimize the risk of it being lost.
4. Do not include personal details on the spreadsheet. A file full of finance forecasts can become extremely valuable in the wrong hands if it also contains information such as bank account codes, names and addresses. For security, the information should be kept as generic as possible.
The user of the spreadsheet should look at it from the perspective of a third-party. If somehow it got into the wrong hands, what information could they glean from the data that would allow them to identify whose finances were being recorded? How easy would it then be for them to abuse that knowledge in some way?
5. Update the spreadsheet finance model regularly. The most effective users of personal finance spreadsheets are those who take the time to keep them up to date on a frequent basis. What is the right frequency depends on the purpose, but leaving long gaps between using the spreadsheet will make it harder to remember how it works. This is particularly relevent if the spreadsheet is relatively complex.
Spreadsheet planning is a great way to remain in control of personal finances. It helps the user to remain focused on their financial objectives and gives them a good view of their current and future situation. However, it must always be remembered that the quality of information provided is only as good as the quality of data that is input and the design of the speadsheet itself.
careers,
Jobs Indonesia,
Indonesia Vacancy
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar