Protect Your Company From Costly Excel Mistakes with Billing Software
Industry: Business
TRACT by Transverse billing software helps prevent what other major companies, like JP Morgan, have learned the hard way when it comes to spreadsheet entry errors
Austin, TX (PRUnderground) April 11th, 2013
It is still creeping upwards, but for now let’s pin it at an estimated [cue Dr. Evil voice] 9 billion dollars. What is it? It’s the positively heroic, nay epic, loss JPMorgan ran up in 2012 betting on something called a synthetic credit portfolio. Even for these guys that is a decent chunk of change, not necessarily readily available down the back of the sofa.
Now you’d think that JP Morgan would have the whizzy-est of whiz-bang technology to support them? Nope. A key element in this spectacular mistake was the humble spreadsheet, and its all-too-human operative. Let’s just say that cut-and-pasting was involved and draw a discreet veil over it for now.
Although it is fun to take shots at august agencies and world-class bankers, can you, hand-on-heart, say there aren’t a few little spreadsheet shenanigans going on somewhere in your business? A little work-around spreadsheet to ‘get things done’? A fully automated process that happens to be carried out manually or via well-worn sticky notes decoratively arranged around a computer screen? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you are by no means the exception.
What stands true for JPM stands true for many businesses. Businesses are collections of people and people like to use what is familiar. Which is why, especially amongst finance people, the spreadsheet will always hold a place dear to their hearts. But we are all human. And that means fat finger errors. It means, in short, that mistakes will be made.
The good news is that there are great billing software solutions available today, like TRACT by Transverse, to help guard your company against spreadsheet errors.
Now not all of these mistakes will fall into the 9 billion dollar category, but these things are all relative. Let’s say you run a key part of your A/R through a couple of people who manually key and re-key data into a series of bursting-at-the-seams spreadsheets, and they are both hit by the flu the same week. And it’s the week that happens to be the week that you need to get your quarterly invoices out, or the week your key customer has to receive your invoice lest you miss the window and have to wait for their next quarterly payment run, or…You get the picture.
To learn more about how to protect your company with billing software, visit www.transverse.com.
About Transverse
Transverse was founded in 2008 by billing experts who saw an opportunity to make sophisticated billing capabilities available to more businesses. TRACT Billing from Transverse is the only all-in-one activity-based billing platform that can meter, rate, and bill based on customer behavior. Unlike basic subscription or expensive legacy billing systems, TRACT provides a simple solution to complex billing challenges while empowering companies to engage with customers and rapidly monetize the launch of new products and services. Learn how TRACT can help your business at https://www.gotransverse.com.
