Professional spreadsheet auditing firms (e.g. accounting firms)
use these maps as a powerful way of quickly spotting errors and
to help them to focus on the critical areas of a model.
Example Scenario : "A major investment
bank has sent me an Excel model. My company has to check if
it is doing what it should. The model is 7MB in size. I haven't a clue where I should even start".
Savvy solution : "Run Savvy Maps and then
you will be able to estimate how long this will take. You will
have a Savvy Report to see exactly where to concentrate your
logical checks. When looking at the Excel Model further usage
of the Savvy Utilities will help you uncover other areas of
the model such as hidden areas".
Example Scenario : "My client has sent me a Financial Pricing Excel Model to look at. He says that most of the formulae are copied, hence it should be easy to review."
Savvy solution : "Run Savvy Maps on the model.
Using the Savvy Map Report you can identify the unique formulas
in your model; by focusing your attention on unique formulas
as opposed to copied formulas you will be able to reduce by
over 95% the number of cells that needs to be examined."
Example Scenario : "Our derivative trading model was given to the new junior analyst for updating. The Excel model timeline spreads over 100 columns. We have unique formulae in column A and the other 99 columns are copied across from this. I need to check the updates made."
Savvy solution : "First run Savvy Maps and
check to see if the updated model maps have any irregularities
in the timeline. If the analyst has forgotten to copy the updated
unique formulae across to the other columns this will show up.
As a second check use Savvy Compare to see the differences between
the original and the updated models".
Example Scenario : "I am looking at a
valuation model for a multi-million dollar transaction. The
valuation feels a little high since the client played around
with the model. The finance director mentioned the CEO may have
overwritten some of the calculations on the Cashflow worksheet
with numerical inputs"
Savvy solution : "Use the Savvy Map
Colour setting to highlight only numerical inputs and then Run
Savvy maps on the cash flow worksheet and look in the Savvy
Map report for irregular patterns in the timeline, this will
help reveal issues within the Excel model."
Example Scenario : "My client is looking for assurance over their Excel model".
Savvy solution : "By showing your client
that you use excelSavvy you will give them the confidence that
you are employing a rigorous approach in providing assurance.
Provide your client with a high quality service by using the
full range of reports and tools available in excelSavvy and
by combining this with the Savvy methodology for reviewing spreadsheets."
The industry standard key for these audit maps are summarised
in the table below:
Download excelSavvy userguide for more details of full functionality
(see Reports and Utilities
page for details)