  Accounting and Finance (A&F) Professionals are arguably the most loyal and
concentrated population of spreadsheet users. The work that they perform in
spreadsheets has the most significant impact on financial data and business
processes within global organizations today. Spreadsheets offer the flexibility
and ease of use of a desktop application, combined with the power to perform
complex data analysis. They are also the lowest cost business IT tool when
stacked up against other functional tools. As a result, spreadsheets are used
to support critical business processes in most organizations. In fact, research
indicates that over half of financial management reporting is performed with
spreadsheets by an accounting and finance professional. A disparity exists in
the business world between the importance of spreadsheets on financial data
(created by A&F Professionals) and the resources devoted to: The development
and oversight of global spreadsheet standards; A recognized and accredited
certification in spreadsheet proficiency; Corporate sponsored and required
training; Awareness of emerging technologies as it relates to spreadsheet use.
This management paper focuses on the current topics relevant to the largest
user group (A&F Professionals) of the most widely used financial software
application, spreadsheets, also known as the accountant's hammer.
