  The paper examines in the context of financial reporting, the controls that
organisations have in place to manage spreadsheet risk and errors. There has
been widespread research conducted in this area, both in Ireland and
internationally. This paper describes a study involving 19 participants (2 case
studies and 17 by survey) from Ireland. Three areas are examined; firstly, the
extent of spreadsheet usage, secondly, the level of complexity employed in
spreadsheets, and finally, the controls in place regarding spreadsheets. The
findings support previous findings of Panko (1998), that errors occur
frequently in spreadsheets and that there is little or unenforced controls
employed, however this research finds that attitudes are changing with regard
to spreadsheet risk and that one organisation is implementing a comprehensive
project regarding policies on the development and control of spreadsheets.
Further research could be undertaken in the future to examine the development
of a "best practice model" both for the reduction in errors and to minimise the
risk in spreadsheet usage.
