Alternativ handelsskräckhistorier

Lär Options Trading i 2017 med Optiontradingpedia Options Trading i 2017 - Personlig notering från vår författare, mr OppiE (januari 2017) Tack för att du läste om handel med alternativen 2017 med Optiontradingpedia Hur dags flyger jag, innan jag visste det, att det varit 11 långa år sedan jag började skriva om och lära mig alternativ handel via Optiontradingpedia och jag är hedrad att ha gjort många bra vänner och studenter genom denna alternativa fokuserade hemsida, genom vilken jag fortsätter att kunna dela min kunskap och erfarenhet i alternativhandel med världen. Ja, Optiontradingpedia startades först 2006 och har faktiskt ökat från styrka till styrka. Om det här är första gången du läser om alternativ, läs min handledning för Options Trading for Dummies 2017. Så mycket har förändrats i options trading scenen under de senaste 11 åren sedan jag startade Optiontradingpedia från vanliga alternativ som löper ut tredje månadens fredag ​​till utseendet på kvartalsalternativ och nu även veckovisa alternativ så det finns nu alternativ som löper ut varje enskild vecka i månaden och varje månad på året. Så bokstavligen har optionshandlare mycket fler alternativ än tidigare 2017. Alternativmäklare gick också från fullmäklare mäklare med provisioner för dyrt att dra nytta av optioner sprids med, till online-rabattmäklare som den stora Optionsxpress. I den närmaste framtiden kan det till och med vara gratis, ingen provision-mäklare, baserad på en trend som startades av Robinhood, en nej provisioner aktiehandel mäklare. Många nya alternativa utbildningswebbplatser och alternativmentörer uppstod också för att ge mer kvalitativ träning, vilket hjälper till att nybörjare komma igång ännu snabbare och enklare än tidigare, och viktigast av allt, vara lönsamma alternativhandlare. Sakerna har verkligen flyttat och förbättrats kraftigt på optionsmarknaden. De senaste två åren såg också aktieoptionshandel som startades i Kina, vilket är ett annat stort tillskott till världen av options trading. Jag tillbringade också huvuddelen av min 2016 i Kina undervisning om grunderna för options trading. Men en sak rockade options trading världen starkt och oväntat under det senaste året från 2016 till 2017. Hittills fortsätter det att skapa en hel del förvirring bland nybörjare som vill lära sig om handel med reella aktieoptioner. Vad är reella optioner Realoptioner är optioner som handlas på en reglerad offentlig optionsmarknad med reala aktier bakom varje kontrakt, det slag jag undervisar och handlar över de senaste 15 åren. Och den förvirringskällan och kaoset är det som kallas binära alternativ. Den så kallade Binära Options Trading har spridit kraftigt över hela världen, särskilt under det senaste året, eftersom binära alternativmäklare marknadsför sig aggressivt för att kunna tjäna pengar på denna super lukrativa nisch. Faktum är att det oroar mig när jag ser att de två första länkarna på Google när jag sökte under Options Trading visar sig vara binära optionsmäklare. På så sätt skapar de mycket förvirring bland nybörjare som vill lära sig att handla med verkliga alternativ. Dessa alternativa nybörjare förvirrar ofta dessa binära alternativ med handel med reella alternativ på en reell aktie - och optionsmarknad och oundvikligen, när de brinner på dessa produkter, går de bort. Tänkbara valmöjligheter är en bluff, och det gör mig verkligen så mycket som en veteranoptionshandlare av 15 år. Varför ringde jag till det så kallade binära alternativet Jo, det är därför att de flesta av dessa aggressivt marknadsförda binära optionsmäklare inte förmedlar verkliga reglerade alternativ som listas och handlas på en allmän optionsutbyte alls. De så kallade binära alternativen som de skapade, låna namnet på och funktionerna i reella binära alternativ (Läs om vilka reella binära alternativ) är bara ett sätt att snabbt satsa på ett av två möjliga resultat, ofta under extrem kort och orealistisk tid spänner, ibland så kort som den tid det tar att rulla en tärning. Om du vinner, vinner du 80 till 95 av det totala beloppet du betted med och om du förlorar vadet, förlorar du 100 av insatspenningarna. det här låter väl bekant Ja, det här är inget annat än privata onlinekasinon klädd för att likna finansiella institutioner genom att använda finansiella villkor och jargon på deras hemsida och deras material. De låter helt enkelt alternativa handlare satsa på ett resultat som är för kort för någon form av verklig grundläggande eller teknisk analys (ja, om du inte utför någon form av analys på en investering innan du begår det, det är inte mer än bara en satsning, rätt ) och om du vinner vinna du bara en bråkdel av vad du satsar medan du förlorar hela beloppet om du har fel, medan de spelar som bankiren utan några verkliga interaktioner med den verkliga finansiella marknaden och alternativmarknaden alls. Under dessa odds, till och med på 5050-talet, förlorar du verkligen eftersom varje vinst garanteras vara mindre än varje förlust. Om jag berättar om ett sådant online casino, skulle du satsa på det Men de är kloka nog för att dölja sin sanna natur väl och har orsakat stor skada för alternativbranschen övergripande enligt min åsikt. (Läs om hur kan du verkligen få riktiga binära alternativ för handel)? Den goda nyheten är dock att många länder redan klarar av det och klämmer fast på dessa binära optionsmäklare 2017. Som sådan rekommenderar jag varsamhet till er alla som är för närvarande överväger att öppna ett konto hos en av dessa binära optionsmäklare eftersom de kan få fastklämda sig med dina pengar i det och du får inte få tillbaka någonting. Jag rekommenderar alla att du läser detta för att ta itu med och verkligen ta tid och ansträngning att lära sig om vilka reella alternativ handel är, snarare än att falla för dessa hyped Binary Options-produkter (Scam). Bortsett från binary Options, har alternativbranschen som helhet år 2017 växt kraftigt och har verkligen förbättrats kraftigt sedan den första dagen jag började handla alternativ. Alternativhandel på det hela taget har blivit mycket mer reglerad än de tidiga dagarna av skräckhistorier. Det har också blivit en mycket stabilare och mognad form av investering på grund av omfattande optionshandel och optionsstrategier utbildning, samt genomförandet av ett alternativ kompetens test när man öppnar ett options trading konto i de flesta länder. Trots att det här alternativet har ett högprestandatest, har det också direkt filtrerats bort folk med fullständigt ingen kunskap om vilka alternativ som är och vem så småningom skulle förlora sina pengar, skapa volatilitet på marknaden och också ge alternativ handel ett dåligt namn. Detta bidrog direkt till den mer mogna och stabila optionsmarknaden som vi nu känner till 2017 och ökade också kunskapsnivån och investeringssäkerheten hos optionshandlare i stort sett, eftersom nya optionshandlare måste seriöst lära sig alternativhandel för att kunna överlåta alternativen skicklighetstest innan de kan öppna sitt alternativkonto. 2017 är ett mycket unikt år. Det här är president Donald Trumps år och alla de osäkerheter han tar med sig till bordet. Trots att jag anser att det övergripande är president Donald Trump goda nyheter för den amerikanska ekonomin och att aktiemarknaden har älskat honom sedan nästa dag blev han vald, har de flesta investerare och optionshandlare också blivit försiktigare. År 2017 kan man inte neka behovet av mer komplicerade investeringstekniker för att säkra mot oväntade risker och även dra nytta av om marknaden fortsätter sidled precis som den har sedan december 2016 till tiden för detta skrivande i januari 2017. Goda nyheter är, alternativ gör att du kan göra just det för att skydda din porfolio från risk genom att använda skyddssatser (Lär dig om alternativet Protective Put-alternativ) och att dra nytta av sidledsmarknader som den här med hjälp av neutrala strategier (Läs mer om neutrala strategier). Faktum är att det i ett år som 2017 blir allt viktigare för moderna investerare att lära sig alternativoptions - och optionsstrategier för att dra nytta av mer än en riktning på en gång i mer diversifierade handelsutsikter (Läs om mina bästa Alternativ Strategier för 2017). Det är mitt uppriktiga hopp att Optiontradingpedia skulle spela en större roll i denna framväxande trend. Optiontradingpedia skulle också behöva flytta med tiden i år 2017 I år hoppas jag att uppgradera webbplatsen till en lyhörd webbdesign som anpassar sig till alternativhandlare som läser med PC, mobil eller surfplatta. Så mycket tänker jag på designen av Optiontradingpedia ska jag behålla den här roliga och glada stilen som jag har etablerat från början för att göra ämnet alternativ handel mindre skrämmande för lekmannen eller ska jag tillgodose den gemensamma förväntan om en seriös ekonomisk webbplats Det här är en fråga som jag fortsätter att kämpa med idag. Jag hoppas också att skapa ett mer levande och interaktivt samhälle på vår Optiontradingpedia Facebook Page (Gå med i vårt Optiontradingpedia Facebook Community) och kanske också gå in på att göra fler alternativvideor samt att skriva en ny eBook på mina hemligheter om hur jag konsekvent förutser marknadsutveckling ändringar (läs min 2017 US Market Outlook Report). Sammantaget ser handelstransaktionerna 2017 ut att vara väldigt spännande och jag ser fram emot att verkligen göra Optiontradingpedia bättre, mer informativ och mer användbar för alternativhandlare på alla nivåer i år 2017. Optiontradingpedia, den slutgiltiga kostnadsoptionsversionsversionen sedan 2006 Optiontradingpedia, ägd och författad av mr OppiE sedan 2006 har varit ett sant kärleksarbete med det enda syftet att utbilda massorna på allt du behöver veta om alternativhandel, allt på lekman. Det finns många andra sådana wikis i fråga om alternativ handel där ute på internet men Optiontradingpedia har visat sig unik på följande sätt: 1. Dedikerad till ämnet alternativ handel. Inga andra alternativ wikier där ute täcka fler alternativ handel relaterade ämnen än Optiontradingpedia 2. Skriven helt i lätt att förstå lekman termer. Ja, vår författare mr OppiE skrev alla tutorials i Optiontradingpedia som han talar ansikte mot ansikte med en komplett nybörjare så att alla kunde läsa och förstå. 3. Omfattar fler alternativstrategier än andra alternativ wikier där ute. Ja, över 100 alternativstrategier som omfattas och växer fortfarande 4. Omfattar mer detaljerade alternativkoncept och vanliga frågor än andra alternativ wikier där ute. Genom vårt avsnitt om Optiontradingpedia Answers har vi svarat på fler alternativrelaterade frågor än andra wikier där ute. Börja lära dig om Option Trading med Optiontradingpedia Du kan börja lära dig om alternativhandel genom att besöka de tre huvudsakliga utgångspunkterna i introduktionsbilderna ovan eller du kan gå direkt till Optiontradingpedia Answers för några specifika alternativ handelsfrågor du kan ha för vår författare Herr OppiE. Du kanske också gillar att kolla in ytterligare läsmaterial samt vår exklusiva hands-on-dagliga livechattalternativ basics mentoring kurs. Om du är på Facebook kanske du också gillar Optiontradingpedia för att kunna interagera med oss ​​och hålla dig uppdaterad med våra senaste erbjudanden på Optiontradingpedia Facebook.089) Hur räknar du med en procentuell förändring startribune587story367953.html Att göra ett politiskt plus i matte fel, Star Tribune, 12 apr 06 DFLer Rebecca Otto anklagar revisor Pat Anderson, en republikan, av slarvigt arbete. I en kolumn som redovisar de procentuella förändringarna i obesvarade fondssaldor 2003-2004, istället för att dividera skillnaden med 2003 års siffror, delade revisorernas kontor upp med 2004 års siffror. Biträdande revisor Tony Sutton sa Forskaren som arbetade med den rapporten gjorde bara ett misstag i formeln i kalkylbladet. Han känner sig dålig om det. Risk: Att ge politiska motståndare en möjlighet att kommentera negativt på statsrevisorn. Undvik: Kontrollera inte bara uppgifterna utan formlerna också. Råd: Registrera nu för EuSpRIG 2012 konferens kanalregister. co. uk20060310ogcspreadsheetsnafu Registret (UK) OGC kalkylblad galenskap 10 Mar 06 Regeringsverket byrjar på ett kalkylblad fel för en foul-up över ackrediterande leverantörer för sitt nya katalanska upphandlingsprogram. I ett brev till leverantörer bekände de tyvärr, vi har inte, som vi hade hoppats, i stånd att acceptera ditt anbud vid denna tidpunkt. Detta beror på att ett fel i det ursprungliga utvärderingsräkningsbladet har identifierats, vilket kräver att alla anbud för detta projekt redigeras. detta fel har nu rättats och detta har orsakat ett litet antal ändringar av det ursprungliga prisbeslutet. Risk: Felaktigt val av leverantörer för stora statskontrakt, juridiska utmaningar, dålig press Undvik: Oberoende granskning av poängformler mot specifikation. Råd: Registrera nu för EuSpRIG 2012-konferensen columbiatribune2006Feb20060222News009.asp HUD påstår överbetalning för avsnitt 8 Columbia Tribune den 22 februari 2006. En regeringskontroll säger att Columbia Housing Authority måste betala 216 352 för att täcka utgifter som uppstått när myndigheten gav några avsnitt 8 hyresgäster för mycket rum och vissa hyresvärdar för mycket hyra. De antog 118,387, det belopp som berodde på ett kalkylblad dataregistreringsfel som överbetalda hyresvärdar. 086) Konfidentiell ekonomisk data kommer ut i Sun News. yahooscpress20060210capronbusunlifefinancial3 TORONTO (CP) - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF-nyheter) fjärde kvartalets vinst ökade mer än nio procent till 478 miljoner, en dag tidigt än planerat Efter mänskligt fel lämnade företaget sårbart för en eventuell läckage. Problemet koncentrerades kring företagets kvartalsstatistiska tillskott, vilket regelbundet lämnas till analytikergemenskapen före intäkterna - men med de senaste kvartalsresultaten utblåst. Därefter konverteras kalkylbladet till en dokumentfil. Den censurerade informationen kan dock återvinnas med hjälp av Acrobat-programvaran, förklarad talesman Tom Reid. 085) Stickning med kalkylblad trots varningar redorbitnewstechnology370065iebusagencymovingforwardindex. htmlsourcertechnology 26 jan 2006 En granskningsrapport av San Bernardino Valleys busbyrå Omnitrans fann långsiktiga svagheter i vissa områden, inklusive brist på interna kontroller vid inköp som ökar risken för eventuellt bedrägeri och missbruk . Den finansiella mjukvaran som kostar byrån över 200 000 förblir oanvänd, och underhållskontrakt för den programvara som inte kan annulleras förblir i kraft. Byrån, som har en driftsbudget på 63 miljoner, gör för närvarande det mesta av sin bokföring på Microsoft Excel. En amerikansk senator kommenterade dålig medarbetarmoral och stort missnöje med den allmänna förvaltningen 084) Naturligt nedbrytbart kalkylblad ut med 5M nevadadailymailstory1135458.html Budgetskillnader som hänför sig till datorfel 6 jan 2006 Nevada-stadens budgetkalkylblad fungerade tydligt fram till någon gång i slutet av december 2005 när , säger stadschefen Ron Chandler, det utvecklade ett problem, vilket ledde till att 2006 års budget skulle visa ett underskott på 5 miljoner i vatten - och avloppsfonden. Chandler sa att det tog honom större delen av dagen onsdag för att lösa problemet. Medan han arbetade med det hittade han några andra fel i kalkylbladet som behövdes korrigeras. När det är en PDF-fil kan den inte förändras, sa Chandler. Risk: Fördröjning i stadens budgetprocess, förlägenhet Undvikande. ändra spårning, jämförelse, validering, publicering av en PDF-fil med tryckt version på webben Råd: Registrera nu för EuSpRIG 2012-konferensen 083) Massor av förlägenhet för denna typ venicegondolierNewsArchive3010106tp3vn4.htm Pris mixup mars öppning av mycket försäljning Venezia, Florida, 1 januari, 2006 En snafu i utläggningen till webbplatsen för lägsta budpriser för den första fasen av North Ports övergivna lotauktion ledde till förvirring, eftersom kostnaden för vissa delar uppenbarligen tredubblats över natten. Tjänsteman som hyrs av länet sätter auktionspartinumret, egenskaps-ID-numret och lägsta budbeloppet på ett kalkylblad i följdordning och oavsiktligt sorterade han inte värdespelaren. Risk: förlust av medborgarnas deltagande i budgivningsprocessen, uppror och dålig publicitet Undvikande. träning i kalkylbladsoperation och kontroll av källdata innan publicering publiceras Råd: Registrera nu för EuSpRIG 2012-konferensen 082) Trodde att han hade färdigheter att tillverka data theage. auarticles200511091131407702080.html Dud-kalkylblad hotar fall Av Leonie Wood 10 november 2005 En MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR bensinprisfixeringsfall som leds av den australiensiska konkurrens - och konsumentkommissionen i federala domstolen har allvarligt äventyras av antaganden från det att en av dess utredare gjorde upp några bevis. ACCC bygger på ett stort kalkylblad som listar bensinpriser och tider av prisändringar för att bekräfta muntliga bevis från vittnen, inklusive några av bensinstationens operatörer, att Geelongs bränslehandlare arbetade tillsammans för att driva upp priserna under 1999 och 2000. ACCC: s chefutredare Jane Edwards medgav att risken att fånga en av mina anställda hade en av utredarna skurit och klistrat in data i kalkylbladet. Edwards vid den tiden berättade för domstolen att utredaren var väldigt entusiastisk och han trodde att han hade färdigheter som vi var medvetna om som skulle kunna vara till nytta, så han drog problemet att ACCC saknade information om prisrörelser på vissa datum genom att duplicera data från andra datum. 081) Brist på datakvalitetskontroll ger en negativ ögonblicksmarknadsundersökning. Swedish. jpg . Kodaks talesman Gerard Meuchner sa att det fanns för många nollor till anställda upplupna avgångsvederlag. Men det var en periodisering. Det var aldrig en betalning, sa han. Robert Brust, Kodaks ekonomichef, kallade den en intern kontrollbrist som utgör en materiell svaghet som påverkat redovisningen av omstruktureringen. 080) Svart-svart celltextformat försök att dölja data smh. aunewsbusinesswestpac-jumps-the-gun-on-profit200511021130823280336.html Westpac tvingades upphöra med handeln på sina aktier och leverera sin årliga vinstinformation om dagen efter det av misstag skickade sina resultat via e-post till forskningsanalytiker. Uppgifter om de 2,818 miljarder rekordresultatet för de 12 månaderna till 30 september var inbäddade i en mall av resultaten förra år och var tillgängliga med mindre manipulering av kalkylbladet. (Vissa rapporter angav att en anställd hade trott att en svartcellsbakgrundsfyllning skulle gömma svart text.) Herr Chronican sa att det inte bara är ett fel, det är en sammansättning av två eller tre fel. Vi kommer självklart att genomföra en fullständig förfrågan för att se till att det inte händer igen. 079) Hur lätt är det att ändra ett kalkylblad, hur svårt är det att göra versionskontroll. namibian. na2005Octobernational05E0F49179.html Jordbruksbanken i Namibia (Agribank) ligger på kanten av konkurs. Det finns inget kontrollsystem som revisorerna kan lita på, eller det fanns tillfredsställande revisionsförfaranden som skulle kunna utföras för att erhålla en rimlig försäkran om att avsättningen för osäkra fordringar är tillräcklig och giltig, notera revisorerna. Revisorerna konstaterade att lånet till det nu avvecklade Uri Khubis-slakteriet ändrats från N59,5 miljoner på ett kalkylblad till N50,4 miljoner på ett annat, medan de totala efterskotten sänktes från en hel del N9,8 miljoner till endast N710 000. 078) Examenspoäng misslyckades genom mis-sortering nbc13news4951284detail. htmlrssbiramppspnews Aspirera polisens officerare Säga examensresultat var botched (NBC13 8 sep 2005) Några blivande poliser som tog en regeringsexamen sa att de fick höra att de passerade ett stort test, men fick reda på senare att de hade faktiskt misslyckades. Ett nationellt företag som heter AON administrerade testet och berättade brädet någon felaktigt sorterade resultaten på ett kalkylblad, så namn och poäng var otillbörliga, rapporterade NBC 13s Kathy Times. När de överklagade gick vi tillbaka till AON och bad dem att kontrollera sina poäng, och när de granskade upptäckte de att de gjorde ett fel, säger Bruce Nichols, Jefferson County Personnel Board. Nichols har avgått. 077) Referens och länkfel efile. mpsc. cis. state. mi. usefiledocs135310349.pdf Rebuttal Vitnesbyrd om David J. Barch SBC Michigan Fall nr 13531.. ett mindre referensfel i kalkylbladet. vars korrigering beräknas ungefär dubbla den engångsleverantörer TELRIC för dessa UNE. En annan ändring som SBCM anser skulle vara lämplig är att korrigera ett par väldigt enkla och enkla kalkylarklänkfel (det vill säga länka till fel kalkylarkcell, vilket var tomt) för icke återkommande ULS-stamport och DS1-trunkportsanslutningar. Detta beräknas öka TELRIC över 30 procent för dessa två UNE. 076) Revisors rapport. en kontrolllista över testnings - och underhållsstandarder fdicig. govreports0101-025.pdf Office of Inspector General (OIG) 13 december 2001 Revisionsrapport nr 01-025 Revision av den lägsta kostnadstestmodellen för Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Vi slog fast att modellen i allmänhet fungerar som avsedd. Dock. kontroller över åtkomst, mjukvaruutveckling och förändringar var svaga. ingen inspelning att mjukvaran testades. har inte utvecklat ett system för att begära, göra, testa och godkänna ändringar. liten säkerhet över makron och formler (Referens: OMB Circular A-130, Appendix III) hittade kompatibilitetsproblem FDIC använder inte längre DRS-anställda som ansvarar för utformningen av kalkylbladet och ingen har dokumentation om hur kalkylbladet skapades vid ändringar behövs några av formlerna i mallen hade skrivits över 075) Revisors rapport. en checklista över dokumentation och ändra standarder anao. gov. auWebSite. nsf01EA061E6A929D67ECA256FBF00783027OpenDocument Revisor-General Audit Report No.38 2004-05 Prestanda Revision, varor och tjänster Skatt (GST). För att beräkna GMA och BBA använder Treasury ett Microsoft Excel-kalkylblad med 32 länkade kalkylblad Kalkylbladet utvecklades internt med begränsade resurser och utan adekvat hänsyn till alternativ. Det resulterande tillvägagångssättet ansåg inte, enligt ANAO: s synvinkel, tillräcklig hantering av några viktiga risker. svår att navigera i syfte att verifiera att det utför räkningar korrekt. utvecklas internt med begränsade resurser och utan adekvat hänsyn till alternativ. ANAO kunde inte hitta någon systemdokumentation. Ingen av den nuvarande personalen i enheten var där när kalkylbladet konstruerades. Upprepad manuell inmatning av samma data ökar risken för felaktigt. brister i hanteringen av de register som stöder data. En oacceptabel risk för att personalen som ansvarar för att uppdatera kalkylbladet får oavsiktligt få tillgång till en tidigare version av kalkylbladet. 074) Många tiotals miljoner pounds negativ effekt telegraph. co. ukmoneymain. jhtmlxmlmoney20050630ccspread30.xmlampmenuId242ampsSheetmoney20050630ixcoms. html Bara en fråga om tid innan kalkylbladen slog fläkten - Telegraph (Storbritannien), 30 juni 2005 I sin tidning Betydelsen och kritiken av kalkylblad I London City presenterades Eusprig 2005, rapporterade Grenville Croll of Frontline Systems (UK) Ltd om en undersökning av 23 yrkesverksamma inom 13Bn-sektorn för finansiella tjänster. Intervjuerna sa att kalkylblad var genomgripande, och många var viktiga och kritiska. Det finns nästan ingen kvalitetssäkring av kalkylbladsprogramvaran och människor som skapar eller ändrar kalkylblad är nästan helt självlärd. Två var och en avslöjade en ny instans där materialfel i kalkylark hade lett till negativa effekter som involverade många tiotals miljoner pund. 073) Två anställda mer eller mindre monroeohio. orgpdf0520Budget20Report. pdf Monroe 2005 budgetdokument Löner och förmåner har ökat dramatiskt från 2004 års siffror av två skäl. För det första beräknade vi mängden löner och förmåner som behövdes. Detta inträffade på grund av en felberäkning i en kalkylbladformel, som utesluter två VD-anställda från beräkningen. dailypressnewslocalvirginiadp-naturalgaslawsuit0617jun17,0,2841429.storycolldp-headlines-virginia Naturgasförbrukare stämmer Dominion Överföring över skrivfel, 17 juni 2005 En undersökning av Federal Energy Regulatory Commission fann att dotterbolaget Richmond, VA-baserade Dominion Resources Inc. lämnade fel veckor gaslagring siffror i november, vilket leder till en artificiell inflation av naturgaspriser. Rättegången uppskattar att konsumentpriserna höjdes med mellan 200 miljoner och 1 miljard. Undersökningen drog slutsatsen att det inte var avsiktligt, men när jag hör ordet felaktigt, tänker jag på försummelse, säger advokat advokat W. Coleman Allen Jr i Richmond, Va. Konsumenterna skadades på samma sätt som om det var avsiktligt. En förklaring till felet var att företaget hade använt samma datafilnamn för varje veckors lagringsbalansräkningsrapport, vilket gör det enkelt för fel att skickas. 071) Redovisningsföretaget gör AUD30M-kalkylarkfel abc. aunewsnewsitems200506s1394937.htm Revisorer gör AUD30M-fel den 17 juni 2005 På tröskeln till valet av det nordliga territoriet har Landets liberala parti blivit tvungen att erkänna att dess finansiella kostnader var ute av tiotals miljoner dollar. CLP hade sina kostnadsberäkningar bedömda av bokföringsbolaget BDO. CLP-ledaren Denis Burke säger att företaget gjort ett kalkylarkfel och Treasury har hittat mer pengar i beredskapsfonder från budgeten. 070) Klipp en procent, klistra in en ursäkt roanokebusiness23037.html Gå figur: Tänk-och-gör-tanken flubar matematiken, maj 05, 2005 Centret för regionala strategier bekräftade nyligen att en forskare errant cut-and-paste från ett kalkylblad orsakade en mått på regionens utbildningsnivå uppträder mycket värre än den är. Centret för regionala strategier, en självbeskriven tank-och-göra-tank inrymd i Virginia Tech, rapporterade att en elak 11 procent av regionens befolkning äldre än 25 hade kandidatexamen eller högre. Det numret borde ha varit 20 procent. Stuart Mease, en talesman för centret för regionala strategier, sa att det bara var ett enkelt klipp-och-klistra fel, sa han. Jag vet inte hur det hände, men det gjorde det. Vi ber om ursäkt för vårt misstag och vill korrigera det. 069) Felaktig registrering av ett nummer är en materiell svaghet, förlorar din verkställande direktörs position biz. yahooap050329redenvelopeguidance. html. v3 29 mars 2005 RedEnvelope sänker Outlook, aktier Fall, CFO Eric Wong avgår bland budgetfel NEW YORK (AP) - Aktier av RedEnvelope Inc. tumblade mer än 25 procent tisdag efter att online-återförsäljaren av specialgåvor drastiskt minskade sina fjärde kvartalsutsikter och sa att dess ekonomichef kommer att avgå i april. Stanford Group analytiker Rebecca Jones Kujawa sa i en intervju. . de underskattade kostnaden för sålda varor. Det är sannolikt att CFO Eric Wong pressas ut på grund av det här felet, vilket kan visa en väsentlig svaghet i kontrollen över den finansiella rapporteringen, ett problem som vanligtvis leder till en lång översyn av redovisningspraxis. RedEnvelope talesman Jordan Goldstein sade att budgeteringsfelet helt enkelt berodde på ett antal felinspelningar i en cell i ett kalkylblad som sedan slängde kostnadsprognosen och var oförbunden med CFO-förändringen. 068) Levande eftersom forskaren inte kollade inmatningar mot datakällor nzherald. co. nzindex. cfmcid1ampObjectID10008219 Brash livid över statistik mixup in speech 27 jan 2005 Nationell ledare Don Brash använde ett vildt uppblåst nummer när han berättade för Ratana-samlingen på måndagen att nästan hälften av alla maori barn var beroende av en fördel. Figuren - som starkt framgår av nyhetsrapporterna om den högprofilerade Maori-samlingen - var resultatet av ett beräkningsfel av parlamentariska biblioteket. Uppskattningen borde ha varit 30 procent, sade parlamentarisk forskare David Williams, som ägde upp till Herald om att göra misstaget. Han har bett om ursäkt till Dr Brash. Williams trodde att felet uppstod när han överförde arbetsuppgifter från ett Excel-kalkylblad. 067) Nummer som skrivs in som text förlorar skolan 30.000 (US50K) från budget accountingweb. co. ukcgi-binitem. cgiid40301 Excel-kalkylblad i Budgeting Accountingweb 5-mar-2001 Skolguvernör Peter Wolstenholme förklarade hur hans skola mötte 30 000 brister eftersom värden i en budget kalkylbladet hade inte lagts till korrekt. Med hjälp av flera av AccountingWEBs Excel-guruer lyckades han identifiera det underliggande problemet på grund av att budgetsiffror anges som rättjusterade textvärden snarare än som siffror. Textfigurerna ingick inte i summan och berusade till skolans budgetanslag. Wolstenholme erkände att han ofta får textvärden att dyka upp i Excel-kalkylblad när han extraherar data från sitt bokföringssystem med hjälp av ODBC-mekanismen. Risk: Budgetunderskott Undvikande: Som AccountingWEB-medlem Paul Mitchell påpekade, kanske myndigheten borde se på sina IT-träningspraxis Wolstenholme tillade, Den mest uppenbara bristen jag kunde se var bristen på korskontroller. Råd: Registrera nu för EuSpRIG 2012-konferensen 066) Theres dåliga nyheter och goda nyheter, främst dåliga: US1.8M biz. yahooprnews050208cltu1081.html CECO Environmental to Restate 2000 - 2003 årsredovisning 8 februari 2005 CECOs internrevisionspersonal har upptäckt ett bokföringsfel i kalkylbladets beräkningar som används av Companys Construction Division för sin procentandel av slutföringsredovisning. Nettoeffekten kommer att bli en kumulativ minskning av intäkterna på 1 969 000 under fyraårsperioden 2000-2003 med en motsvarande avgift före skatt före skatt. Felet har en gynnsam effekt under innevarande år 2004, det kommer att lägga cirka 180 000 till CECOs 2004-intäkter före skatt för de nio månader som slutade den 30 september 2004. Phillip DeZwirek, ordförande och koncernchef för CECO uppgav att vår egen redovisning Personalen upptäckte denna felbedömning och rapporterade omedelbart till våra oberoende revisorer. När vår verksamhet expanderar är det viktigt att veta att vår Sarbanes-Oxley-överensstämmelsepreparation fungerar. 065) Fel händer under budgetplanering: US70M theunionleaderarticlesshowfast. htmlarticle50185 New Hampshire Sunday News 29 jan 2005 Gov John Lynchs budgetlag. måste hitta ytterligare 70 miljoner för att göra sin budgetbalans. Siffror som avdelningen för hälsa och mänskliga tjänster till budgetskribenter på hösten innehöll ett fel som dubbelt räknade mer än 17 miljoner Medicaid-pengar i vart och ett av de närmaste två åren. Ett detaljerat kalkylblad som HHS gav vägar och medel på tisdag morgon visade att 35 miljoner i en särskild kategori sjukhusbidrag skulle komma in de närmaste två åren. A second sheet HHS produced Tuesday afternoon showed no money in the category, reflecting the fact the funds can only be used one way - at the state hospital. 064) NASA misstated by 644M: undetected spreadsheet errors in ad hoc process gao. govatextd04754t. txt Government Accounting Office Report Mar 30, 2001 spacerefnewsviewsr. htmlpid5014 Testimony of Gregory D. Kutz, GAO GAO report number GAO-04-754T entitled National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Significant Actions Needed to Address Long-standing Financial Management Problems NASAs fiscal year 1999 SBR was misstated by a reported 644 million due, in part, to a misinterpretation of guidance and errors in NASAs ad hoc process for generating budgetary information. As a result, the NASA locations used various methods to extract the data for this line item from their separate systems and entered the data on spreadsheets, which were then compiled by NASA headquarters. NASA officials have indicated that undetected errors in this spreadsheet process - in addition to the inclusion of the erroneous category of transactions-were also responsible for a portion of the SBR misstatement. According to NASA officials, they have strengthened internal controls over this process for fiscal year 2000. Arthur Andersen did not detect the error in NASAs SBR during its audit of the fiscal year 1999 financial statements. Evidence in Arthur Andersens working papers relating to understanding and testing internal controls and validating underlying data for key financial statement balances was not adequate to support Arthur Andersens unqualified audit opinion on the SBR and Statement of Financing for fiscal year 1999. The other errors of approximately 32 million related to errors in the spreadsheet data may have had an impact on the PampF Schedules. 063) Cooking the books with a spreadsheet: about US 20M theindependent. co. zwnews2004DecemberFriday171307.html Fraud rocks CFX Dec 17, 2004 (Zimbabwe) 115 Billion loss concealed Internal investigations indicate that bank accounts were computer-engineered by a key accounting manager. CFX, using the Equation banking system, fell victim to the crafty managers who tabulated a pre-tax profit of nearly 873 million in October yet the software records a near 20 billion loss. The internal audit particularly targets the information and technology department for aiding the creative accounting scandal. I strongly feel that the adjustments noted above are done on an Excel spreadsheet and they are adjusted backwards from the management accounts back to the Equation system, ie the management accounts showing desired results are prepared first, then adjustments to tie up to Equation are made, the report says. (Note on currency values: xeuccfull. shtml reports that 1 USD 5,652.00 ZWD ) 062) Spreadsheet calculation error: 100,000 overoptimistic revenues 2583940,00.html SHIRLEY Dec 1, 2004 - 100,000 revenue shortfall At its meeting Monday Nov. 29, the School Committee approved its current year 7.3 million budget after learning of a calculation error in the school budget that overestimated school revenue figures by 100,000. Business manager Patty Stern said additional money from grant sources and the 167,000 approved for the school at the special town meeting covers the error. During the budget review process, Stern said a calculation error was found on the spreadsheet that doubled revenue figures by 100,000. 061) Auditors say spreadsheet controls not sufficient business. bostonheraldbusinessNewsview. bgarticleid55580 Boston Herald Nov 25, 2004. Tweeter Entertainment Group Inc. reported a wider fourth-quarter net loss yesterday, 12.5 million compared with 10.2 million a year ago, and a 3.5 percent decline in sales at stores open for more than a year. To make matters worse, Tweeter announced that its auditor, Deloitte amp Touche LLP, said its spreadsheet controls were not sufficient in the fourth quarter. A spokeswoman declined to say how much in recorded adjustments the company made. Tweeter said the errors did not affect prior periods. 060) Nov 15, 2004: On the day the Sarbanes-Oxley act comes into effect in the USA biz. yahooprnews041115dam0331.html CARRIZO Oil amp Gas, Inc. Corrects Diluted Share Computations, Nov 15, 2004. The company recently discovered an error in a spreadsheet which tracks the average number of warrants and options outstanding. This error impacted Carrizos financial results. The corrected number of shares for the 2004 six month period was 20.8M rather than 18.9M as previously reported. The actual diluted net income per share was 0.19 rather than 0.21. We can expect more of this in the future because of SarboxSOX requirements that management report on its assessment of internal controls over financial reporting in the annual filing. As a CEO is reported as saying, I dont look good in orange . 059) Mutual mistake Tough luck. lawzone. thelawyercgi-binitem. cgiid111862ampd205amph207ampf259 When is a mistake not a mistake. Nov 1, 2004 In a loan dispute, a spreadsheet prepared by a claimant sought to calculate the total interest due under the loan. A mistake was not discovered during the negotiations and, in due course, the parties agreed a settlement figure of 55,000 on the mutually mistaken assumption that this equated to a rate of interest of about 45. In truth, 55,000 equated to an interest rate of approximately 33. The court held the mistake was not the fault of either the parties and, furthermore, there was no warranty as to the spreadsheet. They were commercial parties and had agreed on a fixed sum. They were both (mutually) mistaken and there was no injustice. 058) In a student organization, mistakes sometimes happen lsureveillevnewsdisplay. vART20041027417f3c7c41064 News Sororitys scores inaccurate LSU Daily Reveille Tue, 26 Oct 2004 A miscalculation in a computer spreadsheet almost cost Chi Omega sorority first place in the Homecoming competition. The error occurred when the spreadsheet formula used to calculate scores from Homecoming Week events left two scores out of the tabulation. They understood in a student organization, mistakes sometimes happen. Throughout the week, Gilbert and Homecoming coordinators tallied the results of each event and kept all related paperwork in case a score came into question. 057) Tabulation error - theres always a first time reutersnewsArticle. jhtmltypebusinessNewsampstoryID6480933 Business Council: Economic Survey Wrong, Tue Oct 12, 2004 NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Business Council, a group of 125 U. S. CEOs, last week said 70 percent of its members expected flat to 2 percent growth in the U. S. economy next year -- painting a much more bearish outlook than major economists. But on Tuesday, the group said it had gotten the survey wrong and its members had actually projected moderate to solid economic growth in 2005, from 2.1 percent to 4.5 percent, and were guardedly optimistic about the economys prospects. It was a computational error. The spreadsheet shifted so the wrong numbers appeared in the wrong columns, Cassidy said. It was just one column on the spreadsheet. He said the error, which was caught on Friday afternoon, has never happened before in the surveys history. 056) Adding apples and oranges hansard. act. gov. auhansard1998pdfs19981124.pdf ACT Hansard, 24 Nov 1998 My office did prepare a table that double-counted dividends provided and projected. It was the most obvious and fundamental of mistakes in a simple spreadsheet. I wish to register my regret regarding the matter, particularly as it has more than undone an effective grassroots campaign. I do have one very contrite staffer who has otherwise been performing exemplary work. Another speaker What it shows is absolutely no financial credibility, no capacity, even when it is so obvious, to work out what the problem was. But even worse, he added the cash dividends out of the cash flow statement to profits from the operating statement. It is like adding apples and oranges. 055) Houston, we have a 25,652 problem Source: ci. houston. tx. uscitygovtcontrolleraudit00-09.pdf Houston City-wide Direct Costs Audit December 20, 1999 Finance and Administration (FampA) was undercharged 25,652 for rent in fiscal 1999 due to an error in a spreadsheet formula. 054) 400,000 water under the bridge Source: city. west-lafayette. in. usgovernmentminutescc050602.htm May 6, 2002 The problem a couple of years ago was Purdue discovered an error in a spreadsheet used to calculate the water bill and that spreadsheet had been used for several years. So we went back and recalculated the bills and brought that to the Citys attention and then promptly paid that amount. I believe the amount is a little over 400,000, was the adjustment made at that time. 053) Understating the benefit of unbundling by 50M Source: wwwcom. govt. nztelecommunicationslluConftclreviewcba. PDF 13 Nov 2003 A review of Telecoms critique of the OXERA cost benefit analysis of unbundling the local loop finds: A spreadsheet error increases net benefit Voice prices are set too high due to a spreadsheet error. Correction adds 26M to surplus of 180M. Incorrect spreadsheet references means that the net benefit of Option 1 is understated by 50M Source: sao. state. ut. usreports03-37.pdf June 30,2003 Utah State Auditor DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES FINDING AND RECOMMENDATION 1 INDIRECT COST RATE CALCULATED INCORRECTLY (Reportable Condition) We noted the following errors while testing the fiscal year 2003 indirect cost rate for the Division of Wildlife Resources: a. The indirect cost electronic spreadsheet for Habitat Management direct salaries and benefits, titled Short Form Method, had a cell that was linked to an incorrect spreadsheet. This resulted in an overstatement of the direct cost base by over 2 million. 051) Watch your typing. Literally. Source: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks21.94.html Yet another case of a program changing your input Risks Digest 10 Mar 2002 I was entering grades in an Excel spreadsheet and realized that although in my notes I had a mix of As and A-s, the spreadsheet had changed all the A grades to A-s. Why I was entering grades looking at my notes and not the screen. So I typed A - followed by ENTER, then A at which point Excel suggested A - as a possible input. Without looking I pressed ENTER, thus entering A - instead of A. This only works if the longer input precedes the shorter in the original list (i. e. the list you are typing from), since if there is ambiguity about the suggestion, Excel shuts up. 050) The silent loss of 19,130 Source: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks20.30.htmlsubj10 Risks Digest 16 April 1999 From: Ben Bederson Subject: Space character in number causes silent Excel miscalculation Error of US19,130 I had specifically right-justified the column in question earlier. The issue here is that the 19, 130 was interpreted by Excel as text rather than as a number. Since Excel doesnt generate warnings when adding text, but rather interprets it as 0, I had no notification of the problem. 049) Violation of regulatory reporting by 105,000 Source: fcc. govBureausCommonCarrierOrders1995fcc95075.txt March 3, 1995 NYNEX Telephone Operating Companies, FCC 95-75 Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 34. Apparent Violation No. 15: The independent auditor found that NET overstated its CL revenues for January through November 1988. NET stated that an erroneous spreadsheet caused this overstatement. The independent auditor stated that this error understated NETs CL and total interstate revenue requirements for those months by 105,000. Source: bcen. bc. cabcerartVol10acleaner. htm A Cleaner Future for BCs Polluting Pulp Mills by Peter Ronald, campaign coordinator, Georgia Strait Alliance 2001 in November it was revealed that this mill (formerly owned by MacMillan Bloedel) has been under-reporting its Total Reduced Sulphur (TRS) emissions by 32-times for the past 14 years This miscalculation was embedded in a spreadsheet formula uncovered during an internal audit. Please accept my sincere apologies for the percentage error in Table 2 you correctly identified in your letter. The figure should be 5 per cent and not 13 per cent (a mistake in the spreadsheet used in calculations). The previous version of Table 2 did have a number rounding-up anomalies, and miscalculation in providing percentage figures. These were the result of problems in the spreadsheet and, in the case of the 1998-99 London Exclusion Total a simple typographical error. We at OMB and, as Administrator Alvarez will testify, SBA believe that it is an extremely serious matter and are taking steps to correct it. I accept the findings of SBAs Inspector General that both SBA and OMB share responsibility for the problem. The error in the calculation of the FY 1997 7(a) loan subsidy estimate discovered by GAO was an incorrect reference formula in one cell of a summary spreadsheet. 045) Carelessness can cost jobs Source: thepolypoststory. phpstory648 The Poly Post August 18th, 2004 Miscalculation Found in Budget As recently as two weeks ago, Childrens Center staff were concerned that the facility would close as early as next quarter. Hoffman said a spreadsheet error and an overestimation in staff salary brought the budget down by 50 percent. 044) USAID Audit shows agencies needing aid for controls Source: usaid. govoigpublicfy03rpts7-685-03-003-p. pdf Audit of USAIDSenegals Casamance Conflict Resolution Program 7-685-03-003-P May 30, 2003 Enterprise Works provided self-created spreadsheets to support the results reported to the Mission for two selected indicators. However, they could not provide any original documentation to support the figures in the spreadsheets. CRS could not provide support for the data reported in their spreadsheet for the first selected indicator, number of jobs created. Furthermore, the spreadsheet was mathematically incorrect. even though the Mission has in place procedures for periodically checking data, these procedures were not fully implemented a lack of periodic checks of the data also contributed to the problem. 043) Legislative Auditor finds 58M optimism in DPS Source: lla. state. la. usperformdps02.pdf Department of Public Service January 2002 Audit Control 02500734 Two significant audit findings. We found numerous errors in the mathematical computations. In addition, the review controls are weak. The department reported a value of 184.5 million for the key performance indicator Direct savings to ratepayers. We determined that this value should have been 126.5 million therefore, the first quarter value reported was overstated by almost 58 million, or 45.8. This miscalculation was due to a spreadsheet formula error. The department computes many of its performance indicator values using manual calculations. This situation increases the chance of human error in performing the calculations. The department should increase its use of electronic spreadsheet andor database programs to perform calculations.() 042) Uncleared carryforward. 10,395 Source: mcallnewslocalall-b34basdaug10,0,2437486.storycollall-newslocal-hed Morning Call Aug 10, 2004 An audit found that the state gave the district 10,395 more than entitled because the number of pupils transported for the 2001-02 school year was overstated by 27 to the Department of Education. Stanley Majewski, Bethlehem Areas director of business affairs, said the overpayment was the result of a simple clerical error. Our transportation director didnt clear out the previous years private school riders from our spreadsheet. We didnt realize it until the auditors pointed it out to us. More: njnewsexpresstimespaindex. ssfbasenews-12109213236859950.xml 041) Clerical error. tens of thousands of dollars City officials miscalculated the amount of sales taxes generated at Stony Point Fashion Park during the first couple of months of operation. The mistake inadvertently inflated the figures by tens of thousands of dollars, which, in turn, meant the total sales estimate was overblown by millions of dollars. It was a clerical error. There was no intention to mislead anyone, said Andrew T. Rountree, the citys finance director. The city blamed the mistake primarily on an error in a spreadsheet formula, which amplified a subtotal amount. 040) 5M actuarial overstatement Source: ir. jameshardie. aurepositoriesfilesNEWS.2004.KPMGACTURIALREVIEW. pdf James Hardie Actuarial Expert Witness Report, KPMG Actuaries Pty Ltd 4 June 2004 Over the years 1996-2001, James Hardie Industries Ltd (James Hardie) received advice from Trowbridge Consulting, the actuarial subsidiary of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Trowbridge), in relation to the level of asbestos liabilities to which it was potentially exposed. There are some errors in the report and the valuation model. Most notably, the insurance recoveries have been over-discounted due to spreadsheet errors (this had been corrected by the 13 February 2001 valuation). This has resulted in a 5m overstatement in the liability Trowbridge have recommended relative to that which they ought to have recommended on their valuation basis. 039) Automatic conversion features of Excel munge data Source: biomedcentral1471-2105580 Mistaken Identifiers: Gene name errors can be introduced inadvertently when using Excel in bioinformatics. Barry R Zeeberg et al. BMC Bioinformatics, June 2004 When processing microarray data sets, they noticed that some gene names were being changed inadvertently to non-gene names. For example, the text SEPT2 was converted to a date. The problem was default date format conversions and floating-point format conversions in Excel. The date conversions affect at least 30 gene names the floating-point conversions affect at least 2,000 if Riken identifiers are included. These conversions are irreversible the original gene names cannot be recovered. Risk: Misinterpretation of genetic research results Avoidance: Awareness of Excel limitations, helpful automatic features, bugs, and workarounds Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 038) Environmental toxic waste miscalculation Source: envirogroupJE20Spreadsheet20Model20Error. pdf Technical Memorandum Superfund JE Model Spreadsheet Error By Eric Wannamaker, EnviroGroup Ltd July 2004 A bad VLOOKUP was discovered in one of the cells of the US EPA Superfund spreadsheet used to determine the dispersal of the toxic wastes through ground water. This is how the EPA determines which toxic waste sites to clean up first. The impact of the JE model error is highly case specific, depending on site characteristics, regulatory goals, and local geology. The quantitative impact of the error is a difference in indoor air concentration estimate ranging from 0 to 200. The cost of this misestimate would depend on how it is used in the overall site assessment process. Source: solutionmatrixnewsletter41.html CostBenefit Newsletter June 2004 We just lost our negotiating room - the pitfalls of Excel. I found at the last minute that some very long spreadsheet formulas had parentheses out of place. When I put them where they belonged, our projected gains fell from 200M to 25M. Gives two Excel formulas for estimating salary and overhead costs in Year 2 of a multi-year analysis period - see if you can spot the error. Source: newportnewstimesarticles20040528newsnews12.txt Newport News Times OR, USA May 28, 2004 LINCOM nears budget resolution She had intended to move only the proposed figure for the coming fiscal year. But when she made the change, the spreadsheet program moved the line for the lease, not just for the proposed 2004-05 year, but also the figures for the adopted 2003-04 figure, the actual 2002-03 year, and the two previous fiscal years actual expenditures for the lease. Further, the bottom line totals for Materials and Services in the columns for each of those fiscal years (for things like training, insurance, phones, and the lease) were visibly incorrect. 035) Profiting from mispricing . we take relatively big positions in companies that we believe are temporarily under or over-priced and where we expect that mis-pricing to be sorted out quickly. By way of example, in November last year we bought ScS Upholstery (a specialist sofa retailer) at 172p after it warned on profits. A spreadsheet error had caused the wrong cost to be input into the system, with the result that their gross margin had slipped without management knowing. We knew that this would quickly be rectified, and sure enough the share price bounced back rapidly. 034) Spreadsheet typo loses Toledo U. 2.4M University of Toledo loses 2.4M in projected revenue. While official UT projections call for a 10 percent decline in graduate student enrollment, an increase mistakenly was shown in a spreadsheet formula that led officials to overestimate enrollment and therefore revenue, Mr. Decatur said. Dr. Johnson said no job action will be taken against the employee who made the mistake, who has a good performance record. Officials will, however, pursue systemic changes to provide more safeguards in the future. We have very competent people, Dr. Johnson said. I do think that the continuing fiscal pressures on universities have forced us to a level of staff support where there is little or no redundance in the process. 033) Spreadsheet macros in the 1994 SA election: amateurish shambles Source: mg. co. zaContentl3.aspao34102 Globe and Mail, South Africa, 14 April 2004 Long before the results of 1994s election were finally announced, the results control centre (RCC) responsible for tabulating ballots had collapsed. The reason for its closing -- given by the transitional IECs chairperson, Judge Johann Kriegler -- was that a hacker had breached its counting centres security and tampered with the results. According to volunteers who worked as data entry clerks at the RCC, the chance of there ever having been a hacker is unlikely. The errors Kriegler blamed on a hacker appear to have been caused by bugs in spreadsheet macros and typos from moving data from fax to computer. Risk : widespread suspicion that the final election results werent calculated by counting the votes people cast after patiently queuing for hours in the sun, but by letting political parties do backroom horse-trading. Avoidance . Actually testing the system Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 032) Investigators made mistakes Source: newsdaynewsprinteditionlongislandny-likrol283726003mar28,0,5128077.storycollny-linews-print March 28, 2004 The town of Brookhaven paid 2,400-employee Kroll 2.2M to look for possible corruption in the Highway Department, But at the resulting trial, investigators have been caught red-faced by revelations that they went to an incorrect address and exaggerated financial figures because of typos. two numbers were transposed on a spreadsheet, and Kroll said Milvid overbilled by 18,000 for concrete work on Boyle Road in Port Jefferson Station when he had actually overbilled by less than 3,000. Risk : Maybe losing a court case Avoidance . As reported: Defense attorneys were incredulous that Kroll wouldnt double-check the largest item on its list of alleged overbillings Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 031) Many a slip between spreadsheet and pulp Source: gmtodaynewspoliticsstatetopstory141.asp March 17, 2004 Boxes of former Gov. Tommy Thompsons records meant for the Wisconsin Historical Society archives, were inadvertently put on the wrong truck and sent to a Green Bay paper mill, where they were turned into pulp. Administration Deputy Secretary Laura Engan said someone incorrectly manipulated a spreadsheet listing records that could be destroyed and records that should be retained. We basically identified a problem. There was a very significant human error. It wont happen again. Period. Source: madisonwisconsinstatejournallocal75815.php (June 05,2004) No suspicious activity could be found, the DOA reported, adding they did find that the supervisor who botched the spreadsheet transfer had a record that consistently suggested a lack of proficiency with the software used to manage the database. Previously, The archivists would put a red sticker on the boxes to be destroyed, and a green sticker on the boxes to be saved. That backup visual system was discontinued last February, because there are fewer boxes saved these days and because it took a lot of staff time. Risk : Loss of irreplaceable historical records Avoidance . As reported, Laura Engan said Because of the incident, the agency plans to create a records report that requires no human manipulation Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 030) Spreadsheet slips on a banana Banana Growers furious with Australias quarantine watchdog over a draft report clearing the way for banana imports from the Philippines want it to hand over its computer models so they can check them. Mary Harwood, Executive Manager of Biosecurity Australia, said What it shows is that a simple human error was made in an electronic spreadsheet that was found in an easy way by a person looking at it. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture report says: Several stakeholders have requested a copy of the electronic spreadsheet that is used with risk modelling software called RISK in the banana IRA. The spreadsheet will be loaded onto Biosecurity Australias website when the addendum to the revised draft IRA report is released. Risk : Loss of trust Avoidance . As said by Ron Boswell: I would have thought that as a matter that was as important as this, that it would be the transcription would have been checked and checked again Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 029) Extracts from FDA Inspectional Observations and Warning Letters Failure to have an adequate validation procedure for computerized spreadsheets used for in-process and finished product analytical calculations. SOP 644.00, QAQC Spreadsheet Validation, is deficient in that only a small range of values are being used to challenge computerized spreadsheet mathematical calculations. Failure to use fully validated computer spreadsheets to calculate analytical results for in-process and finished product testing 21 CFR 211.165(e). Failure to validate computer software used as part of the quality system for its intended use according to an established protocol as required by 21 CFR 820.70(i). Risk . non-compliance with regulations, fines, penalties, wasted management time Avoidance . Know that end-user developed applications are not exempt from regulation Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 028) Shurgard stock dives after auditor quits over companys accounting Shares of the Seattle self-storage company fell 7.1 percent after Shurgard disclosed that Deloitte and Touche quit upon learning Shurgard overpaid its chief executive and another investor 700,000 each and took more than six months to find and correct the error. Shurgard said the overpayment occurred when the company bought out a limited partnership owned by Chief Executive Charles Barbo and another investor. A person in Shurgards accounting department used the wrong spreadsheet to figure out what the two were due, spokesman Jeff Szorik said. The payment was discovered and repaid six months later. 027) Spreadsheet glitch scrambles city election tally November 8, 2003 Albuquerque Tribune, NM Source: abqtribarchivesnews03110803newscanvass. shtml City Clerk Judy Chavez on Friday released new vote counts from the recent city bond elections correcting totals for six of the 10 bond questions. In one case, the count was off by more than 11,000 votes. She is reported as saying A clerk happened to compare the print-out from an old-fashioned adding machine to the print-out of the computer spreadsheet and noticed discrepancies. Individual, precinct-by-precinct numbers were accurate. The inaccuracies were in some of the bottom-line totals. A programming error in the citys computer spreadsheet caused the problem but it has been corrected. 026) NYSE fines local trader 475,000 November 01, 2003 The Grand Rapids Press Source: mlivenewsgrpressindex. ssfbasenews-111067685394184490.xml A well-known Grand Rapids investment managers alleged mishandling of stock orders has led to 475,000 in fines by the New York Stock Exchange and censures for him and two other employees involved in the orders. The stock exchange said Cusack, 47, bought large blocks of Foremost stock in September and October of 1999, but didnt properly document which of his clients would have the stock placed in their accounts. The lack of documentation raised the possibility that he could wait to decide how to distribute the shares until he knew how the shares performed that day -- a violation of NYSE rules and Securities and Exchange Commission laws. Cusack told the stock exchange he had a spreadsheet that spelled out how the stock would be distributed when the orders were placed, but the spreadsheet was thrown away after the transactions and other documentation were completed. 025) Errors and omissions excepted: 3.7M An agency may permit correction of a bid where clear and convincing evidence establishes both the existence of a mistake and the bid actually intended. Our review of the record, including Emersons computer-generated spreadsheets, confirms that the price at spreadsheet cell number D159 (for electrical work) was not included in the subtotal at cell number D160. Based on the format of the spreadsheet, it is clear that the 3,702,025 price at cell number D159 was intended to be included in the firms subtotal price. Also at: pubklawrdgao2003B-2925552.html 024) Computational error in performing complicated calculations October 2003, Yahoo news Source: biz. yahooprnews031030dcth0181.html Fannie Mae filed a Form 8-KA with the SEC amending their third quarter press release to correct computational errors in that release. There were honest mistakes made in a spreadsheet used in the implementation of a new accounting standard. The bottom line is that the correction has no impact on our income statement, but resulted in increases to unrealized gains on securities, accumulated other comprehensive income, and total shareholder equity (of 1.279 billion, 1.136 billion, and 1.136 billion, respectively). the correction had to do with a computational error in performing complicated calculations required in the implementation of FAS 149. 023) Somebody actually checked a spreadsheet October 2003, The Tennessean Source: tennesseaneducationarchives031041323597.shtmlElementID41323597 Education Networks of America (ENA) operates the Internet network connecting schools across Tennessee. ENA twice won multimillion-dollar state contracts with bids that appeared higher than others. Jacqueline Shrago, who was the Education Departments project manager, said the ISIS 2000 bid appeared cheaper until costs for all three and a half years were computed. Looking more closely, it appeared that ISIS had made an error on a spreadsheet and that the bid actually was higher than ENAs, she said. We asked questions in the protest period, and they would not give an answer, Shrago said. She said ISIS never explained, either, to federal agencies, which fund a large part of the schools computer system. So ENA got the contract. 022) Spreadsheet variance at MCI Oct. 10, 2003 Telecommunications News PRNEWSWIRE Source: prnewswirecgi-binstories. plACCTSVBIZINK1.storyampSTORYwwwstory10-09-20030002033002ampEDATETHUOct092003,12:28PM Watchdog Calls for Further Investigation of MCI The August 2003 Department of Defense IG report states, . many of the invoice amounts listed on the MCIWorldCom spreadsheet were inaccurate. Specifically, 467 invoices on the MCIWorldCom spreadsheet differed from the hard copy invoices by 2.1 million. Last month, The New York Post reported a former MCI employees claim about over-billing at the State Department: It was wrong and I regret it. We were over-billing the government 20,000 a month on one circuit. The order to overcharge came down from a vice president and through three layers of management. 021) Excel-COBOL transfer loses voter data Source: ddtonlinearticles20031008newsnews2.txt October 2003, Delta Democrat Times The city has a three-step process for elections: The first part was getting the voting books from the county and checking them. After that step was completed, the names were added to an Excel spreadsheet in the citys computer. The information from Excel had to be entered into another database, COBOL. Apparently what happened is that when the rolls were printed, all the information did not get transferred, Alexander said. Entire neighborhoods were left off of the voter rolls. 020) 12M Error inflates school impact fees in Florida September 12, 2003 Orlando Sentinel Assistant County Manager Cindy Hall, in a memo to commissioners on Thursday, wrote that the April 22 study by Henderson Young amp Co. duplicated the cost of building a new elementary school. The extra 12 million cost was corrected on a spreadsheet in the study, but it wasnt later adjusted on the total cost of school projects for the next five years. Jim Drake, director of finance for Lake County Public Schools, said: It was basically a simple spreadsheet error. But obviously its going to have an impact on building new facilities. County Commissioner Jennifer Hill said the consultant was given the final numbers for its study from the School Board only a few months before the studys completion, It was rush, rush, rush, she said. Hill called the mistake a simple mathematical error. Aug. 27, 2003 Kansas City Source: kansascitymldkansascitybusiness6632965.htm Two ex-HealthSouth executives plead guilty to conspiracy, fraud (Associated Press) Earnings were overstated by at least 3.5 billion. This investigation is not about a mere accounting fraud, but rather a business scheme to fraudulently boost HealthSouths reported earnings, said U. S. Attorney Alice Martin in a statement. Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He admitted preparing a false spreadsheet for auditors that inflated HealthSouths assets and made the company appear to be worth more that it was. 018) 24-million spreadsheet clerical error Source: theregister. co. ukcontent6731298.html June 03, 2003 TORONTO (Reuters) - TransAlta Corp. said on Tuesday it will take a 24 million charge to earnings after a bidding snafu landed it more U. S. power transmission hedging contracts than it bargained for, at higher prices than it wanted to pay. . the companys computer spreadsheet contained mismatched bids for the contracts, it said. It was literally a cut-and-paste error in an Excel spreadsheet that we did not detect when we did our final sorting and ranking bids prior to submission, TransAlta chief executive Steve Snyder said in a conference call. I am clearly disappointed over this event. The important thing is to learn from it, which weve done. As New York ISO rules did not allow for a reversal of the bids, the contracts went ahead. Also at siliconrepublicsrep. iclogin. htmlstoryidsingle1576 017) Economic Testimony - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly There are times in which the economic expert is either unprepared or led into difficult positions. Likewise, there are times in which the cross examination opens the door for further damaging economic testimony. Over the years, we have compiled a list of some of the goofs and some of the successes among economic experts we have observed. . What spreadsheet During trial the plaintiffs attorney during cross examination focused upon the computer spreadsheet used by the defenses economic expert to allegedly prove that there were zero economic damages. The expert had relied heavily upon research assistants to construct the spreadsheet, but under the experts supervision. Unfortunately, the expert had not carefully examined the calculations and was not aware of several calculation errors. The spreadsheet was blown up as a trial exhibit, along with an alternate spreadsheet with corrected figures. The experts testimony at trial was inconsistent with the corrected spreadsheet. The expert was forced to acknowledge to the court the calculation error, and tried to explain it was not a serious one. Yet it was too late. The jury lost confidence in the testimony. The jury awarded the plaintiff more than 12 million in damages. Did you copy all the way down A plaintiffs economic expert was claiming that damages were to accrue over an extended period of time due to a permanently damaged reputation. Due to an incorrect use of a copy command in the spreadsheet, the lost profits after the tenth year of the projection became discontinuous, abruptly decreasing in one month, then following a smooth trend upward though the remainder of the time horizon. The economist had revised the spreadsheet, but failed to copy the revision down all cells, stopping after ten years. The remainder of the projection used the unrevised formula which abruptly took the profits into the negative regions. Since the profits were projected for a surgeon, it made little economic sense that a surgeon would continue practicing for several years with a negative income. Upon questioning in the deposition, the expert could not quickly figure out the reason for the questions and admitted that, if the projection showed it, it was quite possible for profits to be negative for short periods of time. Problems and inconsistencies could have been detected by the expert by simply graphing the result. However, the expert chose not to admit the possibility of a mistake in a deposition and provided damaging testimony instead. financeDOC20Mgt20Ltr. pdf Dec 27, 2002 During our FY 2002 audit of the Departments consolidated financial statements, we noted certain matters involving internal control over financial reporting and its operation that we consider to be reportable conditions under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants The amount recorded as a grant accrual in CAMS disagreed with the grant accrual spreadsheet, resulting in a 1.5 million understatement of grant accruals. This difference occurred because of an error in the spreadsheet formula. August 12, 2002 - in a regulated industry, the process is as important as the product: Source: tis. eh. doe. govenforceeasEA-2002-03WS. pdf Preliminary Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty 137,500. quality assurance issues affecting nuclear safety surrounding the discrepant nondestructive assay (NDA) data provided to Bechtel Hanford, Inc. in support of their decontamination and dismantlement activities at Building . Contrary to the above, between September 1998 and May 2001, work was not performed to established standards and controls using approved procedures. Examples include the following . the modification to the spreadsheet was not subjected to validation . the revisions to the spreadsheet used in the NDA process were not uniquely identified and labeled . several deficiencies related to the use of NDA applicable spreadsheets 014) IRR or XIRR - periodic or not Users often fail to realise the implication of Spreadsheets they develop. There is no third party independently testing whether these sheets work correctly. In course of time, they get used unquestioningly with nobody cross checking the validity of calculations. Weve never come across a company validating software embedded in Spreadsheets. To illustrate, heres a case we encountered with a corporate that was showing its procedures to be supported by well-documented Spreadsheets. Taking a deeper look at their sheets, we were surprised to find them using a wrong function for IRR calculation (Tip: There are 2 Excel IRR functions IRR() and XIRR(). XIRR() handles non-periodic cashflows while IRR() can handle only periodic cash flows). Over the last couple of years, the top management has been looking at reports with this wrong computation. We cant imagine what decisions were made using these numbers. 013) Debating association out of sorts 2002: Australasian intervarsity debating association The major error in the tabulation was introduced sometime after the draw for round two was announced, but before results from round two had begun to be entered into the tab spreadsheet. The data in the spreadsheet was re-sorted, so that the teams were listed alphabetically, but, mistakenly, not all columns were sorted. ArchiveNutrition20software20summary20(9).PDF End-2002, Anny Dentener reviewed several nutrition software packages for their suitability to provide information needed under the new ANZFA nutrition panel requirements. She says Overall, spreadsheets are cheap to run but can be time-consuming and error prone. A typical spreadsheet error spotted was for instance a burger chain understating energy from fat exactly by the factor difference between a large fries, and 100 gram 2002: Audit Of The Colorado Student Loan Programs Establishment And Use Of Federal And Operating Funds CSLP made an error in calculating the amount needed to establish the Operating Fund. We found a 36,131 transfer to the Operating Fund that was not supported. CSLP explained that it had made an error on the spreadsheet CSLP used to calculate the beginning balance of the Operating Fund. A formula in the spreadsheet picked-up the date, 120298, and interpreted it as a dollar amount, resulting in an error of 36,131. As a result, the beginning balance of the Federal Fund was understated by 36,131. We calculated that CSLP owed the Federal Fund an additional 8,884 in imputed interest on this amount calculated through March 31, 2002. Not correcting such an error would be inconsistent with sound business practices, as required by 34 CFR (a)(11)(iii)(B). We recommend that the COO for FSA require CSLP to Reimburse the Federal Fund for the remaining 1,172 in imputed interest on the spreadsheet error calculated through March 31, 2002. AUDIT SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION January 17, 2002 Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, Administrative Services Division ASD did not have current policies and procedures to help ensure revenue distributions were correct, and controls over supervision also need strengthening. Spreadsheets used to distribute tax revenue to the States General Fund contained a formula error. Consequently, from October 1999 through May 2001, approximately 9.5 million in sales tax revenue was not distributed to the General Fund. Although this spreadsheet error was corrected in June 2001 and the 9.5 million was transferred to the General Fund, internal controls are still weak. Consequently, further spreadsheet errors could occur and go undetected. 009) Accounting error forces bank to 3b write-down Source: abc. aupms357092.htm PM Archive - Monday, 3 September, 2001 The National Australia Bank wrote down the value of its US mortgage business HomeSide Lending by a massive AUS3 billion. The news triggered a free fall in the NABs share price that knocked more than 6.5 billion of the banks market value. Contributing to the write down was an incorrect interest rate assumption fed into HomeSides financial modelling. This alone has cost the lenders 755 million. A selling spree knocked more than 13 per cent of the value of NAB shares. 008) The role of spreadsheets in the AIBAllfirst currency trading fraud cd02eusprig2001AIBSpreadsheets. htm 2001 Allfirst Would not pay the US 10,000 for a direct data feed from Reuters to the risk control section. Instead, they got Rusnak to download his Reuters feed into a spreadsheet. He then substituted links to his private manipulated spreadsheet. The total losses hidden by the fraud were almost US700M. Rusnak exaggerated bonuses by over half a million dollars. Ray Butler points out in the article above that One error in a spreadsheet will subvert all the controls in all the systems feeding into it. An auditing tool (SpACE) would have found the external links in the key spreadsheet. 007) Using a spreadsheet to catch a spreadsheet error Source: irlgov. iecommittees-00c-publicaccounts000926page2.htm September 2000: An extract from the proceedings of the Public Accounts committee in Ireland: The second error was discovered during the process . of preparing the councils defence against the claim made by SIAC in the initial tender assessment. The bills of quantities and the rates were inserted at that stage on a spreadsheet for the purpose of putting them in electronic form and checking them. The error showed up during that process many months later. Section 05 - drainage and service ducts - the 42,000 should have been carried forward but someone misread it as a title head as distinct from being a summary of another page. It was as simple and unbelievable as that, but that is what happened. As the county engineer has reminded me, it happened in two tenders and it was not seen by us in the checking process. Acting Chairman. If we accept that there will always be errors in tenders and, in this instance, that human error has cost the Exchequer so much money, it is obvious that change is needed, particularly in view of the fact that a compensation culture has come into existence. Source: oig. hhs. govoasreportsregion440202016.pdf Spreadsheet Errors The FY 1999 MedicareMedicaid crossover log contained calculation errors, resulting in the log being overstated by 38,240. The hospital recorded the Medicare bad debts for patients who also qualified for Medicaid on an electronic spreadsheet. Each month the spreadsheet was updated with additional MedicareMedicaid crossover patients. The spreadsheet contained a summation function, allowing various cells to be added to compute a total. The hospital inadvertently included some cells in a subtotal and also added them a second time in the grand total. In addition, the hospital inadvertently omitted one subtotal from the grand total. These errors resulted in the summary totals being overstated. 005) Strict liability means no excuses 1999: Respondent explains that many of the violations alleged were the result of mistakes in formulas used to calculated materials usage and emission rates. Respondent states that it is prepared to demonstrate at hearing that these formulas were in a typical spreadsheet format, that once these formulas are developed, they are opaque to the users of the spreadsheets, and that during the time the error persisted, Vemco did not know or have reason to know that it was violating its permit requirements. Discussion With strict liability, factors of intent, good faith, willfulness or fault are not relevant to a finding of liability for violations. Therefore, Respondents arguments that it intended to comply, did not know of the violations, and made an innocent mistake are not defenses to liability. These arguments, and the assertion that errors in calculating emissions were discovered, reported and corrected by Respondent, may be relevant to assessment of a penalty, but are not relevant to the issue of liability. 004) 100 million here or there. CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, 1999 Estimated Incremental Capital and Operating Costs, 2002 to 2016 The total cost number and its present discounted value are about 100 million less than the original estimates pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. This difference is the result of a spreadsheet mistake that was detected at the time the 1999 estimates were updated. Source: lims. tarateclims199806msg00048.html June 1998 LIMSList - Spreadsheet blues From my perspective as a NAMAS assessor (ISO Guide 25) and working in the pharmaceutical induistry I think that speadsheets are the highest risk of any application. When you read on you will see why. A pharamceutical quality control laboratory used an Excel sporeadsheet to calculate the percentage dissolution from tablets. To improve efficiency the Excel guru (should that be gnu) programmed a macro. The whole data supporting a product licence application was calculated with this macro. The package was submitted. Then somebody had a good idea: should we validate the macro To cut the story short, there was a problem with the macro and there was a gross error in the calculation: some batches that were in were now out of specification. The 277 page report that was prepared to explain this fiasco delayed the approval by several months. Calculate the cost of an average drug sale at 1 million per week or more (V1gr excepted) and you have the approximate cost of the error. Risk: non-compliance with regulations, fines, penalties, wasted management time Avoidance: check all the work including the hidden features like VBA code Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 002) The missing minus sign Source: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks16.72.html Jan. 1995: Computing error at Fidelitys Magellan fund There was a big flap recently over Fidelitys Magellan fund estimating in November that they would make a 4.32share distribution at the end of year, and then not doing so. A letter of explanation was sent to the shareholders (including me) from J. Gary Burkhead, the President of Fidelity, including the following pertinent items: During the estimating process, a tax accountant is required to transcribe the net realized gain or loss from the funds financial records (which were correct at all times) to a separate spreadsheet, where additional calculations are performed. The error occurred when the accountant omitted the minus sign on a net capital loss of 1.3 billion and incorrectly treated it as a net capital gain on this separate spreadsheet. This meant that the dividend estimate spreadsheet was off by 2.6 billion. 001) Archive of case studies 1984-1995 Reports of Spreadsheet Errors in Practice Business Week How Personal Computers Can Trip Up Executives, (2861) September 24, 1984, pp. 94-102 passim. Creeth, R. Microcomputer Spreadsheets: Their Uses and Abuses, Journal of Accountancy (159:6) June 1985, pp. 90-93. Dhebar, A. Managing the Quality of Quantitative Analysis, Sloan Management Review (34:2) Winter 1993, pp. 69-75. Ditlea, S. Spreadsheets Can be Hazardous to Your Health, Personal Computing (11:1) January 1987, pp. 60-69. Gilman, H. amp Bulkeley, W. Can Software Firms be Held Responsible When a Program Makes a Costly Error Wall Street Journal (CCVII:24) August 4, 1986, p. 17. Freeman, R. M. A Slip of the Chip on Computer Spread Sheets can Cost Millions, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1984. Hayen, R. L. amp Peters, R. M. How to Ensure Spreadsheet Integrity, Management Accounting (60:9) April 1989, pp. 30-33. Savitz, E. J. Magellan Loses its Compass, Barrons (84:50) December 12, 1994. Simkin, M. G. Micros in Accounting: How to Validate Spreadsheets, Journal of Accountancy (164:5) November 1987, pp. 130-138 passim. Slade, R. Is it Getting too Easy The Risks Digest (13:45) catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks, April 28, 1992. Woodbury, G. G. Re: Computer Error in Durham N. C. Election Results, The Risks Digest (9:42) catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks, November 13, 1989. panko. cba. hawaii. edussrCraggKingCraggKing. htm Cragg amp King 1993 Spreadsheet Modelling Abuse One of Ray Pankos stories illustrates the problem of using precision as displayed in Excel: Two 15,000-cell spreadsheets were used for a market projection. Numbers were rounded off to whole dollars, but an error during inputting caused the inflation multiplier of 1.06 to also be rounded off, becoming 1. Without inflation the market was underestimated by 36million, having serious consequences for the business News items are the copyright of the original authors as cited by the link to the story source. Editing and comments copyright (c) 2003, 2004 Patrick OBeirne, European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group. The contents of this page may not be copied without attribution. We encourage a link to us with this description: eusprig. orghorror-stories. htm Spreadsheet mistakes - news stories collated by the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group. They illustrate common problems and errors that occur with the uncontrolled use of spreadsheets, with comments on the risk and possible avoidance action. If you would like to contribute to this, email Stories at eusprig dot org with your story. You may find more by searching the web for Spreadsheet and these keywords (and their variants such as - ed, - ing, - s and - ly): anomaly, audit finding, bug, bungled, chaos, cock-up, corrupt, damage, debug, defect, deficiency, disaster, dubious, embarrassment, error, erroneous, Excel, exposed, failed, failure, false, falsify, fault, faulty, fiasco, flaw, foul-up, fraud, fraudulent, fubar, garbage, GIGO, glitch, hell, horror story, inaccurate, inadequate, inadvertent, incorrect, insecure, invalid, invalidated, issue, lies, loss, manipulation, miscalculate, miscalculation, mislead, missing, mistake, missing, misunderstood, nightmare, non-compliance, not correct, oops, overestimate, overstatement, problem, risk, rogue, serious, slip, snafu, suspect, suspicious, trap, typo, unchecked, uncontrolled, uncorrected, uncovered, underestimate, understatement, undetected, untested, violation, weak, weakness, wrong. Craigslist horror stories: What not to do when buying, selling, or trading used iPhones Buying, selling, or trading iPhones on Craigslist can be a great way to make or save money, but also a great way to get scammed. How can you avoid a horror story The iMore forums are here to help Thanks to a variety of factors, including good build quality, excellent support, and reliable update cycle, theres a healthy market for used iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. And while there are a number of ways to buy or sell and old iOS device. including through speciality resellers, Craigslist is one of the ways that comes up again and again, but with as many horror stories as success stories. So what goes wrong, and how can you avoid the hassles Another ad I responded to the seller no longer had his device due to him meeting with someone the night before and the potential buyer just grabbed the phone and ran off - BLiNK, iMore forum genius One of the main concerns is fraud. On the buyers end, it can be tough to know if the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad has been subject to internal damage from water or impact, or has been taken apart and put back together poorly or with shoddy replacement parts in the past. On the sellers end, there are all sorts of payment and shipping scams to worry about. Fake credit cards, fake PayPal accounts, fake shipping requests. No matter what caveats you list in your ad, you will still get all of the I kindly pay you 100 over your price to ship to my nephew on a religious retreat in Tibet. Just provide me paypal. All of the stories are the same. They just cut and paste. - finn5975, iMore forum member Even if you follow our guide, and know how to check for water and other damage before you buy, it can still be 6 to 5 and pick em as to whether you get what youre paying for. Its surprising how many people cant even properly describe which model of iPhone theyre selling or wanting to buy, or how pictures can fail to represent the actual quality of an item compared to real life. Being crystal clear about what youre selling, and looking for exactly you want to buy, can help avoid some measure of confusion. Or at the very least, set expectations. Confusion is the enemy of commerce. In all of my ads I say No emails will be read (because I list my google number), no offers others than listed price are considered currently, no paypal or other service other than cash will be accepted and item will not be shipped ANYWHERE. - scorpiodsu, iMore forums expert This doesnt mean theres no room to negotiate, but that negotiations should take place ahead of time, and a price should be agreed upon in advance. That limits the chances for shady, last minute dealings, pressure tactics, and other problems. Also, to protect yourself from people trying to sell stolen or found phones, or to assure potential buyers theyre not getting a stolen or found phone, insisting on paperwork and serial number checks is worth any possible time or inconvenience it might cause. If someone doesnt want to share information ahead of a sale, or asks and doesnt get it, it can be a sign that other things wont go smoothly during the transaction as well. I always show paperwork with serial number to show when warranty expires. I dont hide anything. I want to buyer to be as confident as possibly can be. Part of it is asking the right questions before you meet. Ask to run the serial number on a Apples site before you meet. - Garz, iMore forums moderator emeritus When it comes to meeting to close the sale, public, controlled places seem to work best. Nice, well lit commercial establishments seem the most popular. And never, not ever going alone. Of course, nothing is foolproof. The guy told me his iPhone 4s was in new condition and insisted we meet at a Sprint store I went all the way down there made an appointment he showed up 30 minutes late with his dad turns out he was like 17 his phone looked like beat up crap and he then had the nerve to say he wanted to think about it and could we meet back there the next day. - xlipstickandbruisesx, iMore forum member The bottom line is be straight forward with what youre selling or what you want to buy, establish a final price before hand, pick a safe place to finalize the deal, and if anything seems shady, it probably, so walk - or run - away. Never do anything under pressure, or to spare offense, or that makes you uncomfortable in any way. Remember also, Craigslist isnt your only option. If youve had any experiences, good or bad, please share in the iMore forums