1. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. 1 ® Copyright Vena TM MITIGATING MS-EXCEL PROCESS RISKS Presented by Rishi Grover President, Vena Solutions March 31, 2016 BRINGING CONTROL, AUTOMATION & WORKFLOW TO MANUAL EXCEL PROCESSES

2. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. BEFORE WE GET STARTED… Audio Canada +1 (647) 497-9416 United States +1 (914) 614-3429 Computer AudioEnsure your speakers are turned on Questions Type in your questions under the ‘Questions’ box on the control panel ** Minimize the control panel to optimal webinar viewing End of Webinar Deliverables Complimentary Spreadsheet Process Health Check PowerPoint slides 2

3. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. RISHI GROVER As President, Rishi is responsible for the day-to-day operations and continued success of client implementations at Vena. Rishi has helped many Fortune 500 companies re-engineer and optimize financial processes including: -Budgeting and Planning -Rolling Forecasts -Management Reporting & Analysis -Strategic Planning and Balance Scorecards -Regulatory Reporting and Disclosure Management 3 President & SVP Solutions Engineering Vena Solutions

4. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. AGENDA 4 Why do we Use Excel? Problems with Excel in an Enterprise Setting Best Practices to Enable Excel with Needed Enterprise Controls Technology Options to Solve Enterprise Excel Limitations Replace Excel vs. Embrace Excel Key Features to Look For… Vena Technology Overview Quick Demo: Excel Supercharged to Become an Enterprise-class Solution

5. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. VENA. THE WAY YOU THINK. 5 Created to make businesses work smarter, Vena uses a surprisingly convenient approach to simplify complex enterprise processes.

6. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. WHY DO WE USE EXCEL? 6

7. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. WHY DO WE USE EXCEL? Pros: High user adoption Highly configurable Flexible Strong modeling Powerful calculations Strong data tables More Pros: Conditional formatting Icon sets Spark lines/trend icons Top X rules Advanced charting Pivot tables and Power BI Sorting & filtering

8. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. WHY DO WE USE EXCEL?

9. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. PROBLEMS WITH EXCEL IN AN ENTERPRISE SETTING 9

10. G/L Sub-Ledgers Other Systems Cons: Data integrity issues No source system integration Manual consolidations Version control No process management Source Data Numerous e-mails and versions of each document User Inputs Review and Approval Manually extract data & re-key into spreadsheets PROBLEMS WITH EXCEL IN AN ENTERPRISE SETTING ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc.

11. BEST PRACTICES TO ENABLE EXCEL WITH NEEDED ENTERPRISE CONTROLS 11

12. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. DATA INTEGRITY ISSUES 12 RecommendationDescription Data ValidationsTo ensure entries are in the right format, and within an acceptable set of values/ranges. (Data > Data Validations) Conditional FormattingTo flag any exceptions or missing information. (Home > Conditional Formatting) Checklist / HomepageInclude a ‘Home’ worksheet that summarizes all validation rule results and includes a checklist the preparer must complete. IFERROR()Avoid #REF, #NA calculation results, which can have a ripple effect of errors. Workbook Protection / Range Protection Password protect the workbook, worksheet and/or ranges as required. Create ranges for calculations versus input and protect accordingly. (Review > Protect Sheet, Protect Workbook, Allow Users to Edit Ranges)

13. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. NO SOURCE SYSTEM INTEGRATION 13 RecommendationDescription Import WorksheetCreate a dedicated worksheet called ‘Import” that allows you to paste in the source system data. Use an Excel table. Data ConnectionsAlternatively use the Data Connections to retrieve data from a staging environment, text file, Access dB into the Excel table in the ‘Import’ worksheet. Queries can be dynamic. (Data > From Other Sources) Pivot TableUse the pivot table to summarize the source data (if required). Other user worksheets should use pivot table formulas to bring in data as opposed to R1C1 formulas.

14. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. MANUAL CONSOLIDATIONS 14 RecommendationDescription Standardize WorksheetsInput Excel templates should have the main worksheets (either input or summary) that is always standards for each submission. ‘start’ and ‘end’ Worksheets Create a ‘Consolidating’ workbook that has a ‘start’ and ‘end’ worksheet. Copy user submitted worksheets between these two worksheets. =Sum(start:end!G20) OR Leverage Pivot Tables to Aggregate Data Each input template should have an ‘Export’ worksheet that puts all the user inputs into a ‘Fact Table’ format. This can then easily be grouped together in a consolidating report and then leverage a Pivot Table to perform the aggregation.

15. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. VERSION CONTROL 15 RecommendationDescription Track ChangesEnable Track Changes. This will track who changes what, when. (Review > Track Changes) Standardized Naming Convention Ensure there is a consistent standard for naming Excel files when being submitted. I.e. Dept 101 Budget v2_YYY_MM_DD.xlsx The final version should always be a certain name as well. I.e. Dept 101 Budget FINAL.xlsx Change TableCreate a worksheet called ‘Change Table’. This should be an Excel table with the fields User, Date/Time, Change Description.

16. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. NO PROCESS MANAGEMENT 16 RecommendationDescription Document ManagementIdeally leverage a document management system to provide access to your Excel files. This will manage check in/out, as well as simple approval steps. Central Status Spreadsheet Create a single Excel file that manages the status of each submission. This should be updated by a single member, and be visible to those who require this visibility. Unless this file has all submissions marked as ‘Approved’, but the budget is not done. Electronic Sign-offCreate a worksheet in your template that documents the Preparer, Submission Date, Approver, Approval Date. Enable Shareable Workbooks Enable the feature ‘Protect and Share Workbook’ with a password setting. Ensure the Excel files are in a shared directory that the required people have access to. (Review > Protect and Share Workbook)

17. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS TO SOLVE ENTERPRISE EXCEL LIMITATIONS 17

18. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS? 18 Pros: Flexible Strong modeling Powerful calculations Rich presentation High user adoption Cons: Data integrity issues No source system integration Manual consolidations Lack of audit-ability No process management Spreadsheet Environment Pros: Controlled environment High data integrity Database centric Workflow management Auditable Cons: Takes you away from spreadsheets Rigid, lack of flexibility IT/consulting intensive High cost of ownership Budgeting Applications Financial Close Applications Reporting Applications Consolidation Applications “Excel-like Look & Feel” “Excel-like Functionality” Flexible “Replace Excel” Application Environment Controlled

19. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS? 19 Pros: Flexible Strong modeling Powerful calculations Rich presentation High user adoption Cons: Data integrity issues No source system integration Manual consolidations Lack of audit-ability No process management Spreadsheet Environment Pros: Controlled environment High data integrity Database centric Workflow management Auditable Cons: Takes you away from spreadsheets Rigid, lack of flexibility IT/consulting intensive High cost of ownership Budgeting Applications Financial Close Applications Reporting Applications Consolidation Applications “Excel-like Look & Feel” “Excel-like Functionality” Flexible “Replace Excel” Application Environment Controlled 81% of companies that have an enterprise solution…supplement it with spreadsheets. Pulse Survey

20. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. KEY FEATURES TO LOOK FOR: TOP 10 CRITERIA 20 Ability to leverage MS-Excel Centralized database with in-memory technology Workflow and collaboration Intuitive model and process design Data integration capabilities Security and auditing capabilities Real-time reporting and dashboard capabilities Extensibility – beyond finance & accounting Enterprise-grade cloud platform Capability to work offline

21. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. VENA TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 21

22. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. THE VENA APPROACH 22 Flexible MS-Excel Environment Controlled Application Environment EASY TO START MS-Excel for input, modeling & reporting Controlled & dynamically connected to a central database EASY TO COMPLIMENT Functionality built to automate and provide visibility for: Planning & Forecasting Financial Close & Report Other MS-Excel Processes EASY TO USE Intuitive graphical user interface to manage the process, data and business rules Managed by the finance user Keeps users in a familiar environment High adoption rate Quick template/report build Powerful process manager Enhanced Excel High performing in-memory database Automate any spreadsheet- based process “Ultimate Starter Kit”

23. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. QUICK DEMO: EXCEL SUPERCHARGED TO BECOME AN ENTERPRISE-CLASS SOLUTION EXCEL SUPERCHARGED! 23

24. ® Copyright Vena Solutions Inc. THANK YOU! 24