The “A1 Condition”: Xls Preparation Guidelines
Posted by: udaygosain on: 13-July-2009
1. Have you ever had to scroll sheets, and looked across tabs to find what you were to see.
2. Have you ever seen xls with all sort of colourings and fonts?
Below I announce the A1 Condition – which makes the xls Top Class (A1):
| Some simple check points below make an Excel workbook easy to read and manage: |
| Standard first page. Title template used (wherever applicable). |
| Section No is updated. |
| Dates updated. |
| Serial No updated. |
| Status updated. |
| Text/response is self explanatory. |
| Bordering and colouring is appropriately done. |
| The size is set between 75% and 90% |
| If scrolling is needed to read the xls ensure the Window Panes are appropriately Frozen. (Example in the ‘Doc Preparation’ worksheet in this TQC, select Col A, Row 3 -> from Menu: Window->Un/Freeze Pane). |
| While saving the xls make sure that the Cursor is at Column A, Row 1, for ALL Worksheets (This makes the Worksheet easier and neater to view – all coloumns and rows are visible). |
| If there are multiple worksheets: Final save should be on the first sheet. If a worksheet other than the first is relevant, then Final save should be on this sheet. |
| Filters set appropriately. |
| Similar colouring scheme used across worksheets. |
| Hyperlinks to relevant pages added for ease of browsing. “Back to Summary/Index” kind of should be added at the top left corner and windows should be frozen such that “Back to Summary/Index” should always be visible. (As in this xls). |
| All hyperlinks should be checked. |
| Keep Row1 and Column 1 empty. Gives a better view. |
| Proper borders used. It is advisable not to use thick bordering in a table as any additions makes the whole table go out of sync. |
| Colouring used in all shading tables should be consistent. |
| Macros should be properly validated and checked. |
| Formulas should be checked for null reference and divide-by-zero errors. |
| Graphs if used should have proper source data. This should be properly validated. |
| If auto-filter is enabled in the sheet, then set it to ALL, or else clearly specify the set filters in email or sheet itself, else the other viewer needs to check each and every filter |
| By default Excel creates 3 sheets in a workbook. If you are using just one sheet, delete the other two. Change the default number of sheets to 1 in your MS-Excel. This will ensure that you’l add a sheet only when you need one. |
| Protect the sheet, if you are using complex formulas and macros. |
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