Sebastian Dewhurst at EASA explains why CFOs must rethink the role of spreadsheets
For years, spreadsheets have been the backbone of financial and operational reporting. They are flexible, familiar, and deeply embedded in the daily operations of almost every organisation. But in today’s increasingly regulated business environment, the risks of relying on traditional spreadsheets are becoming too great to ignore.
In sectors such as finance, pharmaceuticals, energy, and manufacturing, where compliance, accuracy, and transparency are paramount, spreadsheet-driven processes are no longer fit for purpose. These tools may once have been the fastest way to get data into the hands of decision-makers, but as reporting requirements grow more complex, their limitations are becoming clear.
It’s time for organisations, particularly CFOs, finance leaders, and operations executives, to modernise their reporting infrastructure.
The problem: outdated tools in a regulated world
Spreadsheets have endured because of their convenience. Anyone can open one, make changes, and run calculations in minutes. But that same flexibility is what makes them risky in regulated industries.
Most spreadsheets evolve organically over time, expanded, copied, and shared across departments without clear ownership or documentation. This often leads to:
For CFOs, these vulnerabilities translate into operational inefficiencies, regulatory exposure, and potential reputational damage. In an era where regulators expect detailed traceability and real-time reporting, the spreadsheet model has become a liability.
The solution: converting spreadsheets into web-based applications
Modernising reporting doesn’t have to mean discarding years of accumulated business knowledge. Many of the most valuable models organisations use — forecasting tools, risk calculators, cost trackers — already exist within spreadsheets. The key is to evolve them.
By converting critical spreadsheets into web-based applications, companies can retain the functionality they rely on while embedding governance, security, and automation into the process.
Here’s what this transformation offers:
Why CFOs and operations leaders should act now
Regulatory expectations around data integrity and auditability are only increasing. From ESG disclosures to financial transparency, regulators and stakeholders alike want consistent, traceable, and timely information.
For CFOs and operations leaders, this environment presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Those who continue to rely on uncontrolled spreadsheet processes risk falling behind. But those who embrace web-based automation can unlock a host of advantages:
Crucially, converting spreadsheets into web-based applications doesn’t require starting from scratch. Platforms make it possible to take existing, business-critical spreadsheet models and publish them as secure, governed web tools, without rewriting code or rebuilding systems.
A modern reporting framework for a regulated future
The modern enterprise runs on data, but data alone isn’t enough. What matters is how reliably that data can be processed, analysed, and reported, especially when regulatory scrutiny is high.
By moving away from traditional spreadsheets and embracing controlled, web-based reporting applications, organisations can create a foundation for trustworthy, scalable, and auditable reporting.
For CFOs and operations leaders, this shift represents a chance to move beyond the manual, error-prone processes of the past and build a reporting environment designed for the future, one that supports compliance, enhances decision-making, and empowers teams to focus on what really matters: driving the business forward.
Sebastian Dewhurst is the Founder of EASA
Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and jxfzsy
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