Spreadsheet

Term Definition
A spreadsheet is a rectangular table or grid of information, used to present information. The term spreadsheet originated from "spread" in reference to newspaper and magazine items that “spread” across two facing pages, extending across the centerfold and sheet. Thus, a spreadsheet was two pages treated as one large one. The compound word "spread-sheet" came to mean the format used to present bookkeeping ledgers with columns for categories of expenditures across the top, invoices listed down the left margin, and the amount of each payment in the cell where its row and column intersect -- which were traditionally a "spread" across facing pages of a bound ledger (book for keeping accounting records) or on oversized sheets of paper ruled into rows and columns in that format and approximately twice as wide as ordinary paper.

One of the first commercial uses for computers was generating reports in the spreadsheet format to process payroll. As computer use increased, spreadsheet took on a more general term and referred to anything presented in the tabular grid format.

Small to mid-sized companies use spreadsheets to track work, expenses, and leave time. The information is then reentered or manually imported from spreadsheet files into the company's accounting, payroll and project systems. This process is highly error prone and can result in significant payroll and billing errors and lost or duplicate entries; consolidating this kind of data later, frequently results in conflicts and errors that are often difficult to identify or address. A time tracking software that is integrated with your accounting system and provides point of entry data validation, policy-based approval, and notification setup will eliminate such errors. Studies have shown that eliminating duplicate systems, manual processes and entry/approval errors can save you up to 3% of total payroll costs and increase your billable hours by as much as 4%.

Area of Application
Project Management
Time and Expense

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