Validating Excel Spreadsheets for GXP Use
By validating Excel spreadsheets, laboratories can mitigate risks and improve efficiency. This leads to a more robust and compliant laboratory environment, where GXP calculations are carried out with precision and confidence.
This course is designed to equip participants with the essential knowledge and skills to validate Excel spreadsheets. We will explore various functionalities and techniques within Excel that are integral to the process of spreadsheet validation.
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Chapter 2: Data Integrity
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Lock all non-input cells and password protect your worksheet
You can lock certain cells to prevent them from being modified when a worksheet is password protected.
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Password protect your workbook
You can prevent users from viewing hidden worksheets, adding, moving, deleting, or hiding worksheets, and renaming worksheets when a workbook is password protected.
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Password protect your macros
If using macros or VBA code in your spreadsheet, you can lock the VBA editor to prevent users from viewing or editing your code.
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Add data validation to restrict acceptable data type and value(s) for your input cells
You can set up data validations to control and restrict the types of data that can be entered into the input cells. Acceptable data types, values or range of values, and formats can be specified.
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Use a dropdown list for your inputs
You can add a dropdown list as your data input to restrict to a predefined set of values, reducing the risk for data entry errors and enforcing consistency in data formatting and terminology.
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Enable track changes in Excel
You can keep track of changes made in Excel, which is especially useful when making revisions in a spreadsheet.
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Chapter 3: Risk Mitigation
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Chapter 4: Consistency and Standardization
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Apply a designated fill color to your input cells
You can apply a designated fill color to input cells to enhance the user experience when working on a spreadsheet. This helps prove clarity on where data input is required and reduces the chances of overlooking those cells.
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Add a unit of measurement to your cells
You can add a unit of measurement in the cell format of certain cells to provide clarity and readability to users. This can also help prevent conversion errors or misinterpretation of a numeric data.
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Run a spell check on your worksheet
You can run a spell check within a worksheet to identify and correct any spelling errors.
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Set a standard number of decimal places to your numeric fields
You can standardize the number of decimal places to cells with numeric data to ensure the same level of precision and consistency. This can be based on the industry and organization specific reporting standards or regulations for compliance.
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Establish a standard for chart formatting
You can edit a chart to include key elements, and customize them according to requirements. Proper chart formatting ensures that charts are clear, consistent, and effectively convey the information you want to communicate.
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Chapter 5: Improved Efficiency
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Name your cell references or ranges
You can assign descriptive names to cell references or ranges, to help enhance readability of formulas and facilitate automation. If you reference cells by name, Excel will automatically update the references if you insert or delete rows or columns, minimizing the risk of referencing the wrong data.
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Apply conditional formatting in your spreadsheet
You can apply conditional formatting to cells in a spreadsheet to highlight trends, patterns or outliers in the data.
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Write a macro
You can create macros to automate repetitive tasks and processes in your spreadsheet.
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Record a macro
Recording a macro is the process of capturing a sequence of actions or commands so that they can be played back later. This can simplify the process and serve as a learning tool for users who are new to coding.
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