Audit Trail - Excel Worksheet or Word Document?

Hi chaps,

I have been studying the CA2 ACTED Notes and I reckon the audit trail can either be done on a tab in the workbook or on a Word doc. There seems to be a preference on using the word doc with adequate signposting and annotations within the excel worksheets. Any thoughts on either of the two methods?

 

word doc:
+you can use a split screen and update it while working on excel side by side
-you need a large screen for this to be feasible at least greater than 21 inches
+i feel the examiners like this because they can open both docs side by side. having said that, it is just as easy to copy the excel file and reopen it showing the audit trail on the side. At least until excel builds in a function to allow inter worksheet split screens (currently I think you can only split screens within a worksheet).

excel based trail
+it will never get lost (I used this practice in the exam as well as at work), over time it is possible for separate files to get lost but a worksheet within excel wont.

This choice is definitely not what will give you a pass/fail, just do what you plan on doing for the rest of your life at work.

 

It's so much easier to edit and format a word doc than an excel IMHO. From an examination perspective, I don't think word or excel matters - just a question of convenience.

 

For CA2 do it in a word doc. For real life do it in excel.

It's more important to have it looking nice and legible for CA2. For the real world it's more important to have it alongside the sheet it explains.

The examiner shouldn't be able to lose your word doc so you can give no weight to this requirement at all for the exam. Legibility and format is still important in the real world obviously!

For real life you could also embed a word doc in the excel file, best of both worlds.. though I'd only be inclined to do that in real life if the model was a bit of a beast and the audit trail would benefit from being in a separate (but linked) file.

 

Yup formatting is a lot easier in word but if you're comfortable with excel then typing in cells isn't too difficult either. Spell check and word wrap are pretty much all you need. I also used excel to keep a psychological Chinese wall between the final report and the audit trail. Otherwise if both are in word you find yourself asking a question many threads try to address on this forum-What is the difference between an audit trail and the final report But that's only me, ultimately you should do what makes you comfortable.