USE OF SPREAD SHEETS IN SMALL FIRMS

By James J. Yarmus,1 F. ASCE

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The spread sheet programs, which are readily available for u s e with
any hardware configuration, can be u s e d for m a n a g e m e n t functions, in
a variety of reporting, quantifying a n d control projects.
Some users mistakenly believe that the only proper w a y to u s e such
software relates to applications involving n u m b e r s a n d numerical cal-
culations such as accounting functions. However, "light" or " i n - h o u s e "
types of accounting, such as billing a n d reporting with narratives or let-
ter formats, can b e easily set u p once familiarity with the software is
acquired.
An example of the usage of narratives in conjunction with spread sheet
programs, a n d , therefore, usage in nonnumerical modes, is evident in
an adaptation of t h e program to a filing system (Table 1). Each assign-
ment can be identified alphanumerically. The date on which it is based
can be set as field. Factors such as type of job, source of referral, fee

TABLE 1.—Monthly Job Register

Month File Client Date Fee Type Town-job name INSP Units Referred
(D (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 0) (10)
6-86-1 r may 6/2 300 7 ossining P' — messina
2 c may 2 300 7 tarrytown tb messina
3 d damiane 4 225 8 pearl river
— damiani
jy —1
4 z zanchelli 4 100 7 west nyack ar self
5 r robinson 10 450 8 nyc self
3 nanuet
jy
bp
— self
6 P posner 250 7 —
7 s satrap 5 350 1 white plaines bs yellows
8 P pilaster 6 100 7 spring valley ar self
9 P peet 7 295 4 stony point bm scott
10 r roberts 4 270 4 spring valley mh weichert
11 b eljo 25 500 7 riverdale self
12 k krohn 27 250 4 tarrytown
jy
bs
— yellows
13 k kaufman 26 60 7 elmont PP self
14 0 halpern 26 600 7 mamaroneck rl 100 self
15 b biggar 30 330 4 valley stream bs __
16 d delotol 27 330 4 congers K realtor
17 s Santiago 27 350 8 west milford jy stone
18 b o'Conner 7/8 350 7 interstate shop pi yellows
19 s Steinberg 20 350 8 tappan jy sipper
20 8 kent 28 1,000 7 garnerville bP 65 sipper

Total Proposal = 55,700

Note: 1 = commercial feasibility study, 2 = tenants status report, 3 = conversion of existing building to coop
or condominiums, 4 = residential structure 1 to 4 units, 5 = mortgage report for lenders, 6 - multiple dwelling
prepurchase inspection, 7 = miscellaneous categories, 8 = testimony work (Forensic Engineering).

'Pres., Able Building Inspections, Sumray Construction Co., Inc., and J. Yar-
mus, Inc., Architectural and Engrg. Consultants, New City, NY 10956-5397.
Note.—Discussion open until December 1, 1987. To extend the closing date
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals.
The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication
on May 20, 1986. This paper is part of the Journal of Computing in Civil Engi-
neering, Vol. 1, No. 3, July, 1987. ©ASCE, ISSN 0887-3801/87/0003-0217/$01.00.
Paper No. 21606.

217

J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 1987, 1(3): 217-219

 TABLE 2.—Floor Designation and

Defi- Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor
ciency B A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
d) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)
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1 1 0 0 0 4 3 6 0 0 3 2 3 4
2 3 5 2 8 9 11 16 6 3 7 8 9 5
3 3 0 1 6 3 9 9 2 0 4 5 2 2
4 5 2 1 4 4 9 8 4 1 3 6 8 3
5 1 2 1 4 5 5 7 1 4 6 4 4 2
6 4 5 1 6 3 4 1 2 2 5 2 1 0
7 2 0 1 1 4 5 4 0 0 3 1 3 0

8 4 3 1 5 6 5 9 2 1 7 6 6 2
9 2 0 0 2 4 3 2 1 1 3 1 0 0
10 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 0
11 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 2 1 1 0 2 1

12 3 1 0 4 11 16 15 4 6 10 7 13 5
13 3 1 1 4 13 13 14 4 6 12 9 14 5

14 3 0 0 4 9 10 11 4 2 5 4 6 4
15 5 0 0 2 7 5 8 4 3 4 2 4 3
16 3 2 1 2 8 9 14 4 5 8 6 12 4
17 2 0 0 1 3 7 6 1 3 2 1 4 4
18 2 0 0 1 2 4 5 1 0 2 0 3 3
19 2 0 0 0 2 8 2 3 0 0 1 3 2
20 2 0 0 3 3 7 9 0 3 6 2 5 5
Note: This chart is based on 240 units. To obtain statistically accurate totals for the 801 unit building multiply

generated, name of employee handling it, and various numerical or ex-

planatory functions can be either stated or quantified as needed, de-
pending on the nature of the business or the data required.
A more elaborate application (Table 2) demonstrates that simple for-
mulas such as addition, subtraction and the obtaining of percentages are
open to operators who lack mastery of interdependent matrices and in-
terlinked functions between spread sheets.
By actually addressing the needs of such simple applications, it is ad-
vantageous to enter all numerical data before commanding the computer
to perform any calculations. Although there are ways to program sys-
tems to bypass calculations until the operator is ready for them, entering
the formulas at the end saves the computer and the operator a few sec-
onds per entry or group of entries, depending on the size of the spread
sheet.
The examples cited below show usage of the spread sheet in control-
ling active accounts (Table 1), in quantifying deficiencies during a build-
ing inspection (Table 2), and in invoice preparation (Appendix 1). All
three examples use a popular spread sheet program with simple vari-
ations in displaying data, column width, justification and addition of
data. The building inspection sheet typifies a case in which the formulas
should be entered after all data is in place. This will reduce the time
which is needed for the machine to perform hundreds of calculations
(addition in this case) for every entry made.
In summary, it is important for the small firm to learn that instead of
wasting limited resources on unnecessary sophistication, they should take
218

J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 1987, 1(3): 217-219

 Number of Deficiencies per Floor
Defects
Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor Floor living
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 room Deficiency
(15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (27)
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(26)
1 0 0 3 2 0 1 5 4 3 4 49 wet spots
9 5 5 9 5 9 7 6 9 5 4 165 paint
5 3 2 4 4 3 6 5 2 1 0 81 floor cracks
3 6 2 6 5 5 7 5 9 2 5 113 window sash
3 4 1 3 2 1 1 4 4 2 3 74 window frame
6 1 0 4 2 4 1 3 1 1 0 59 lights, outlets
1 1 1 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 36 wiring distribu-
tion
10 5 2 7 5 2 7 4 5 0 2 106 doors
0 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 30 bell
1 2 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 21 door frames
1 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 27 ele- entry concrete
vators
13 6 7 11 7 8 6 8 14 7 4 186 skipping floors
13 8 6 12 8 8 6 8 14 9 4 195 stop at wrong
floor
7 5 3 8 6 5 4 3 12 3 3 121 slow to open
6 5 2 4 5 4 3 6 7 2 1 92 closes too fast
11 5 3 8 7 6 5 7 14 8 4 156 long wait
3 4 1 4 4 3 2 1 5 1 3 65 emergency signal
5 3 3 4 3 2 3 0 5 0 2 53 bells
2 2 0 2 1 1 2 2 1 0 2 38 walls/ceilings
6 5 5 7 5 3 2 5 5 5 4 97 cab ventilation
each of the applicable numbers by 3.34.

advantage of the flexibility of readily available, inexpensive, c o m m o n

programs which can be adapted to any machine a n d printer.

APPENDIX I.—EXAMPLE OF QUANTIFYING DATA IN INVOICE PREPARATION

CLIENT: DATE: April 30, 1986

Gary Sherman, Esq.
D.B.G. Properties
850 Third Avenue Re: INVOICE
New York, NY 10022
Listed below is our record of recent activity and amount due.
Please send payment upon receipt. See last amount shown.
You are subject to 18% per year penalty for delinquencies.

DATE DESCRIPTION OUR FILE # FEE CREDIT BALANCE

Nov. '85 345 E 56, Search 11-85-41 247.50 0.00 247.50
Mar. '86 399 E 72, Comments 3-86-11 525.00 0.00 525.00
Tenants Eng. Report
Mar. '86 399 E 72, Footage 3-86-80/D 300.00 0.00 300.00
Apr. '86 399 E 72, Addit, 4-86-7/D 100.00 0.00 100.00
s.f.
DUE NOW 1,172.50

Lenore Loncar
Administrative Assistant

219

J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 1987, 1(3): 217-219