There are a few things that make the use of spreadsheets potentially dangerous for auditors and I believe it would not be difficult to build features into Openoffice that could limit the risk. I have mentioned two major areas below.
The biggest danger that spreadsheets present is the ease with which they can be changed - at any stage - even after the "final" working paper has been printed. The potential problems that this could create are obvious. I would like to suggest the following:
The ability to secure data at cell level, sheet level and workbook level. This security should be on two levels - lower which allows changes on entering a password and locked _which prevents changes ever being made._ It would be nice if the sheets could be "watermarked" as "secured" and "final"
A lot of our work involves standardized schedules and it would be very nice if we could make templates that are able to control specified input fields. ie the ability to change formulas and layouts would be restricted. In this way one could develop reliable tools which would not have to checked each time a clerk uses them.
I do think that this type of feature would be very popular with auditors and accountants.
I would like to contribute to this project and although I was involved in software development of accounting programs for many years I feel that I don't have the necessary programming skills at present to contribute at that level but I would be very happy to be involved at a testing/user interface level - let me know if there is anything specific.
Finally - what you have done, creating free and very useful software, is a fantastic service to computer users all over the world - I just have a concern that eventually the lack of financial reward could kill the project. May I suggest that to help prevent this you create "the Openoffice user and developer club". Users should pay an annual club fee and the trustees of the club could then decide how best to apply the funds to ensure continued rapid development.
Regards
Jeremy
