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Review: ComplyXL Desktop edition. By John Stokdyk

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18th Apr 2007
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ExcelZone recently got its hands on a ComplyXL "Compliance Stick" - a version cleverly supplied on a 128Mb USB flash memory device. So we stuck it into our test PC and checked out what it had to offer.

ComplyXL 2.1: Key points
Browser-based Excel version control, compliance and management application, able to run on local PCs, in a networked Enterprise edition with a central repository, or on a clever "Compliance Stick" - the version reviewed here.

Strengths

  • Rapid set-up with no need to install software on the PC.
  • Simple three-part structure is easy to navigate
  • Excellent graphical and hierarchical tools to identify file changes
  • Uses Excel's own file system to store version and change control data
  • Good value for money

Weaknesses

  • Desktop edition needs a web connection to verify licence - no application data is transmitted
  • Adding new versions for review and management in the Desktop edition can take some getting used to
  • Desktop edition depends on users applying some discipline. More expensive Enterprise edition required for more comprehensive spreadsheet control.

Price

  • from £150 for Desktop edition, and £2,595 for five-seat Enterprise version

Supplier: Lyquidity Solutions

The basic Desktop version of ComplyXL is a web-browser application, written using Javascript. For the Internet Explorer edition, you will need to allow this feature within your browser, and allow it to have access to the web before you can get working.

As the explanatory material advises, ComplyXL is designed to be used by compliance managers, finance managers and accountants to help them vet the integrity of corporate workbooks. Versions can be downloaded from the net, but with a memory stick edition, the file reviewer can turn up at a PC and immediately analyse files without having to install any software. However, you can also install a ComplyXL Add-In to Excel, which makes the same functions available to you within any workbook.

Once the ComplyXL browser version opens, there isn't much to look at (see below). Aside from three Print, Help and Close icons, all you get are three functional sections that invite you to Add new versions into ComplyXL; Manage them; and Compare different workbooks.

ComplyXL main interface

The Add Version option is used to load a workbook into the ComplyXL environment, along with any commentary and an optional "pass-phrase". The pass-phrase does not prevent anyone else from accessing the file, but makes it possible for the person saving the workbook to verify it is the version they saved.

ComplyXL is quite clever in the way that it stores all the changes and versioning information within the Excel workbook that is being managed. Excel is able to store VBA scripts, macros and associated documents within a workbook, and this is where the ComplyXL information ends up.

The Manage Versions lets you Delete a workbook, Export a copy to create a new version, Revert to a previous version and Review changes within a workbook. The software is very simple to use, but does have some quirks that take a little getting used to. While any changes made to an Excel file are stored away, you either need to Add a version you want to check into ComplyXL, or compare the current version of the file to one already added to the program's store.

The Compare function is the heart and soul of the program. Once you have selected the versions you want to compare - either by control-clicking two from the menu, or selecting one of them and the Compare to current version option - ComplyXL runs a 5-10 second check on the data and produces a summary report on which sheets do and don't match. Each worksheet in the book gets its own listing, with hyperlinks available to show you a graphical overview of any changes, or the cell by cell detail (see below). You can also click on any affected sheet to see another layer that indicates whether the canges affect Cell data, Worksheet Hyperlinks or areas where cells have been Merged.

ComplyXL report

In addition to checking data and formulae, the program also indicates if any cells or columns have been hidden, any changes to calculations or Name values in Name and lists macros stored within the files, along with information stored in the Document Summary area.

The graphical overview is clever and colourful, with red oblongs on the map indicating where sheets don't match and green where they do. This may be most useful for someone like an auditor who is looking for very obscure changes within a very large data sheet, but the summary detail view is pretty effective at highlighting any inconsistencies.

The final option, Compare Workbooks, uses the same comparative tools, but lets you select different workbooks (or worksheets within different workbooks) to compare rather than running internal checks.

The most impressive thing about ComplyXL is how it tackles key Excel shortcomings in such a simple, intuitive way. Anyone who has spent time with spreadsheet models will know the feeling in your stomach that comes when you've really cocked things up, but gone too far down the path of error to get back to where you started from. ComplyXL can help - if you use it as a version control system and make a point of Adding each version to its archive before you get down to major spreadsheet surgery. It's a slight variation on the save version option available in Microsoft Word, but currently this feature is not available in native Excel.

More importantly, ComplyXL is a great tool for those who need to enforce spreadsheet discipline and to check who's amended files and what they've done, with comprehensive comparison and reporting features. The developer also offers an Enterprise version that can run across company networks, but the "compliance stick" option of running it on a USB flash drive is an elegant way to cater for roving compliance managers or auditors who can plug it into any internet-equipped PC and run quick checks without having to install any software. (NB: the net connection does not actually handle any application data, but is used to verify the software's user licence).

With introductory pricing starting from £150, this is a very cost-effective way to introduce some basic spreadsheet security and version control to your organisation - or use as a diagnostic tool in investigative or audit work. To see for yourself what ComplyXL is like, you can request a14-day trial edition from the company's website.

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