Avoid computer disasters is the topic of the next ABC spot.
One thing that hadn’t ocurred to me is the risks of being sleepy. However this is real as Barclays’ Bank found recently.
I genuinely feel sorry for the first year associate as it’s the sort of mistake I would make late into a 14 hour day.
Another risk are hidden columns in Excel. Too many people use them when they should be avoided except when absolutely necessary.
The fallacy with Excel’s hidden column is that it simply reduces the column width to zero and unless you’ve protected the spreadsheet this is easily changed back which is what the law clerk did.
But the biggest lesson is to proof read your documents before sending them, with Excel it’s a good idea to double check your numbers as well.