Not every spreadsheet needs to become a formal workflow. Some tasks are one-time analyses. Others repeat often enough that they deserve structure.

Standardize the task when it is:

  • repeated monthly, quarterly, or every audit cycle
  • reviewed by someone else
  • tied to a control total
  • based on similar source files each period
  • prone to copy/paste errors
  • hard to explain after the fact

Keep it manual when it is:

  • exploratory
  • one-time
  • judgment-heavy
  • based on inconsistent source data
  • too small to justify process design

Accounting takeaway

The goal is not to automate everything. The goal is to standardize the work that repeats, matters, and needs review.