According to a recent study, 94% of spreadsheets that are used for decision-making in businesses have errors in them. Which means these businesses are now at greater risk for financial loss and operational mistakes. This has many orgs turning to data validation in their Excel spreadsheets to ensure accuracy and consistency in the data that’s entered by restricting the type of data allowed in a cell. Ideally, this prevents errors and prompts users to correct any invalid entries, which should result in more reliable analysis and decision-making. 

In short, data validation in Excel can help reduce unstandardized data, errors, or irrelevant information in your spreadsheets. 

Why Data Validation Matters

The problem for many businesses is that most spreadsheets are tested and fixed after they’re created, instead of during the planning and design phase of building the workbook. Which means the sooner you can build data validation into your spreadsheet before filling it with data, the better your results will be. 

Essentially, data validation helps with the GIGO concept: garbage in, garbage out. Analyzing flawed data will give you erroneous and misleading results. 

Data validation becomes crucial in order to maintain data integrity and make sure your business is compliant with industry regulations and standards. Consider regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR that require organizations to protect patient information and ensure data privacy and security. 

Data validation also saves a lot of time: Consider that data analysts spend about 80% of their time just getting data ready to be used, and only 20% on the analysis itself. If data was clean and correct from the outset, those percentages could swing a decidedly more favorable direction. 

Fair warning, however, that data validation ensures data integrity, but it cannot absolutely guarantee that data will be correct. Say for instance that you have a table for cats and dogs that includes validation rule saying only “cat” or “dog” entries are allowed. Sure, nothing will be labeled incorrectly as a fish. But there’s no guarantee that a dog won’t accidentally be labeled as a cat. So don’t assume your data validation will make your data completely infallible. It’s helpful, but not totally foolproof. 

The Case for Removing Data Validation

Now that we’ve looked at all the reasons data validation is helpful . . . is there ever a reason to remove it? 

Believe it or not, the answer is: Yes. 

Sometimes removing data validation from your spreadsheet is necessary. We feel you clenching from here, but hear us out.

• Updating your spreadsheet’s structure or requirements. Sometimes the original validation criteria are no longer relevant to how you’re using the spreadsheet today. In which case, they gotta go.
• More flexible data entry. Maybe your business does involve more than just cats and dogs. Data validation that only allows those two entries needs to be removed so you can enter “fish,” “hedgehog,” or any other response that’s now relevant.
• Troubleshooting formula errors that are caused by validation. If you have formulas in validated cells that are causing errors such as #REF! Or #DIV/0!, Excel is going to ignore your data validation. Remove the validation, fix the formula. And then you can decide if you need to reapply the data validation.
• Prepping data for export or analysis. Sometimes the system you are sending the data to will not recognize or apply the data validation rules, which means you’ll have to remove them before uploading.

In any of these cases, so long as the worksheet is not password-protected, you can modify or remove the data validation for as long as you need. If the worksheet is password-protected and you can’t get the password from whoever initially protected the workbook, you’re out of luck on that particular file. However, you can copy and paste the data into a new worksheet and then remove the data validation. 

The Data Validation Alternative

Data validation is a very handy feature when working with a lot of data in Excel. After all, who doesn’t want their data to be accurate? Still, with some of the provisos we just covered, you might still be looking for another way to ensure your data is accurate without having to jump through the hoops of setting up—and possibly taking down—data validation in every spreadsheet you work on. 

If that’s you, then allow us to introduce you to an Excel integration that’s purpose-built for NetSuite to automatically pull in exactly the data you need for reporting without the need for manual data entry, ensuring accuracy without the need for data validation. ExtendInsights for NetSuite is a one-step integration with Excel and Power BI that lets you build powerful, accurate, and refreshable reporting for the best decision-making possible. And you can even use two-way sync to write back new and updated data. 

It’s pretty slick stuff, and you can take it for a spin completely free for two whole weeks. See if it’s time to say goodbye to complicated data validation and hello to efficient, accurate data reporting and analysis with the help of ExtendInsights. Give it a try today.