I recently had the pleasure of attending Karaoke night at Bub City, a bar in Chicago, after the Host Analytics Future of Finance event there. I hadn’t been there before, but the place was packed after the Chicago Cubs had won the NLDS.
What was cool about this Karaoke night was that there was a band that played along with the Karaoke sound track and the singer. They had a drummer, bass and guitar players on the stage along with the open mic. At one point in the evening, Jim Belushi even made a guest appearance - singing “Sweet Home Chicago” and playing harmonica with the band. Crazy night.
Anyway - prior to this visit, I had heard that the most popular Karaoke song in America is the duet “Picture”, sung by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. Sure enough, among all of the other country songs that were sung, two different duos took the stage to sing “Picture”.
Given this is budgeting season, it got me thinking – what if Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow were financial analysts working on their budgets and struggling with Excel spreadsheets. What would the song sound like? Well, here’s what I came up with.
Spreadsheets - Sung by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow
[Kid Rock]
Stuck doing my budgets in Excel
I ain’t seen the sunshine in 3 damn days
Been fuelin’ up on donuts and coffee
Wish I had a boss who would help me
Lord I wonder if I’ll ever change my ways
I put my spreadsheet away
Sat down and cried today
I can’t look at my screen, ‘cause my eyes are turnin’ red
I put my spreadsheet away, sat down and cried today
I can’t look at my screen ‘cause my eyes are turnin’ red
[Sheryl Crow]
I saw you last night with your PC
Trying to consolidate spreadsheets
But the time you put in tells me
Somethin’ just ain’t right
You’ve been stuck in your cube like a jail
Collecting data via Excel and Email
You haven’t slept a wink - in 3 damn nights
You put your spreadsheet away
I say for crying out loud
Why don’t you drop Excel and do your budgets - in the cloud
You put your spreadsheet away
I say for crying out loud
Why don’t you drop Excel and do your budgets – in the cloud
[Sheryl Crow]
I saw you yesterday with an old friend
[Kid Rock]
It was the same ole spreadsheet that I dread
[Both]
With that spreadsheet approach – your hair is turning grey
[Kid Rock]
I’m thinking ‘bout brighter days
[Sheryl Crow]
The cloud is a much better way
But you better change fast
[Kid Rock]
Or I’m gonna drink my life away!
[Both]
I’ve been using Excel for a long time
Can’t seem to get it off my mind
I can’t understand why we’re living life this way
I put my spreadsheet away
I swear I’ll change my ways
It’s time to call Host Analytics – and get to the cloud
I put my spreadsheet away
I swear I’ll change my ways
It’s time to call Host Analytics – and get to the cloud
It’s time to call Host Analytics – and get to the cloud. [End]
I hope you enjoyed the song. If you’re stuck in spreadsheet hell during budget season and feel like it’s time for a change, download this free white paper, “Top 5 Reasons to Stop Using Excel for Planning and Performance Management”.
Download the Whitepaper
By John O’Rourke, EPM Channel Contributor, from: http://blog.hostanalytics.com/spreadsheet-budgeting-karaoke?utm_campaign=Blog+Campaign&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=23184659&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9Y6or3Dg3mg_sRV0GiC9pS-H-2AVlZABEuauG3_yM_2m0AB7YgHPSoCYZO3m-rU64p4JQVz5jZXawWwmKuDWtTukP6k00m3zQ0LgIUkJ9zgqyuhl8&_hsmi=23184659
John O’Rourke is Vice President of Product Marketing at Host Analytics. With a background in accounting and finance, John has over 30 years of experience in the software industry, and over 16 years of experience in EPM Product Marketing at Hyperion Solutions and Oracle. He has worked with many customers and partners on financial reporting and planning initiatives and has spoken and written on many topics in enterprise performance management. John has also held positions in strategic marketing and product marketing at Dun & Bradstreet Software, Kenan Systems and Decisyon. John has a BS degree in accounting from Bentley University and an MBA from Boston College. See John’s articles on EPM Channel here.