Lynda ArtesaniLegal Accountant and Data Migration Specialist at The Proper Trust

The Spreadsheet That Ate Itself #lawfirms #legalaccounting

12 Jun 2026 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:29

In this brief segment, the speaker describes a client’s massive partner‑compensation spreadsheet that contained numerous incorrect formulas and circular references. The spreadsheet’s errors caused the figures not to reconcile, and the speaker was unable to trace the problematic formulas because everything referenced everything else. Ultimately, the client’s CPA had to be brought in to untangle the spreadsheet and determine a path forward, highlighting the challenges of complex, poorly‑designed financial models in legal accounting.

Because we've found incorrect formulas. Well, I had, I had a client this year who created this massive spreadsheet, huge, on partner compensation and things didn't tie out. And they asked me to take a look at it and I could not figure out where all these formulas were because everything circled back to everything. We finally had to get their CPA involved to figure out where they wanted to go with this spreadsheet because it just went on and on.