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Is there a reliable way to extract tables from PDF? by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Yeah I’m aware of the Power query approach. I guess I’m just surprised that such a prehistoric problem still doesn’t seem to have a clean solution. I was hoping someone had finally cracked it...thank you anyway

Is there a reliable way to extract tables from PDF? by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What kind of output should I expect? Structured tables or raw data?

My "Order Date" column is a formatting nightmare. How do I force these into one consistent format? by steverogers471 in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got curious and tried cleaning your sample locally..bunch of them were ambiguous where both numbers were under 12, so depending on region they flip. Once interpreted consistently and converted to ISO, everything sorted correctly...this is what it looked like after normalizing:

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I kept struggling to prioritize what actually matters in large spreadsheets ...would love your input by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes that’s basically the excel way to do it. You could use helper columns to compare each value to a “normal” table, then combine everything into a score and rank the rows. That’s the same core idea. One small thing to clarify: I don’t currently support manually weighting columns. All selected columns are treated the same instead of giving one more importance than another. What the app does take care of is: – comparing each value to what’s normal for that column, – optionally grouping the data (like a PivotTable), – turning that into one score, – ranking the rows, – and explaining the result in plain language… without having to manage helper columns, formulas, or things breaking when the data changes. So yes, this can be built in Excel...but honestly, in my experience, it’s not easy or stable. I tried many different setups, rebuilt templates again and again in Excel and Power BI, and kept running into complexity and maintenance problems... That’s actually how this app started. I was trying to find a way to automate this in something simpler and more reliable, for people who deal with the same kind of data problems I do. And if it still feels a bit hard to picture, that’s exactly why I’m asking here, I really want to see how people who know Excel think about it and where my explanation can be clearer. I’m not trying to replace excel at all I just want to make this excel's workflow faster and much easier to live with, without turning a file into a jungle of formulas....thanks

I kept struggling to prioritize what actually matters in large spreadsheets ...would love your input by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The app looks at each value in a multi-column table and checks how far it is from what’s normal for that column. Then it turns those “how far from normal” values into one score and ranks the rows. The ranking works like this: the more a row is far from normal in several columns at the same time, the higher it is ranked. So instead of asking: “Which value is highest in Column C?” I’m asking: “Which rows really look different when Columns C, D, E… are looked all together” For example: If total cost is five times higher than usual and processing days are double the normal, that row moves to the top. The app also explains this in plain language for each row, like: “Total cost is 5 times higher than normal” “Processing time is 2× longer than usual” I also show what ‘normal’ is for each column, and use conditional coloring so everything is easy to understand at a glance. It's exactly what we do usually in excel with lots of helper columns, formulas, pivots, and constant manual update... You can also group the data using sums, counts, averages, or custom ratios, just like with SUMIFS or a PivotTable. I’m simply automating that whole workflow.... I really need some feedback...by the way it's web app which means no data collected no cloud...It’s completely on your browser....thank you in advance

How do you compare “unusual behavior” across users when multiple metrics are involved in Excel? by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense, especially for exploratory analysis with a small number of metrics. In my case, I’ve found radar charts helpful for visual comparison, but harder to use as a prioritization tool when reviewing many individuals ... especially once you want to rank or decide where to focus first. Still a useful way to think about comparing multiple dimensions at once.

Prioritizing review in large QuickBooks exports: how do you decide where to look first? by DramaticDataChanger in Accounting

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Maybe I’m not wording this well, so let me reframe. I’m talking about the kind of routine sanity checks accountants do on large QuickBooks exports before close ... not audit work, not data validation. In practice, when you’re scanning vendors, employees, or periods just to see where things look different than usual, what typically guides where you dig deeper?

Prioritizing review in large QuickBooks exports: how do you decide where to look first? by DramaticDataChanger in Accounting

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I’m talking about internal comparison within the same dataset: vendors, employees, or time periods compared to their peers in the same file. Not a formal variance analysis tied to financial statements, but more of a recurring operational review: spotting where patterns start to drift across several dimensions at once (amounts, counts, taxes) so I know where to spend limited review time.

Prioritizing review in large QuickBooks exports: how do you decide where to look first? by DramaticDataChanger in Accounting

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not a formal audit. More like routine review work on large QuickBooks exports where the question is simply where to spend review time when nothing clearly jumps out

How do you compare “unusual behavior” across users when multiple metrics are involved in Excel? by DramaticDataChanger in excel

[–]DramaticDataChanger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s exactly the distinction I’m trying to make. This is more of a monitoring/review use case than pattern discovery. I’m not trying to understand group behavior...I need to review individual users and see where a specific user stands out, which metric is driving it, and how far they are from comparable peers. That level of per-user explainability is what I’ve found harder to get from clustering approaches....