Spreadsheets are widely used in financial institutions, and not just for little things but also for critical tasks too. I've seen spreadsheets sophisticated enough to make database calls to book-of-record systems.
These spreadsheets are often put together by an intern or associate who "knows a little VBA" and automates or tracks a task that the business was doing manually. Nobody on the desk really knows how the spreadsheet works.
Changes to the spreadsheets are not controlled in any manner, are not tracked in source control, but are often (thankfully) backed up by virtue of being saved on a network drive.
The business prefers spreadsheets over "real software" because they have complete control of it whereas their internal IT department are slow and expensive, and the resulting custom-coded products are often substandard (see zubairq's comment about paying market rate).
These spreadsheets are often put together by an intern or associate who "knows a little VBA" and automates or tracks a task that the business was doing manually. Nobody on the desk really knows how the spreadsheet works.
Changes to the spreadsheets are not controlled in any manner, are not tracked in source control, but are often (thankfully) backed up by virtue of being saved on a network drive.
The business prefers spreadsheets over "real software" because they have complete control of it whereas their internal IT department are slow and expensive, and the resulting custom-coded products are often substandard (see zubairq's comment about paying market rate).