Prepare A Workpaper Stamp

Q. With Sarbanes-Oxley pushing on us, we need to stamp every workpaper with a box that includes the following information: Prepared by and Date; Reviewed by and Date . Is there a simple way to attach such a stamp to every spreadsheet or document?

A. I expect you mean a stamp like this:

There are several ways to do it. In Word, you can use either the AutoText or Picture insert features, and in Excel, which lacks AutoText , use the Picture insert feature.

Let’s start with Word’s AutoText . After creating the table, using Tools , Insert Table , load the stamp in AutoText by highlighting the stamp image, then either press Alt+F3 or click on Insert , AutoText , New , evoking the Create AutoText screen (see screenshot) and name the insert and click on OK .

Then, whenever you want to apply the stamp in Word, click on Insert , AutoText and click on the name you gave it and presto:

Since Excel lacks AutoInsert , you have at least two options. The easiest requires that you have graphic-copying software, such as SnagIt ( www.techsmith.com ), to take a snapshot of the stamp and then store the image in some convenient folder. Whenever you want to stamp a worksheet, click on Insert , Picture , From File and then click on the file where you stored the stamp image.

If you don’t have graphic-copying software, you can copy (Ctrl+C) the stamp image from a Word document and paste it (Ctrl+V) in the Excel worksheet.