"MATHS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE MANAGEMENT DECISIONS ARE BASED ON REPORTS OF SALES INFORMATION PRODUCED. THE MATHS IS NOT DIFFICULT BUT IT IS IMPORTANT THE CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT."

I am responsible for the design and maintenance of databases and programmes. Most of out information is based on customers, products and orders the maths is not complicated but it is very important that calculations are correct because of the large figures involved.

One of the most complicated formulas I have had to solve is to calculate the number of items to transfer from a discounted price to the full price based on the value of other products in a customer's order. This is a common offer in our catalogue and so a generalised formula was required which would work for any values.

Maths is important in my industry area because management decisions are based on reports of sales information produced by many different programmes in our systems. Although most of the maths is not complicated, it must be understood by any developers responsible for maintaining the programmes.