formula-audit-checkerlisted

# Formula Audit Checker ## When to use Use this skill when reviewing an Excel model that was built by someone else, or verifying your own model before sharing it with a client or senior stakeholder. Trigger it when a model has been flagged for quality review, when a version handover is happening, or before a model is used to make a significant financial decision. It is most valuable as a pre-submission quality gate: running this audit before a model is presented to a board, an investment committee, or a client. ## What it does Provides a systematic, step-by-step model audit process covering: Excel's native formula auditing tools (Trace Precedents, Trace Dependents, Error Checking), detection and correction of hardcoded values in formulas, identification of circular references, consistent IFERROR wrapping, and documentation of audit findings in a review log. The output is a completed audit log and a list of prioritized issues to fix. ## Method 1. **Save a working copy before auditing.** Before making any changes, save the model as a new file with "_Audit_YYYY-MM-DD" appended to the name. All edits during the audit should be made on this copy. This preserves the original state for comparison. 2. **Run the Error Checking tool.** Go to Formulas > Error Checking. Excel will step through all cells that contain errors (#N/A, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #VALUE!, #NAME?) and display the error and the formula. For each error: diagnose the cause (missing lookup key, deleted source cell, wrong