The eight risks
- Hard-coded cells inside formulas. Search for any cell that returns a number that isn't from a referenced input.
- Hidden tabs. Unhide every tab before circulating the model.
- Broken named ranges. Check the Name Manager, orphaned ranges are common.
- Circular references in finance. Especially when interest is calculated on a balance that depends on interest.
- Out-of-date pricing. Comparable sales over 3 months old.
- Out-of-date contributions. Statutory schedules update annually.
- Annual cashflow only. Annual is too coarse for peak debt and IRR.
- “Final” version that isn't. File naming is not version control.
The structural fix
The reason these errors recur is that a spreadsheet has no structure to prevent them. A structured tool, like Popurise, eliminates the class of error rather than catching individual instances.