Financial Model Audit Checklist - Excel Model Review & Diagnostic Tool

Description
Financial models can look professional and still contain broken formulas, disconnected outputs, inconsistent financial statements or assumptions that do not properly fit the business being modelled.

The Financial Model Audit Checklist is an Excel-based financial model review and diagnostic tool designed to help users identify common financial modelling errors and potential red flags before relying on a spreadsheet for planning or decision-making.

Unlike a basic financial model review checklist that simply provides a list of items to tick off, this workbook combines a guided structural audit with automated financial model diagnostics.

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY CHECKLIST
Review the financial model for common spreadsheet and financial modelling problems including hardcoded values where formulas should exist, disconnected summary cells, circular references, broken external links, outputs that fail to respond to changed assumptions, balance-sheet problems, missing formulas and misleading number formatting.

BALANCE AND CONSISTENCY CHECKS
Enter key figures from the financial model and the workbook automatically tests important financial relationships. This includes checking whether Assets equal Liabilities plus Equity, whether Net Income agrees between the Profit & Loss statement and Cash Flow statement, and whether unusual period-on-period revenue movements should be investigated.

MARGIN AND GROWTH SANITY CHECKS
Enter Revenue and Cost of Sales and the workbook automatically calculates gross margin and compares the result with a directional industry range. This provides an additional financial-model sanity check and can highlight potentially incomplete or understated cost assumptions.

TEMPLATE FIT DIAGNOSTIC
A financial model can calculate correctly while still being the wrong template for the business.
The Template Fit Diagnostic examines factors including multiple revenue streams, inventory, delayed customer payments, international or multi-currency operations, unusual cost structures and the importance of the decision for which the model is being used.

AUTOMATED MODEL HEALTH SUMMARY
Results from the structural integrity review, balance and consistency checks, margin sanity checks and template-fit diagnostic are consolidated into a Model Health Summary.
The workbook automatically identifies whether red flags have been found and shows the areas that should be reviewed before relying on the financial model.
The Financial Model Audit Checklist can be used to review a financial model you built yourself, an Excel financial model you downloaded, or a financial model purchased from another provider. It does not need to import or modify the original spreadsheet.
Designed for business owners, founders, analysts, finance professionals, advisers and financial model users who want a practical way to review an Excel financial model for common errors, inconsistencies and suitability issues before relying on its outputs.
This is a diagnostic and planning tool. It does not replace a professional financial model audit, financial advice, accounting advice, tax advice or legal advice.