Financial model audit /Detective

The first set of issues in the checklist are the “Mechanical checks” meaning things
like color coding, format, integrity and basically an overall check on compatibility of
the financial model with the best practice financial modelling standards.

Transparency is one of the main building blocks of a standards financial model. So

one of the first checks that you need to perform is to check for hidden things in the
spreadsheet.

1. Use the Document Inspector

I use this as the first step to detect hidden sheets. Once you run the document
inspector, you will see a summary of what it finds, and one of the items is the
invisible objects, hidden rows and columns, hidden worksheet. The downside of this
is that it only lets you remove and not to unhide the hidden information. But the
good thing about it is that it also detects the very hidden worksheets.

To open the Document Inspector, click File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect
Document

2. Unhide hidden worksheets

Once you have detected hidden sheets from the document inspector, you can unhide
sheets by either

 going to Home>Format > Hide & Unhide or

 Right clicking on any tabs and click on Unhide.

3. Unhide a very hidden worksheet

Very hidden sheets are sheets that do not appear in tabs at the bottom of your
workbook, nor do they show up in the Unhide dialog box. To unhide these sheets,
follow these steps:

 Press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.

 In the VBAProject window, go through the list of worksheets and identify and
click on the worksheet that is very hidden.
 In the Properties window (Press F4 in VBA to view properties window), set the
Visible property to -1 - xlSheetVisible.

4. Unhide Columns and Rows

To unhide everything in a worksheet.
  Select the entire worksheet and select Unhide for each by either right mouse
click anywhere in the headings or by pressing Shift + F10 and selecting
Unhide.

5. Unhide objects
Hidden object should also be depicted from document inspector (step 1).

To manage objects in your worksheet, you can use the Excel tool called Selection
Pane and accessible :

 From Home >Editing>Find & Select >Selection Pane

 Or by using the shortcut keyboard Alt + F10

6. Hidden names
The Document Inspector can also find hidden names in your workbook but can not
delete them. To view and eventually delete hidden names, you need to run a macro.

Sub ShowAllNames()

Dim n As Name

For Each n In ActiveWorkbook.Names

n.Visible = True

Next n

End Sub

7. Hidden Macros
While reviewing someone else’s financial model, don’t miss the macros. Even if they
are no macro buttons in the spreadsheet, there might be some macros working
behind the scenes.

Check the list of available macros by :

 Pressing Alt+F8 to open the macro dialogue box and you should be able to
edit/view the codes.
 Some macros might not appear in the macro dialogue box. To check for
hidden macros press Alt +F11 to open VBE and check for these:
 Private subroutine : The code simply starts with Private Sub name()
 Functions: another way to hide a macro from the macro dialogue box is to
declare it as a function
 Also check for Private Subs and functions under worksheets in VBE. Some
codes are written directly inside the sheet rather than as a separate module. In
 the right window pan of the VBE, you will find the list of worksheets available
in the workbook. Double click on each worksheet name to detect any codes.

While inspecting the financial model for hidden information, make sure to keep track
of the list of hidden things you find in the spreadsheet so that you can report to your
organization and eventually include them in your Q&A sheet on the financial model.