Data & Analysis ✓ Anthropic · Official spreadsheet-auditformula-checkingfinancial-modelingexcel-quality-assurancebalance-sheet-checkscash-flow-reconciliation

Financial Spreadsheet Auditor

Find formula errors, hardcodes, and financial-model integrity breaks before they affect your output.

FollowSkills review · FSRS-2.0
Not recommended
52/ 100 5-point scale 2.6 / 5
Trust15 / 25 · 3.0/5

The skill requires scope determination and explicitly says not to change anything without asking, providing basic confirmation and external-effect controls. It does not address sensitive spreadsheet handling, data flows, permission isolation, dependency security, or rollback, so points are deducted.

Reliability8 / 20 · 2.0/5

The formula, model-integrity, and abnormal-condition checklists are fairly specific, including quantifying balance-sheet gaps and flagging unauditable macros. However, there is no executable script, dependency guidance, test coverage, or systematic handling and feedback for malformed inputs; static calibration therefore keeps this below 10.

Adaptability10 / 15 · 3.3/5

The audience, scopes, and trigger phrases are clear, covering a selection, sheet, or model. Non-fit scenarios, input prerequisites, output boundaries, Chinese-language interaction, and localized environment fit are not specified, so points are deducted.

Convention8 / 15 · 2.7/5

The skill has clear progressive steps, tables, severity definitions, and a reporting format; repository-level Apache-2.0 licensing, CI, and official provenance provide supporting governance evidence. The skill lacks its own versioning, changelog, maintainer/update path, installation notes, FAQ, and troubleshooting guidance, so points are deducted.

Effectiveness7 / 15 · 2.3/5

It provides a directly usable framework for formula auditing and financial-model integrity checks, including a structured findings table. There are no representative outputs, execution evidence, or correctness verification, and results still require human review; the static ceiling supports 7 points.

Verifiability4 / 10 · 2.0/5

The instructions are auditable, and repository CI validates plugin structure with pinned tooling. There is no committed test suite covering the skill's key paths, third-party execution evidence, or independent corroboration, so only limited points are justified.

Evidence confidence:Low Reviewed Jul 19, 2026 Reviewed revision 4aa51ed3d379
Before you use it
  • The skill defines an audit method but does not establish that a workbook can actually be read or recalculated; material conclusions require user or professional review.
  • For spreadsheets containing financial, client, or other sensitive data, the skill does not define minimization, confidentiality boundaries, or data flows.
  • VBA macros, external links, hidden content, and calculation-engine differences may cause formula-only checks to miss issues.
  • Handling is unspecified for non-financial models, corrupted files, formula-free sheets, and unsupported formats.
Review evidence [1][2][3][4][5][6]
See the full review method →

What it does & when to use it

audit-xls audits spreadsheets for formula accuracy, errors, and common modeling mistakes. It supports a selected range, a single sheet, or the entire workbook. Model-level audits add balance-sheet, cash-flow, roll-forward, circular-reference, and reasonableness checks. The skill reports findings and suggested fixes without changing the workbook unless asked.

For any scope, it checks for #REF!, #VALUE!, #N/A, #DIV/0!, and #NAME? errors; hardcoded numbers inside formulas; inconsistent neighboring formulas; off-by-one ranges; pasted-over formulas; circular references; broken cross-sheet links; unit and scale mismatches; and hidden rows or tabs. For model scope, it identifies DCF, LBO, three-statement, merger, comps, or custom models and reviews input/formula separation, balance-sheet balance, retained-earnings roll-forwards, cash tie-outs, income-statement logic, share count, circularity, and model-specific bugs. It produces a findings table with the sheet, cell or range, severity, category, issue, and suggested fix.

  1. An investment-banking analyst audits a DCF, LBO, or three-statement model before sending it to a client or investment committee.
  2. A financial modeler investigates why the balance sheet does not balance and traces the gap by period.
  3. An Excel user checks a selected range or active sheet for formula errors and pasted-over hardcodes.
  4. A fund-finance or operations professional verifies that ending cash on the cash-flow statement ties to balance-sheet cash.

Pros & cons

Pros
  • Offers graduated scope from a selected range to a full financial-model audit.
  • Covers balance-sheet balance, cash tie-outs, roll-forwards, and circular references.
  • Uses explicit Critical, Warning, and Info severity levels with suggested fixes.
  • Calls out hardcoded overrides, sign conventions, and balance-sheet breaks as important risks.
Limitations
  • The source provides no test results, sample audit report, or platform coverage evidence.
  • It does not specify a spreadsheet runtime, file interface, or automation tool.
  • VBA-driven calculations cannot be fully audited from formulas alone and must be noted.
  • It reports issues rather than automatically fixing them.

How to install

In Claude Code, run:
claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/financial-services
claude plugin install gl-reconciler@claude-for-financial-services

The README also describes installing through Cowork by opening Settings → Plugins → Add plugin, pasting https://github.com/anthropics/financial-services, and selecting the relevant agent or vertical. A standalone audit-xls installation command is not provided.

How to use

Provide a spreadsheet and use a trigger such as "Audit this sheet", "Check my formulas", "Find formula errors", or "Model won't balance". If no scope is given, choose selection, sheet, or model; use model for balance-sheet, cash tie-out, and broader financial-model checks. The skill reports findings first and does not modify the model without a request.

FAQ

Will it change my spreadsheet automatically?
No. It is instructed to report findings first and make no changes unless the user asks.
Can it audit only a small range?
Yes. It supports selection, sheet, and model scopes; selection limits the audit to the currently selected range.
What does model scope add?
It adds model-type identification plus balance-sheet, cash-flow, roll-forward, circularity, and reasonableness checks.
Is it free to use?
The source states that the repository is licensed under Apache License 2.0, but does not specify service, runtime, or usage costs.

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