Financial Model Spreadsheet Auditor
Systematically checks spreadsheet formulas, errors, and financial-model tie-outs.
The skill asks the user to confirm audit scope and explicitly says not to change anything without asking. It declares no external writes or execution side effects, but provides no guidance on sensitive workbook handling, data flows, permission isolation, rollback, or confidentiality, so points are deducted.
The workflow is internally consistent and covers formula errors, model integrity, circular references, and macro limitations. However, it provides no executable implementation, dependency notes, abnormal-input handling, diagnostic failure messages, or reproduction tests; static evidence therefore supports only a limited score.
Triggers, the selection/sheet/model scopes, and DCF, LBO, three-statement, and related scenarios are reasonably clear. Non-fit boundaries, environment requirements, Chinese-language interaction, and mainland-China network reachability are not addressed, so points are deducted.
The documentation has clear structure, layered checklists, severity definitions, a reporting format, and a macro limitation note. The repository supplies Apache-2.0 licensing, CI validation, and contribution guidance, but the skill lacks independent versioning, changelog, named maintenance responsibility, and troubleshooting guidance.
The checklist and findings table can address the core spreadsheet-audit task, and the skill requires reporting before changes. It supplies no actual workbook-reading or calculation tool, algorithm, or representative output, so correctness and direct usability still depend on model execution; the score is conservatively bounded by static evidence.
The skill defines auditable checks, and the repository includes plugin-validation and secret-scan workflows. Those workflows do not cover audit-xls key paths, and there are no test workbooks, third-party execution records, or independent reproduction materials, warranting only limited credit.
- This is a procedural prompt, not an executable spreadsheet auditor; its checklist must not be treated as a completed or independently validated audit.
- Human review remains necessary, especially for macro-driven calculations, hidden content, circular references, unit errors, and model-type-specific logic.
- Handling, retention, and transmission boundaries for sensitive financial data are unspecified; organizational data governance and access controls should be added before deployment.
What it does & when to use it
audit-xls audits spreadsheets for formula accuracy, common mistakes, and model integrity. It supports a selected range, one worksheet, or an entire workbook. Model-scope checks cover balance-sheet balancing, cash-flow tie-outs, roll-forwards, circular references, and reasonableness. It reports findings and suggested fixes without changing the workbook unless the user later asks for changes.
For the chosen scope, it checks formula errors, hardcodes inside formulas, inconsistent neighboring formulas, off-by-one ranges, pasted-over formulas, circular references, broken cross-sheet links, unit or scale mismatches, and hidden rows or tabs. For model scope, it identifies the model type and reviews balance-sheet, cash-flow, income-statement, circularity, and logic checks; if the balance sheet does not balance, it quantifies the gap by period and traces where it breaks. It produces a findings table with sheet, cell or range, severity, category, issue, and suggested fix.
- An investment-banking or private-equity analyst runs a full workbook audit before sending a three-statement model to a client or investment committee.
- A financial modeler investigates an unbalanced balance sheet and needs the gap quantified for each period.
- An Excel user checks for hardcodes, broken formula patterns, and reference errors after copying or editing formulas.
- A DCF or LBO modeler reviews discounting, terminal value, debt paydown, cash-flow, and circular-reference logic.
- A finance-operations user performs a quick quality check on one worksheet or a selected range.
Pros & cons
- Offers graduated audit depth from a selected range to a full financial model.
- Includes balance-sheet, cash-flow, and roll-forward integrity checks.
- Uses explicit Critical, Warning, and Info severity levels and requires reporting before fixing.
- Lists model-specific failure modes for DCF, LBO, merger, and three-statement models.
- The SKILL.md does not specify a spreadsheet-reading or execution environment.
- It provides no test suite, supported spreadsheet-platform list, or accuracy evidence.
- Macro-driven calculations cannot be fully audited from formulas alone and must be noted.
- It does not automatically repair issues; changes require a later user request.
How to install
The README documents adding https://github.com/anthropics/financial-services as a Cowork plugin source and selecting the required agents or verticals. In Claude Code, run claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/financial-services, then install the core plugin containing Excel audit: claude plugin install financial-analysis@claude-for-financial-services. The README does not document a standalone audit-xls installation command.
How to use
After installation, provide the workbook or spreadsheet content available for audit and use a trigger such as “audit this sheet,” “check my formulas,” “find formula errors,” or “audit the whole model.” If no scope is provided, the skill asks the user to choose selection, sheet, or model; model scope also requires identifying the model type, such as DCF, LBO, three-statement, merger, or comps.