Check Financial Model Integrity

01 / CONTEXT

Define the control decision

File restrictions cannot determine whether a model is correct. Run an integrity check for changed formulas, broken links, overwritten assumptions, inconsistent units, hidden rows, stale data, scenario errors and unexpected output changes.

02 / PROCEDURE

Run the control sequence

1. 01

   Confirm planning period, scenario, currency, version and approval date.

2. 02

   Compare formulas, linked sources, assumptions, units and scenario switches.

3. 03

   Review named ranges, hidden content, error cells and key outputs.

4. 04

   Recalculate with the approved application and controlled data set.

5. 05

   Record reviewers, checksum, approval and release time.

03 / EVIDENCE

Preserve proof without personal data

A defensible control record identifies the model owner, planning period, scenario, currency, authoritative path, permitted accounts, restriction mode, version ID, approval date, checksum evidence, recovery owner and next review date. It should not contain confidential forecasts, live company figures, credentials or personal data. Use fictional entities and non-operational figures during every technical test.

Recheck the arrangement after changes to Windows, spreadsheet software, linked data, planning workflow, storage, Folder Protect, permissions, service accounts or FP&A roles. Confirm both usability and recovery: an authorized analyst should read the approved baseline, an unauthorized account should not alter it, and the recovery owner should restore a separately held copy without depending on the protected folder. Preserve unexpected behavior before changing controls.

Keep the claim narrow. Local restrictions may reduce accidental writing, deletion or access on a tested Windows path, but they do not encrypt data, establish formula accuracy, approve assumptions, validate forecasts, prove accounting compliance, administer identities, provide version history or replace backup. Escalate those requirements to the spreadsheet, planning and governance systems designed to meet them.

Ask a second analyst to follow the written procedure without verbal help. Record whether that person can identify the approved baseline, create a working copy, recognize the version ID, interpret denied access and find the recovery owner. This usability check reveals ambiguous paths, hidden linked-data dependencies and undocumented knowledge before a spreadsheet, planning, storage or staffing change. Correct the procedure, repeat the test with fictional data and retain only minimal evidence.

04 / BOUNDARY

State what the control cannot prove

An integrity check does not establish model validation, accounting compliance, forecast quality, business approval, audit sufficiency or authority to distribute.

Validate the exact Windows account, spreadsheet application, linked-data workflow, storage path and current product release. If encryption, formula validation, assumption approval, immutable history, identity governance or regulated retention are required, select systems designed for those jobs rather than broadening a desktop restriction claim.

05 / SOURCES

Primary references

• Microsoft Support: Protect a workbook
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

References support specific controls and do not imply endorsement.