Model release checklist
There are several steps you may want to take before releasing your model to an outside party. This can be a client, a lender, an advisor or just somebody outside the immediate model build team.
This checklist assumes that you have been undertaking the Section completion checklist regularly throughout the model build process. If you have been doing that you will have been picking up issues like spelling, label capitalisation and so on.
Checklist items
- Check for placeholders
- Set sheet zoom across all sheets
- Reset focus to A1
- Collapse all grouping
- Check print settings
- Check for duplicate row labels
- Sense check units
- Check Range Names for errors, unused names and hidden names.
Check for placeholders
The point of placeholders is to be able to find temporary line items or hacks before we release a model. Therefore critical that you do check for placeholders before releasing the model.
See this guide on how to create a list of placeholders.
Set sheet zoom across all sheets
Very often you end up with a variation of zoom settings as you work in different sheets.
Reset across all worksheets:
You will be asked to enter the zoom setting you want across all sheets. Enter a number between 1 and 100 to set the zoom across all selected sheets.
Reset focus to cell A1
Excel remembers where you were working on a sheet by sheet basis. You may not always want recipients of a model to know where you were last working in the model.
This will run through all selected sheets and set cell A1 as the active cells.
Collapse all grouping
It can helpful for recipients to receive the model with all the grouping collapsed. This allows them to more easily grasp the big picture of what's in the model without being overwhelmed by the detail.
Check print settings
People very rarely print excel workbooks, but if they do want to print a section you want to make sure that the print set-up doesn't have the name of an old project or client.
This will allow you to change any project or client name in the print header settings.
Check for duplicate row labels
See this guide on how to check for duplicate row labels
Sense check model units
See this guide on how to sense-check the units in your model
Check Range Names for errors or unused Names
See this guide on how to check for Range Name errors, unused Names or hidden Names.
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