Job workbook-logic-map-with-recalculation-test · revised 12 October 2026
Explain how this inherited workbook works, and test it by predicting its outputs
One workbook gets a plain-English map of its inputs, steps, fixed numbers, outside links and assumptions, tested by predicting its outputs for five changed input sets. We change nothing.
You might be seeing
- Nobody can explain how the headline number is worked out
- A change to one input has broken the model before
No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.
What usually happened
A workbook built by someone who left holds its logic in formulas, hard-coded numbers and hidden links. A model can write a fluent but wrong description of it. The test that catches this is to predict what the workbook will output when inputs change, and compare.
Who it’s for: Finance or operations owner whose workbook builder has left.
Usually starts when: The person who built the model has gone and nobody dares change a number in case something breaks.
The result: One workbook gets a plain-English map of inputs, steps, hard-coded values, outside links and assumptions. The map predicts the outputs for five changed input sets, and the predictions equal the workbook's recalculated outputs to the stated rounding. What we could not explain is listed, and the workbook is not changed.
Check whether this job fits
Answer these without sending files or logins. Nothing is submitted unless you choose to contact us.
What you get
- The plain-English logic map
- The list of hard-coded values and outside links
- The prediction and recalculation table for five input sets
- The list of unexplained parts
- The extraction script
Included
- One workbook of up to 20 sheets with no macros; macros are flagged only
- A map of inputs, calculation steps, hard-coded values, outside links and assumptions
- A formula graph extracted by script, as the map's evidence
- Predictions for 5 changed input sets, 3 of them chosen by you
- A list of what could not be explained
Not included
- Changing, fixing or rebuilding the workbook
- Reading macro code beyond flagging it
- Workbooks that pull live outside sources
- Judging whether the model's logic is right for your business
- Personal data
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
For 5 changed input sets, 3 chosen by you and sent only after the map is final, the separate automated reviewer predicts the outputs from the plain-English map alone (not from the script, the formula graph or the workbook), and the predictions are time-stamped before anyone recalculates. You then recalculate the three sets you chose in your own copy and never send us the results first; we recalculate the other two and show them beside our predictions. All five predictions equal the recalculated outputs to the stated rounding. Five sets test the map; they do not prove it.
Evidence: The predictions with their time stamps, and your recalculation beside them.
Every cell range cited in the map exists in the workbook; a script checks each reference.
Evidence: The script output.
Every hard-coded constant inside a formula is listed with its cell.
Evidence: The constant list and a script count.
What we could not explain is listed, and the workbook file is byte-identical before and after the work.
Evidence: The unexplained list and file checksums.
Sign-off. You inspect the map, the predictions and the unexplained list, and sign off in writing. Payment follows sign-off.
If it fails. If a check above is not met, you do not pay for this fixed scope. You keep the results and the failures, and we agree whether to stop or re-quote. No surprise work.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- One workbook of up to 20 sheets, without macros doing the main calculation
- No personal data in the workbook, or a redacted copy
- You choose three of the five changed input sets
- A named person confirms the map reads correctly
We stop and tell you if
- The workbook pulls live data from outside sources
- Macros do the main calculation
- More than 20 sheets and you do not want a quoted larger scope
- You want the model's logic changed
What could go wrong
The job reads copies you send and writes files. It changes nothing in your systems, so there is nothing to revert. Our copies of your files are deleted when the job ends.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| The map reads well and is wrong. | The map must predict five sets of outputs to the stated rounding. A wrong prediction fails the test. |
| A hard-coded number is missed. | A script lists every constant inside a formula, and the list is checked against the map. |
| Your files go to a model provider outside your control. | Before any file is shared we name the provider, its country and its retention terms in writing. Entry jobs run on redacted, synthetic or public copies, or on your own provider account with a key you hold. |
A separate automated reviewer checks the map and makes the five predictions before hand-over. A named person on your side chooses three input sets, recalculates them and signs off. No person on our side is included unless your agreement names one, and at launch the work is largely automated.
How we deliver
We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.
- Agree the workbook, the rounding and the severe errors in writing
- Extract the formula graph, constants and links by script
- Draft the plain-English map from the graph
- You send your 3 input sets; predict all five from the map alone
- Independent review of the map against the recalculation
- Hand over the map and script; delete our copies
This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, the price, a start window and a delivery date before you accept, and work starts only after inputs, a secure handoff route and permissions are in place. Model usage up to a cap agreed in writing is included, and an enquiry creates no charge or booking.
Need to keep it working?
Want the map kept current if the workbook changes? Ask about a quoted re-check.
Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.
Explore an ongoing managed lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.
What you can check
This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.
Other ways to get this done
- Ask the former owner for a one-hour walk-through before they are out of reach.
- Excel's Trace Precedents tool shows how cells link; the Inquire add-in is not in every Excel edition. This job adds a written map and a test that predicts outputs.
Questions
Will you fix the workbook?
No. We explain how it works and list what we could not explain. Fixing is a different job.
How do you know the map is right?
It predicts outputs for five changed input sets, and we compare with the real recalculation.
What about macros?
We flag them and map the rest. If macros do the main calculation, the job does not fit.
Send an enquiry
Send us
- What the workbook produces and how many sheets it has
- Whether it has macros or links to other files
- No real records, personal data or credentials in the first enquiry
Later, once you agree
- A redacted copy of the workbook by an agreed secure route
- Your three changed input sets, sent once the map is final
- A named person who reads the map
- A written cap on model usage
You keep the workbook and every decision. We work on a copy you send by an agreed secure route, return a map and a script, and delete our copies when the job ends. We change nothing in your workbook.
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