I have found that this method is really useful in reading formulas because you can promptly see a displaced reference that points to a wrong column.

This week, I wanted to quickly see if I had formulas that might be referring to a wrong column. In order to do so, I switched Excel in R1C1 reference style and simply used Excel’s Find functionality to look for C[1] and C[-1] across the workbook.

As an example, I have a formula to get the revenues in another worksheet. In a consistently structured workbook, that formula would look like this in R1C1:

=Rev!R14C 'Refers to the Rev sheet, row 14 and same column

However, if my formulas are shift by one column, they might look like one of these:

=Rev!R14C[1] 'Refers one column to the right
=Rev!R14C[-1] 'Refers one column to the left


If you find some offsetting errors, simply replace the [1] or [-1] with nothing. Beware of collateral damages by clicking “Find All” and reviewing the list of results before replacing all occurences.

Other related post:

R1C1 Enlightenment
Seven tips to develop a structured model

This tip can be applied on a table where the items of the main field are layed out on multiple lines, just like in the next picture.

Table before Conditional Format

It is possible to improve the readability of that table with formatting by separating the group of rows for each account with a border and by changing consecutive identical items to light gray.

Table after Conditional Format

Here are the rules that were applied to achieve this.

A few notes

• Rule #1 is applied to all cells in the table, whereas rule #2 is only for column A.
• This setup is valid for Excel 2007 or later. To adapt it for previous versions, in column A, you need to add a rule that combines rule #1 and rule #2 and apply borders and pale gray fonts. This is due to the fact that only one Conditional Formatting rule could be applied in older Excel versions (download the accompanying workbook for more details).
• I’ve put both the A1 and R1C1 formula in the table. I sometime find it easier to work in R1C1 while doing Conditional Formatting, the main reason being that I don’t have to bother with what is the active cell while editing the formula.
• I could have used a simpler formula without the OFFSET function like =$A2=$A3 instead. However, I prefer the OFFSET version since it is robust to row insertion.

You can download the accompanying workbook to see the table in action and with additional comments.

If you want to learn more about R1C1 reference style, I encourage you to read this post.

Don’t put everything on a single worksheet. Separate your model’s components on multiple worksheets, i.e. Revenues, COGS, Other Costs, Financing, Amortization etc…

Keep Your Sheet Names As Short As Possible

It will help keep formulas legible and you’ll see more sheet tabs at once which will help browse within the workbook. If you’re using external links, keeping filenames and folders short might also be a good idea.

Note that there is a 1024 characters limit per cell. Thus, long sheet names or file names might enable you towards exceeding that limit.

Put Headings On Top Of Each Worksheet

Keep a few rows on top of each sheet to identify what’s on the sheet. I often use these titles: company name, workbook description, worksheet description.

Create Sub-Section Labels

Make the outline obvious by indenting sub sections. You can use the indent functionality or use separate columns (i.e.: column A for titles, column B for subtitles, column C for elements)

If you have many levels or if the worksheet is tall long, you might want to number your titles (i.e.: 1.2.2.b)

Standardize Cell Formats

… and minimize the number of different styles used (font, font-size, colors, borders, etc…). It will be much easier to read and visually more beautiful. You should also remove those gridlines.

Identify inputs

Use a distinct format for inputs to help users quickly identify controllable elements. This is very often a missing item in models. If you had to use only one tip, this should be the one.

Be consistent

Have a common structure throughout every worksheets. Use the same columns and rows for your labels and always keep the same period in the same column. It will be easier to follow and will also facilitate formula construction or auditing (e.g. see formula in the next picture)