Audit & Review
Review a model without permanently changing it. The Audit group is where you report on model health, find circular-reference loops, watch adopted or declared Sentinel checks, log findings, tick-and-tie cells as verified, and see review state colored in the grid. Most state is recorded beside the workbook in companion files; highlight colors are temporary lenses you toggle off.
What it is
The Audit group (the ribbon group is literally labelled “Audit”, internally “Audit & Compliance”) is the reviewer’s toolkit. It holds ten commands arranged in three clusters: model diagnostics, review-issue tracking, and audit-status tracking. Two commands paint the grid; the rest open reports, trackers, or investigation tools.
Three principles define how the group behaves:
- It records findings, not edits. Flagging an issue, marking a cell verified, adopting Sentinel checks, or declaring gap checks writes to companion data, not to the cells. The Circular Refs scan is read-only. The exception is an explicit, consent-gated Break Loop action, which freezes one formula to its value and records restore data in
.mxbreaks. - State lives in companion files next to the workbook —
.mxchecksfor Sentinel adopted and declared checks,.mxbreaksfor Circular Refs restore data,.mxreviewfor review issues, and.mxauditfor audit marks — that travel with the file and reload when you reopen it. - The two highlight toggles are temporary lenses, not saved colors. They are stripped before the workbook is written and restored when it closes, so highlight colors never end up in the file.
The ten commands
On the ModelXcel Pro tab, the Audit group reads left to right in three clusters (separated by dividers on the ribbon):
| Command | Keytip | What it does | Writes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model Health | MH | A read-only workbook health report (formula counts, complexity, errors, proof coverage). | Nothing |
| Circular Refs | CR | Scan the workbook for circular-reference loops, including loops iterative calculation can hide. | Scan: nothing. Break Loop: .mxbreaks, only after consent. |
| Model Sentinel | MS | Adopt workbook checks, declare narrow gap checks, baseline them, and alarm only on new failures. | .mxchecks sidecar and Proof snapshot records |
| Review Issues · Flag Cell | RI · FC | A review-issue tracker; Flag Cell logs one issue from the selection in a click. | .mxreview |
| Highlight Issues | HI | Toggle severity-colored fills on cells with open issues. | Temporary live fills — stripped before save/close; not persisted |
| Cell Search | CS | Find cells by attribute (errors, hardcodes, merged, volatile, complexity…). | Nothing |
| Audit Trail · Mark Cell | AT · MC | An audit-status (tick-and-tie) tracker; Mark Cell sets a status from the selection. | .mxaudit (+ Proof ledger on Verified) |
| Highlight Audit | HA | Toggle status-colored fills on cells that carry an audit mark. | Temporary live fills — stripped before save/close; not persisted |
Issues and marks can also arrive from a comparison — see Create issues & marks from Compare.
Review layers and proof
ModelXcel Pro has several review-adjacent layers that are easy to confuse. They are distinct, and they store data in different places:
| Layer | Question it answers | Lives in |
|---|---|---|
| Review Issues | “What did I find that needs follow-up?” — bugs, questions, to-dos pinned to cells. | .mxreview sidecar |
| Audit Trail | “What have I checked, and is it right?” — Verified / Questionable / Erroneous / Needs Attention. | .mxaudit sidecar |
| Model Sentinel | “Did watched checks change from the baseline?” — adopted model checks, declared gap checks, and new-failure alarms. | .mxchecks sidecar + Proof snapshot records |
| Proof & Trust | “Where does this number come from, and has anyone vouched for it?” — provenance + signatures. | Proof ledger (workbook custom XML + .mxproof) |
They cross-link where it counts: marking a cell Verified in the Audit Trail also records a reviewer sign-off in the Proof ledger, so audit coverage and proof coverage stay in agreement (see Audit Trail & Mark Cell). And a comparison can spin a moved output straight into a review issue or an audit mark (see Create issues & marks from Compare).
What is written, and where
This is the single most important thing to understand about the Audit group: it is additive and non-destructive. Here is exactly where everything goes.
| Item | Where it lives | Persisted to disk? |
|---|---|---|
| Review issues | .mxreview file beside the workbook | Yes — auto-saved on every change |
| Audit marks | .mxaudit file beside the workbook | Yes — auto-saved on every change |
| Sentinel adopted or declared checks | .mxchecks file beside the workbook | Yes — when you adopt checks, declare checks, or update Sentinel state |
| Sentinel snapshot | Proof ledger record and certificate summary | Yes — when you snapshot/attest |
| Circular Refs scan results | Computed in memory from formulas | No |
| Probe Convergence results | Measured after explicit consent; Excel recalculates during the probe | Workbook values can change and the workbook is marked changed |
| Break Loop restore data | .mxbreaks file beside the workbook | Yes — only after explicit Break Loop consent |
| Reviewer sign-off (on a Verified mark) | Proof ledger (workbook custom XML part, mirrored to .mxproof) | Yes — with the workbook save |
| Issue / audit highlight colors | Live cell fills; each cell’s original fill held in memory | No — stripped before save, restored on close |
| “Go To Cell” navigation green | One live cell fill; original held in memory | No — restored on next navigation / form close |
| Coverage %, counts, filters, search | Computed in memory each time | No |
| Exports (CSV, worksheet, workbook) | The file or sheet you choose | Only when you trigger an export |
| Your cell values & formulas | Unchanged by normal Audit actions | n/a — except consent-gated Probe Convergence recalculation and Break Loop |
The findings travel with the file — in a companion file
Because Audit state can live in files beside the workbook (same base name), it reloads automatically when you reopen the model — but only if those companion files travel with it. Share .mxreview and .mxaudit for issue and audit status, .mxchecks when Sentinel state matters, and .mxbreaks when you need the Break Loop restore path. Or use an Export (CSV / worksheet / workbook / Evidence Pack) to produce a self-contained snapshot for that workflow.
One highlight lens at a time
Highlight Issues, Highlight Audit, and the Risk Heatmap are three mutually-exclusive in-grid lenses governed by a single coordinator: only one can be painted at a time. Turning one on while another is active prompts you to confirm the switch; on yes, the previous lens is removed (its original fills restored) before the new one paints. All three are temporary — their colors are neutralized before every save and restored on close, and the save (or close) is cancelled rather than risk baking lens colors into the file. (Contrast this with Comparison highlights, which are persistent fills you revert yourself.)
License
Every command in the Audit group is enabled whenever the license state is Trial, Licensed, or Grace; the buttons are greyed out only when the license is inactive (unlicensed, expired, or invalid). There is no per-feature tier — review and audit are available in full during the trial. See Activation & licensing.
In this section
- Model Health — a read-only health report for the whole workbook.
- Circular Refs — find workbook circular-reference loops and investigate them deliberately.
- Model Sentinel — adopt workbook checks, declare gap checks, baseline them, and alarm on new failures.
- Review Issues & Flag Cell — the issue tracker and one-click flagging.
- Highlight Issues — severity-colored overlay for open issues.
- Cell Search — find cells by attribute.
- Audit Trail & Mark Cell — tick-and-tie status tracking and coverage.
- Highlight Audit — status-colored overlay for audit marks.
- Create issues & marks from Compare — turn a moved output into a tracked finding.
Related
- Proof & Trust — provenance, signatures, and verification; the third review layer.
- Risk Heatmap — the third in-grid lens, and the fastest way to triage where to look.
- Compare — find what changed between versions, then flag it here.