Would Your Worksheet Survive Without You?

If you are creating worksheets that might at some point be used by others, make sure they are understandable and well documented. Most of us don't think about documentation, but every spreadsheet you create for business or personal use should be created with the possibility in mind that others will need to figure it out someday-possibly without your help. If you change jobs, you will be leaving a good legacy behind for the next person, which reflects well on you. A little documentation goes a long way, as shown in Figure 5-5. You can use the Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Comment command to add notes anywhere a little explanation is in order.

Figure 5-5: Make sure critical worksheets are understandable and well documented.

For information about documenting your worksheets, see "Adding Comments to Cells" on page 251.

You also need to prepare worksheets containing important personal records with survivability in mind. If you were to pass away unexpectedly, you'd want to leave your family with clear financial worksheets.