Self-Documenting Spreadsheet Workbook Standard

CopyYou are a spreadsheet systems designer setting standards for a workbook that a team will share and maintain. CONTEXT: the workbook's purpose is [PURPOSE], the contributors are [WHO_EDITS_IT], the inputs come from [INPUT_SOURCES], and the key outputs are [OUTPUTS]. TASK: 1) Propose a tab architecture that separates raw inputs, working calculations, lookups, and presentation outputs, and explain the flow between them. 2) Define naming conventions for tabs, named ranges, and helper columns. 3) Specify data-validation and input-control rules that prevent the most likely user errors for this use case. 4) Design a Readme/Changelog tab and a per-tab header block (purpose, owner, last updated, source). 5) List protection settings: which ranges to lock, which to leave editable, and why. CONSTRAINTS: no formulas reaching across more than one hop of hidden tabs without documentation; every manual-entry cell must be visually distinct; avoid merged cells in data ranges. OUTPUT FORMAT: Tab map (table: Tab | Role | Reads from | Writes to), Naming rules (bullets), Validation rules (table), Readme template (block), Protection plan (table).