R019 — Repeated Hardcoded Literal
Executive Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓ R019 is the sole rule in the Assumptions Governance taxonomy category — it has no sibling rules by category.
- ✓ It flags a numeric value hardcoded in three or more cells across the workbook, treating repetition itself as the governance signal.
- ✓ Trivial values (0, 1, and -1) are excluded, since their repetition across a model is structural — a common divisor or sign flip, not a scattered business assumption.
- ✓ The underlying concern is governance of the assumption, not the mechanical correctness of any single cell — distinct from R001, which is about a hardcode breaking a specific row's formula pattern.
Purpose¶
R019 detects a numeric value that recurs as a hardcoded constant in three or more cells across the workbook. It is the sole rule in the Assumptions Governance taxonomy category, addressing whether a business assumption is centralized in a controlled input layer or scattered as repeated literal values across the model.
Detection Logic¶
Every hardcoded cell holding a numeric value is grouped by that value across the entire workbook. A value
appearing in at least three cells is flagged as a finding, with all matching cells listed as evidence
(displayed up to a readability limit). Trivial values — 0, 1, and -1 — are excluded from this check
entirely, since their repetition across a model is a structural feature of ordinary formula construction
(a floor at zero, a complement calculation, a sign flip) rather than a governance concern.
Why It Matters¶
When the same numeric value is typed independently into several cells rather than referenced from one controlled input, updating that assumption requires finding and correcting every occurrence individually. Missing even one occurrence leaves the model internally inconsistent — some parts reflecting the updated assumption and others silently still using the old value — with no in-model mechanism to detect the omission. Centralizing the value in one named input cell, referenced everywhere it is used, eliminates this risk entirely: updating the one input cell updates every dependent calculation at once.
Evidence Produced¶
A triggered R019 finding's evidence lists every cell (up to a display limit) where the repeated value occurs as a hardcoded constant, together with the total count of cells where it was found and a recommendation to centralize the value in a named assumptions cell.
Severity¶
High. Weight 8.0. R019 is not one of the five critical-override rules. Confidence is always medium.
Example¶
Trigger. The value 0.035 appears as a typed constant in five separate formula cells across three
different worksheets, each representing the same underlying escalation-rate assumption. R019 flags this
value, listing all five cells and recommending the value be centralized in a named input cell.
Non-trigger. The value 0.035 appears once in a single formula cell, or the value 1 recurs dozens
of times across the model as an ordinary structural constant. Neither case triggers R019 — a single
occurrence does not meet the three-cell repetition threshold, and 1 is excluded as a trivial value.
Recommended Remediation¶
Extract the repeated value into a single named input cell on the assumptions tab, and update every identified occurrence to reference that cell instead of holding its own independent typed copy of the value.
Related Rules¶
R019 is the sole member of the Assumptions Governance taxonomy category — it has no sibling rules by category. It shares its underlying concern with R001 — Hardcoded Cells, published in the Rule Reference — see the Rule Taxonomy page for the full classification.
Related Articles¶
- Hardcoded Formulas in Financial Models — the Knowledge Centre's buyer-facing technical guide to hardcoded values generally.
Version History¶
No version-specific changes to R019's severity, weight, or category are recorded as of engine version 2.1.0. This section will be updated in the same edit as any future change to the rule's declared attributes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does FMAE rule R019 check for?
A numeric value that appears as a hardcoded constant in three or more cells across the workbook — treating the repetition itself as evidence that a single business assumption is scattered across the model rather than sourced from one controlled input cell.
Why are values like 0 and 1 excluded?
Because these values recur constantly in ordinary formula construction for structural reasons — a floor at zero, a complement calculation, a sign flip — not because a business assumption is scattered. Flagging every occurrence of 0 or 1 across a model would generate noise without insight.
Is R019 the only rule in its taxonomy category?
Yes. Assumptions Governance is one of the six FMAE rule categories, and R019 is its sole member — it has no sibling rules to cross-reference within its own category.
How is R019 different from R001?
R001 flags a hardcode because it breaks the formula pattern the rest of its row otherwise follows. R019 flags a hardcode because the same value recurs across three or more cells anywhere in the workbook, regardless of row context — the concern is governance of a scattered assumption, not the mechanical correctness of any one row.
Related Articles
FMAE Rule Taxonomy
Every rule in the FMAE structural rule pack declares a category attribute at the point it is defined in source — this is not a classification imposed on the rules afterward for documentation purposes, it is the classification the engine itself uses. Six categories cover all 26 rules — Structural (18 rules), Assumptions Governance (1), Integrity Controls (2), Structural Hygiene (1), Aggregation Logic (1), and Model Governance (3). This page publishes that taxonomy as the FMAE equivalent of a control catalog's classification scheme, cross-linked to the Rule Reference page for each member rule.
Finding Data Model & Confidence
Every FMAE finding carries the same fixed structure — which rule triggered it and that rule's identity at the time it ran, its evidence, a narrative explanation, and a confidence label of high, medium, or low. Confidence is a deterministic categorical label derived from how strongly a row's cells agree on a pattern, not a machine-learning probability estimate. Stating this plainly matters, since describing FMAE's confidence as AI-derived or probabilistic would overstate what the engine actually does.
R001 — Hardcoded Cells
R001 (Hardcoded Cells) flags a formula cell that has been overridden by a typed numeric value, in a row where the surrounding cells otherwise share a clear, dominant formula pattern. It is critical severity, carries the highest weight of any FMAE rule (15.0), and is one of five critical-override rules under the SM-2.0 scoring methodology — meaning a single R001 finding caps the model's overall letter grade below A or B regardless of its numeric score.
Hardcoded Formulas in Financial Models
A hardcoded value in a financial model is a fixed numeric value embedded directly within a formula cell, rather than being referenced from a dedicated input or assumption cell. Hardcoded values in formula cells are a structural risk because they do not update when the model's assumptions change, they are invisible during normal model navigation, and they cannot be changed consistently through the model's standard input interface. The ICAEW Financial Modelling Code and the FAST Standard both explicitly prohibit hardcoded values within formulas, requiring that all input values be entered in a dedicated input cell and referenced by formulas rather than embedded within them.