Near the deadline, parallel copies become more dangerous than difficult formulas. A supplier price changes in one workbook, a director approves another, and an older total remains in the signed offer form.
Name an owner
One finance owner should control the master budget. Contributors submit changes with a reason and source; they do not circulate replacement masters. The owner records accepted changes and produces the review copy.
Make filenames meaningful
Include tender reference, document purpose, version and date. Mark drafts clearly and move superseded files out of the submission folder. Avoid labels such as “final final” because they communicate urgency, not authority.
Freeze for independent review
At an agreed point, stop discretionary edits while arithmetic and cross-document checks take place. Necessary corrections enter a register. After approval, produce one controlled submission set and compare every commercial returnable with its recorded total.
This discipline is modest, but it gives the signatory a clear answer when asked which figures were approved.