There are a few ways to audit formulas in Excel to check cell references:

1. Using Trace Precedents:

- Select the cell containing the formula you want to audit.
- Go to the "Formulas" tab on the ribbon.
- In the "Formula Auditing" group, click "Trace Precedents."
- This will highlight the cells that the formula directly references with blue arrows. Clicking on a blue arrow will take you to the precedent cell.
- You can repeat this process (clicking Trace Precedents again) to see the cells that feed into the highlighted precedent cells, giving you a chain of references.

2. Using Evaluate Formula:

- Select the cell containing the formula you want to audit.
- Go to the "Formulas" tab on the ribbon.
- In the "Formula Auditing" group, click "Evaluate Formula."
- This will open the "Evaluate Formula" window.
- The formula will be displayed step-by-step, and you can click "Evaluate" to see the result of each step. This allows you to see how each referenced cell value contributes to the final result.

3. Manually Checking References:

- Simply look at the formula itself in the formula bar (located above the worksheet).
- Cell references will be displayed within the formula using a combination of letters and numbers (e.g., A1, B3:C5).

4. Using Error Checking (Optional):

- While not specifically for cell references, the "Error Checking" dropdown in the "Formula Auditing" group can be helpful. It can identify issues like circular references, which can disrupt the flow of data within your formulas.

By using these methods, you can ensure that your formulas are referencing the correct cells and troubleshoot any errors related to incorrect references.