If formula based on cell colour

ok..

can i suggest an easier alternative? why not allow for Yes / No on those columns only. I don't think the check boxes are really tied to the cell, so i'm not sure how you would pull off what you are describing but i'm sure it's possible somehow.

SOunds like you just want people to fill in more information in a sequential way. See the attachement. You can have the parts the user needs to fill in highlight when they should be filling them in.