01Solution
System components
- connections to the agreed data sources
- standardised formats and metric definitions
- checks on completeness, duplicates and errors
- daily and monthly reports plus threshold alerts
- documentation and handover to the team
Data and reporting
Data consolidation and reporting
Data from the CRM, the warehouse system, accounting and spreadsheets comes together in one set of figures. Daily and monthly reports are produced without being assembled by hand. Crossing an agreed threshold triggers an alert instead of waiting for the next review.
Free consultation
The report covers the sources agreed during the audit, each metric with its definition written down.
- 01
Input
The CRM, the warehouse system, accounting, spreadsheets and other sources agreed during the audit.
- 02
Decision
Shared metric definitions, a key that links records and a check on data completeness.
- 03
Outcome
A report that needs no assembly in a spreadsheet, the same figure in every department and an alert once a threshold is crossed.
01Situation
When to review the process
A report assembled by hand describes last week, so the response starts when the deviation is already several days old.
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Sources
Data sits in several systems
The CRM, the warehouse, accounting and spreadsheets each keep their own version of the same information.
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Assembly
The monthly report is built by hand
Someone exports the files, pulls them together in a spreadsheet and checks the totals, instead of working on what the numbers mean.
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Lag
The report describes last week
By the time it reaches the board meeting, some of the figures have already moved.
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Definitions
The same figure differs between departments
Sales, the warehouse and accounting each calculate revenue, margin or stock in a different way.
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Risk
Deviations show up after the fact
A drop in margin, rising stock or overdue receivables only become visible in the monthly summary.
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Access
One person owns the report file
Only its author knows the formulas and the links, so their absence holds up the whole report.
02Flow
From sources to finished report
Every figure carries the source it came from and the time it was collected.
Step 1
Collection
The process pulls data from the agreed systems, files and spreadsheets.
Step 2
Standardisation
It aligns formats, names and periods, and links records through a shared identifier.
Step 3
Validation
It checks completeness and catches duplicates and values outside the agreed range.
Step 4
Calculation
It computes the metrics according to the definitions recorded with your team.
Step 5
Publication
It makes the report available to its readers and sends an alert once a threshold is crossed.
03Rules
What makes the report reliable
We agree the metric definitions, the thresholds and the way records are linked with the people who are responsible for the numbers today.
Definitions
One way to calculate a metric
Revenue, margin and stock level each have a written definition, shared across every report.
Key
How records are linked
Customer, order and document are joined by an identifier agreed between the systems.
Period
Range and time of measurement
Every figure carries its period and the time the data was last collected from the source.
Completeness
Gaps and duplicates
The process flags an incomplete source rather than presenting an understated figure as final.
Thresholds
Alert conditions
Agreed limits on a metric trigger a notification to the person responsible for that area.
Access
Who sees what
Readers see the data allowed by the permissions agreed within your company.
04Measurement
How we check the result
We collect the baseline before go-live, from your recent reports and the time spent assembling them.
Time
Time to produce the monthly report
From the close of the period to handing the finished report to the people who decide.
Manual work
Sources still combined by hand
Systems and files someone still exports and copies into a spreadsheet.
Currency
Age of the data in the report
The gap between an event in the system and its appearance in the report.
Quality
Corrections after publication
Reports amended because of a wrong figure, a missing source or a different metric definition.
Response
Time to respond to a deviation
From crossing the threshold to action by the person responsible for that area.
Adoption
Figures kept outside the process
Spreadsheets someone still maintains alongside the shared report to get their own number.
05Scope
What delivery covers
We set the technical scope alongside the material needed to describe the definitions, the thresholds and how the solution will be signed off.
02Assessment
Material from your side
- your current reports and supporting spreadsheets
- a list of sources and the people responsible for them
- the metric definitions used in the company today
- access to the systems in a test environment
- data on how long the report takes to prepare
06Questions
Common questions
Answers about data sources, failed connections, spreadsheets and extending the report.
We do not assume a change. The process pulls data from the systems your company already uses. During the audit we check how each source exposes its data and how often it can be collected.
Contact
Test the process on your own sources
In the first conversation we go through the systems your data comes from, how the report is assembled today and the metrics you need in order to decide. On that basis we set the scope of the audit.
- 01
Sources
We list the systems and files the report is built from today and how the data is collected.
- 02
Definitions and thresholds
We agree how each metric is calculated and the limits that should trigger an alert.
- 03
Assessment scope
We identify the data and access needed to quantify the manual work and plan a test.