// Management reporting
Bring the weekly numbers together with their sources.
An illustrative reporting workflow that reconciles operational data before preparing a summary for the team.
The starting situation
A manager assembles CRM exports, campaign figures, and spreadsheets each week. Different date ranges, currencies, or definitions make comparisons unreliable. This scenario standardizes the inputs before generating commentary.
The proposed workflow
- Collect authorized data for the agreed reporting period and timezone.
- Validate freshness, currencies, and the definitions of each metric.
- Reconcile totals against source systems and flag discrepancies.
- Build the report with source links and visible missing-data notes.
- Prepare a short summary for review before distributing the approved report.
Where a person decides
The owner resolves discrepancies and approves interpretations. An AI-written explanation must not claim a cause that the data cannot establish. A failed source refresh stays marked as incomplete instead of reusing old figures silently.
Tools and data
CRM, advertising exports or APIs, and approved spreadsheets. Access, reporting windows, attribution definitions, and any platform costs are confirmed before the pilot.
What a pilot should measure
Measure preparation time, unexplained differences, freshness, and on-time delivery. Spot-check the same totals in source systems; a polished summary is not evidence of accurate accounting or attribution.
What to bring to an audit
Bring one existing report, metric definitions, source samples, and the decisions it should support. Start with a small set of metrics whose totals the owner can independently verify.
