Practical guide
Prepare your data for a useful first review
Agree a question, source, owner and time period before connecting a system.
Choose one decision
Start with a question someone can act on: which invoices need review, which customer balances changed, or which work orders are delayed? Name the department responsible and the person who will review the result. Avoid collecting every available field without a purpose.
Check the source and grain
Identify the system of record and what one row represents. An invoice header, payment and invoice line are different records. Keep stable record identifiers, dates, currencies and statuses. Check cancellations, credit notes and duplicates before combining sources.
Agree access and freshness
Ask the data owner which records the reviewer may access. Establish a cutoff date and expected refresh frequency. Available APIs, file imports and assisted connections have different setup requirements; an entry in the integration catalogue is not proof of a live connection.
Reconcile a small sample
Compare a few records and totals with the source system. Record missing fields, mapping decisions and exclusions. Confirm that the business understands those limitations before widening access or using the figures in a management decision.