Check a board figure against its source
Ask about a number in the board pack and get the table or export behind it, or a plain statement that the data isn't there.
Membership revenue, March quarter: $1.84m
The numbers and the story disagree
Board pack week means late nights for the data team, and numbers that do not match the story sitting next to them in the same document.
By the time someone catches the mismatch, the slides are already in the directors' inboxes.
From reports to a checked figure
Certant reads the tables in your reports and the exports you approve. A database connection is available where a connector has been verified for your system.
Metric definitions come from your own documents, so "membership revenue" means what your finance team says it means.
Ask a question in plain English and get a chart or table with its source.
Trace the figure to its export
Membership revenue, March quarter · $1.84m
Supporting table
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Individual renewals | $0.92m |
| Corporate renewals | $0.71m |
| New members | $0.21m |
| Total | $1.84m |
This total combines three lines. It links to the sheet and rows it was built from, and is marked as a combined figure.
Ask the next question
In the meeting, the next question is usually a comparison. You ask it in plain English and the answer comes back with its source, or with a statement that the data isn't there.
"How does that compare with the December quarter?"
$1.69m in the December quarter, so the March quarter is $0.15m higher.
"What was member churn in the quarter?"
No matching data. The exports supplied contain no cancellation records, so nothing was estimated.
What setup involves
You supply the reports and exports that feed the board pack, and your finance team confirms the metric definitions. Database connections are added where a connector has been verified.
| Area | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Sources | Tables inside documents, exports you approve, and connectors verified for your system. |
| Combined figures | A total or a joined figure links to the tables it was built from. It isn't traced to a single row. |
| Sign-off | Certant shows the evidence. It doesn't certify a board figure or rewrite the commentary beside it. |
What changes
- The reporting team checks each figure against its source before the pack goes out.
- A director's follow-up question gets an answer in the meeting, with the export it came from.
- When the data isn't there, the answer says so, and nobody presents an estimate as a fact.
Related use cases
Payroll agreement checks
Each pay rate beside the minimum in your enterprise agreement.
See the use caseBring last quarter's board pack
Send us a past board pack and the exports behind it. We'll show you each figure beside its source, and the questions the data can't answer.