RESOURCE · MAP
Monthly reporting automation map
Map the report before you automate it, so automation removes effort without hiding fragility. Fill this in for one monthly report.
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- List every input source the report needs and who owns each one.
- For each step, mark whether it is mechanical and repeatable, or a judgement call.
- Note the refresh timing each source needs and the close cut-off the report runs to.
- Identify manual joins and lookups that repeat every month: these are transformations waiting to be written once.
- Identify single points of failure: steps only one person understands.
- Mark what must be auditable, and where a human review must stay before distribution.
- Move mechanical steps upstream into tested logic; keep Excel for the last-mile judgement and presentation.
Why this works, in depth: We rebuild the same management report every month. How do we automate it without making it more fragile?