Prepared by Posh. Updated 7 October 2026. Preparation guidance. Financial, contractual and accessibility suitability still needs the relevant reviewer.
1. Check the reporting contract
Confirm client/entity, audience, exact period, currency, accounting basis and the decision the report supports. Record unknowns. Cash and accrual exports are different evidence; do not silently combine their totals.
2. Check the source boundary
List expected inputs and the actual files, sheets, rows and source dates used. Record excluded or unreadable material. A complete accepted file is not proof that all required business records were supplied. Cached formulas are not recalculated values.
3. Check the claims
Trace important amounts to source coordinates and show calculation operands. Distinguish observation from cause. Remove unsupported explanations or label them as proposed, with the evidence needed. Review signs, units, zero denominators and missing values.
4. Check the actual output
Open the downloaded PDF, Word or PowerPoint in the recipient’s likely app. Inspect long tables, clipping, repeated headers, fonts, meaningful headings, links and disclosed appendices. Export preflight is not a substitute for checking the actual file.
5. Check disclosure and delivery
Remove private preparer notes and unnecessary original pages. Confirm recipient identity, permission, expiry and the exact version being sent. A sent email is not a received/read report. Record the decision owner and next action.
Corrected mismatch examples
Example A: an AUD accrual September statement and a USD cash October export cannot be presented as one comparable September total. Correction: separate their contexts and obtain the missing comparison. Example B: revenue rose from 10000 to 12000, but no campaign evidence was supplied. Correction: report the 2000 change; leave the proposed campaign explanation unconfirmed.