Excel and Power Query

Use Excel and Power Query without hiding the monthly routine.

For finance, operations and reporting teams whose recurring work begins with folders of files and ends in a workbook, review pack or action log.

Quanta Meridian separates file intake, query logic, approved adjustments, checks and reviewed outputs so the workbook can be refreshed and handed over.

The working question

Which files entered the refresh, what changed them, which adjustments were approved and do the workbook totals still reconcile?

Inspect the project evidence

In the monthly sales workbook, eight regional files replace manual copying. In the supplier-quality build, six plants provide defect and downtime files. Power Query combines the expected files and checks their structure; Excel keeps the visible issue decision, approved adjustments and report tie-out. A missing file is treated as a reporting problem, not silently ignored.

Monthly files into a checked workbook

Check the expected files

The refresh confirms the period, sender, filename and required columns before combining data.

Run staged queries

Reusable functions, filters, types and reference joins remain visible in Power Query.

Separate adjustments

Manual corrections have an owner, reason and approval instead of being typed over source values.

Reconcile the workbook

Row counts, sales, margin, defects or downtime tie to the refreshed inputs.

Record the issue decision

The owner releases, limits or holds the output and leaves instructions for the next run.

The workbook remains a working tool

A controlled workbook can still support familiar review and commentary. The change is that source files are loaded through named queries, transformations are inspectable and manual decisions sit in dedicated tables rather than being mixed into formulas.

Parameters and reusable functions reduce repeated steps. Data types are assigned early, rows are filtered before expensive operations and query names explain their purpose to the next analyst.

Refresh failure protects the report

If one plant file is missing, the combined defect total will be incomplete even though the remaining files are valid. The refresh therefore records the missing input and blocks or limits the report according to the agreed release rule.

The retained projects include genuine XLSX files, embedded Power Query where claimed, source data, checks, outputs and handover notes. Screenshots are used to show the native workbook, not replace it.

Readable project evidence

Folder query and staged Power Query

From Monthly Sales and Margin Workbook Rebuild. The XLSX retains a real folder function, staged M code, named checks and a separate failed row result.

Native workbook evidence showing the regional folder query, typed staging, customer and product joins, failed row output and selected Power Query M code

Evidence type: native workbook evidence

Used in public projects

How workbooks prepare, reconcile and hand over monthly work

These links cover the complete set of current projects that use this capability. Each project states its data, native build, validation and limitation.

Monthly Sales and Margin Workbook Rebuild

Eight regions send monthly sales files and manual copying can hide a missing file or changed column.