Workbook and checks evidence
This source-backed workbook view shows the retained inputs, preparation steps, checks, adjustments and output behind the overview.
Workbook & Spreadsheet Rebuilds
Excel / Power Query Reporting Rebuild
A fragile monthly workbook rebuilt around registered sources, an explicit refresh route, visible checks, separate adjustments and handover notes.
Workbook recovery overviewOpen image
A polished overview of the workbook recovery route from source inputs through checks, output and handover.
More of the work
A closer look at what sits behind the overview.
This view shows the source records, checks and output used to prepare the overview above.
Workbook recovery route
A fragile workbook separated into source, refresh, checks and handover.
The team can rerun the monthly workbook with its source state, open checks, manual adjustments and owner notes visible before the output pack is discussed or handed over.
Useful forReporting analystsFinance teamsOperations teamsProcess owners
Recurring Excel reports become fragile when source files, formulas, copied tabs, manual adjustments and output views are mixed together. Refresh steps become hard to explain, and review meetings can drift into fixing the workbook instead of using the information.
How can a recurring workbook be made safer and easier to update without first rebuilding the wider data platform?
A workbook routine with a source register, Power Query transformation route, validation checks, manual adjustment log, output pack and handover notes.
How the work fits together
The workbook separates inputs, Power Query steps, checks and output.
The sequence follows the monthly files through preparation and checking, then shows the output pack and notes needed for the next refresh.
01Source
What the work starts with
- Five-item source register
- April and May CSV exports with 49 rows
- Three-row manual adjustment register
02Prepare
How it is prepared
- Seven-step folder and preparation route
- Field typing and grouped output logic
- Included XLSX workbook and retained M query
03Check
Checks applied
- One missing amount and one repeated record ID
- One blank owner and 16 stale refresh dates
- Seventeen manual adjustment flags retained for review
04Output
What the review receives
- Thirty-five grouped output rows
- Twenty-five source rows requiring review
- Status and owner notes beside the reported values
05Handover
Notes for the next update
- Source naming and refresh steps documented
- Manual adjustments kept outside formulas
- Open checks and known limits retained for the next owner
- Excel
- Power Query
- CSV sources
- Validation checks
- Workbook recovery
- Controlled refresh
- Manual step reduction
- Handover
The team can rerun the monthly workbook with its source state, open checks, manual adjustments and owner notes visible before the output pack is discussed or handed over.
Built from a non-client example dataset. No protected data is used.
A safer monthly update
Inputs, refresh steps and manual changes no longer compete inside the same workbook.
Separate source inputs, transformation steps, manual adjustments and the outputs people actually use.
- 01
Two monthly exports provide 49 source rows, with the file owner and refresh context recorded alongside them.
- 02
Seven preparation steps and seven validation checks separate 25 review rows from the grouped output.
- 03
Seventeen flags and three manual adjustments are recorded outside the formulas and included in the handover notes.
Workbook checks
What loaded, what changed by hand and what is ready to issue.
Combines two monthly exports while retaining file, owner and refresh context.
Keeps rows requiring review visible before the output pack is used.
Separates flagged rows from the three-item adjustment register and formulas.
Produces a compact reporting output with status and owner notes beside the values.
Workbook contents
The sheets, source files and practical limits of the rebuild.
What is included
- Source register
- Power Query route
- Validation checks
- Manual adjustment log
- Output pack
- Handover notes
What it can start from
- April and May CSV exports
- Five-item source register
- Seven-step preparation route
- Validation register
- Manual adjustment log
- Handover notes
What this example does not claim
- The workbook records a local file-based routine rather than a live shared-drive or scheduled refresh.
- Open checks and adjustment treatment still require owner judgement.
- Source naming, fields and update ownership would be agreed for a live workbook.
Power Query consolidation view
Power Query Consolidation Pack
- What is difficult now
- Monthly consolidation becomes unreliable when expected files are missing, columns drift and the folder refresh has no clear check or owner.
- What the work helps decide
- Which exports loaded, which file is missing, where column drift needs review and whether the combined reporting table is safe to use?
- Power Query
- Folder refresh
- Consolidation
Next step
Stabilise a recurring workbook.
Start with the recurring workbook, its source files and the steps that make each update difficult to run or explain.