So it can be repeated and trusted.
WHAT TO RECORD
Where the data came from, and for what period What was excluded, and why What was cleaned or corrected What each calculation does What you concluded
WHY
So it can be reproduced So it can be checked So next period takes an hour
WHERE TO PUT IT
A notes sheet in the file, or a short document alongside.
WHAT TO NAME CLEARLY
Files, sheets and calculations.
WHAT TO AVOID
Analysis only one person can reproduce Undocumented adjustments Figures whose origin nobody can trace
THAT LAST ONE
A figure nobody can trace is a figure nobody should rely on.
WHAT TO KEEP
The raw data, alongside the analysis.
WHAT TO VERSION
Significant revisions, so you can return.
WHAT TO REVIEW
Whether someone else could follow it.
HOW TO TEST THAT
Have them try.
WHAT THAT REVEALS
Every assumption you did not write down.
