---
id: KB-IC-020
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/reports-and-quality/the-report-that-turns-into-a-monthly
idioma: en
categoria: informes-y-calidad
subcategoria: informes
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-IC-011, KB-IC-001, KB-IC-018]
citadoPor: [KB-IC-017]
---

# The report that turns into a monthly

_Someone asked once, liked it, and now it is expected monthly. What must be pinned down is not the result: it is the definition._

**Responde a:** asked for the same report every month · the numbers do not match last month · automating a recurring report · defining a metric properly

Almost no recurring report starts life as one. It starts as a one-off request — «send me how many files we closed this month» — solved in an afternoon on personal judgement. The problem starts when that figure repeats: from the second time on, it is no longer compared with reality, it is compared with itself.

## What to pin down before repeating it

| Decision | Why it matters | What happens if left open |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What counts as «closed» | It varies most between people | Each month is counted by whoever does it, their way |
| Exactly what period it covers | Calendar month, four weeks, up to a cut-off | Months stop being comparable |
| What is excluded | Tests, internal cases, cancelled ones | A month with tests looks like a good month |
| Where each figure comes from | So it can be reproduced identically | Nobody can rebuild it when that person is away |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The consequence nobody sees coming is the first row's: **if the definition is not written down, the report changes it silently every time someone else produces it**. And since the numbers look reasonable, nobody suspects; it simply turns out that this month «we improved». A recurring report is worth its comparison, so a drifting definition is not a methodological detail: it turns the whole history into something meaningless.

## How to stabilise it in twenty minutes

1. **Write the definition alongside the report, not elsewhere** — Two lines: what is counted, which period, what is excluded.
2. **Rebuild last month under that definition** — If it does not match what was delivered, better to know now.
3. **Note where each figure comes from** — It is what lets someone else produce it in August.
4. **And only then automate what can be automated** — Automating a loose definition multiplies the problem.

> [!WARNING]
> Before signing it off, it is worth asking what it is used for: **a report requested every month is rarely read in full, and sometimes only one figure gets looked at**. If out of five pages the only thing anyone reads is the number at the top, everything else is surplus — and that surplus is exactly what makes the report cost a morning. Asking once saves twelve mornings a year and usually reveals that two different reports are needed, not one big one.

## When the figure starts moving

**En corto**

- Before explaining the variation, check the definition did not change.
- A sharp jump with nothing to explain it is usually a change of criteria, not of business.
- And if you change the definition deliberately, rebuild the history or mark the break.

> [!NOTE]
> If the report leaves your company — to a client, an insurer, a regulator — the definition becomes part of the commitment: changing it later requires explaining it, so agree it beforehand with whoever receives it.

**Can I change the definition if it was wrong?**

Yes, flagging it and rebuilding what is comparable. Keeping quiet is what does not work.

**What if each area counts differently?**

Then they are different reports: separate them rather than averaging.

**Should it be automated from the start?**

No: automate once the definition has held still for two or three months.

## Ejemplos

**A company delivers a monthly closed-files report and the figures stop adding up.**

- Writes the definition alongside the report and rebuilds last month under it

→ It finds two people counted «closed» differently, and the history compares again.

**A report requested once for a meeting becomes monthly without anyone deciding it.**

- Checks who reads it and what it decides
- Schedules it if it helps, retires it if not
- Saves the format as a template so it is not rebuilt

→ The monthly report exists because somebody uses it, and costs ten minutes rather than an afternoon.

**The report goes to fifteen people and two open it.**

- Asks who wants to keep receiving it

→ The distribution list reflects who uses it.

**Every month it is rebuilt from scratch.**

- Saves the view and the format

→ The second month costs a fraction.

**The report arrives on the 20th and is no longer useful for deciding.**

- Schedules it for the first working day

→ The figure arrives while action is still possible.

**The format changes monthly and comparison is impossible.**

- Keeps the same format and the same criteria

→ The series shows the trend.

**Nobody knows where the numbers come from.**

- Keeps the breakdown with the report

→ Any question is answered in minutes.

**The report grows to six pages.**

- Keeps the indicators that change decisions

→ It gets read in full.