Keeping local exports consistent before the close
Charts fail less often from bad taste than from two files that use different column names for the same revenue line.
Before we draw anything, we ask for a one-page key: each chart category and the exact column header that feeds it. If last month’s export said “Net sales” and this month’s says “Revenue net,” the pack will split a single stream in two.
People exporting from more than one system — a till file, a contract log, a compatible venue export — should freeze the key on the first day of the period, not the last. Changing names during the close week is how duplicate bars appear.
We do not log into those systems. You export. You keep the files. We read copies you choose to share for the review.
A useful test: can a colleague rebuild last period’s mix chart from the key alone, without asking who named the columns? If not, the key is not finished.