8 questions to ask any reporting provider

Most reporting projects fail quietly. The dashboard launches, looks good for a month, and then the numbers stop matching the books and people go back to spreadsheets. These eight questions find that risk before you sign.

1. What access do you need, and can it be read-only?

The right answer is a read-only key, a connected app or a scheduled export that your admin creates and can revoke. Be wary of anyone who asks for a staff login or a password. Shared logins break when people leave, and they give far more access than reporting needs.

2. Where will our data live, and who else is in that database?

Ask whether your data sits in its own database or in tables shared with other clients. A separate database per client is simpler to secure, simpler to delete and simpler to hand back.

3. How do you define each metric, and where is it written down?

Ask to see an example definition. A good one says what counts, what is excluded, which date it uses and which system it comes from. If the answer is "the platform's standard report", the first disagreement in your leadership meeting will have no referee.

4. How will you prove the numbers match our system of record?

Insist on a reconciliation before go-live: each headline number compared with the report your team already trusts, with every difference explained. If a provider can't describe this step, they don't do it.

5. What happens when a sync fails?

Syncs fail. Keys expire, vendors change APIs, exports arrive late. Ask who finds out first. The answer should be the provider, not you on Monday morning.

6. Who interprets the numbers?

A dashboard shows what happened. Someone still has to say what it means. Ask whether a person reviews your numbers each month, and what that review looks like on paper.

7. What personal data do you need?

For most business metrics, the honest answer is very little. Counts, totals and record IDs carry almost every KPI. Ask what fields they will pull and why.

8. What happens when we leave?

Ask how you export your data, how long deletion takes, and whether you get written confirmation. A provider who makes leaving easy is one who expects you to stay for good reasons.

A short scorecard