The first stretch is a conversation about the decision that is stuck, not a tour of every report you have ever sent. We meet the finance lead, look at the ledger and the operational exports, and name the person who will own the pack after we leave. We write a scope you can disagree with in a document: grain, systems, weeks, and what “good” looks like in the first monthly cycle. Artefact at the exit: a scoping note, a list of extracts, a draft dictionary, and a named owner. We do not open a warehouse or a dashboard until that note is agreed. If the work sits outside reporting, forecasting or the data model underneath, we say so here.
From first call to a report someone owns
The work always follows the same five moves. The artefacts change with the decision in front of us. The rhythm does not: one contact, a weekly written note, and files that stay in your tenancy after we leave.
Five moves, in detail
We map the chart of accounts, the operational grain and the joins that make a figure trustworthy. If the books and the commerce tool disagree, the gap is written down before anyone hides it in a calculated field. Table names are chosen so a finance lead can still read them in six months. Access is read-only where the system allows it. Artefact at the exit: a mapping of sources to named tables or named tabs, a dictionary with owners, and a note on every join that is still estimated. This is the unglamorous week that saves the build from becoming a pretty screen on sand.
We assemble the pipeline, the model and the first pack in the tools you will keep. Weekly calls are reviews of something on screen, sitting in your folder, not a status slide. You see the same files we see. Changes go in with a one-line note so the next person can follow the logic. We would rather show an incomplete view that reconciles than a complete view that does not. Artefact at the exit of each week: an updated model, a pack or dashboard increment, and a protocol of decisions. The build ends when the owner can refresh the core pages, not when we run out of visual ideas.
The last fortnight is for the person who will click Refresh in month two. We sit with them while they run the pack from live data. Awkward joins appear only then, and we fix them while the knowledge is still in the room. Documentation is a working guide next to the model: dictionary, refresh steps, who to call if a source file changes shape. Artefact at the exit: the guide, a recorded or written walkthrough if you want one, and a first cycle in which our name is not on the send list. If that cycle cannot happen, we have not finished.
Some groups keep us on a monthly desk for the next two cycles: a working session, a short note, small model changes. Others run the pack themselves and write when a new entity or a new question appears. Either way the files remain yours. A retainer is a continuation, not a second copy of the workbooks on our side. Artefact in this move: a simple monthly rhythm, an optional quarterly KPI review, and the right to pause with notice. The report should survive the day we are not on the call, including the first close after handover is done.
The weekly rhythm
We hold one working meeting of thirty minutes each week, on a standing slot in Singapore time. The agenda is the files on screen. The same day we send a written protocol: decisions, open questions, who owns the next extract. A task board in a space you can open sits beside that note. If a decision is made on the call, it is in the protocol before the close of business in Singapore.
Data handling
Access is read-only wherever the system allows it. Each client has a separate working area. We do not mix extracts. A confidentiality agreement is in place before the first file arrives. Working copies we hold are deleted thirty days after the project closes, unless a signed retainer still needs a sandbox. Personal data of staff or customers that happens to sit in a finance extract is minimised, stored only as long as the work requires, and handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act. We do not sell data. We do not use client files to train a public model. If an extract is richer than the decision needs, we ask for a narrower file before it lands in the folder.
Tools we hand over
- BI martA Power BI or Looker Studio view reading named tables, with a refresh the owner can run or schedule.
- Sheets / Excel modelThe driver-based layer, cash view or board appendix, with assumptions on one sheet.
- DocumentationA short guide: refresh steps, known breakages, who owns each source file.
- Metric dictionaryEach figure with a formula, a grain, an owner, and a note on whether it matches the close.
Pricing logic
A diagnostic is a fixed price. A build is a fixed price after that diagnostic, quoted in Singapore dollars, with the scope in writing. A retainer is a monthly fee for a named rhythm. We do not add a surcharge for connecting to a system you already run, and we do not sell hours in arrears as a surprise on the last invoice. If the work grows, we stop and re-scope. If it shrinks, the quote shrinks with it before we start.
FAQ
Do we need to change our accounting system?
No. We start from the ledger you already close. Xero, NetSuite, SAP Business One and QuickBooks are all familiar. A reporting problem is rarely solved by moving books in the same quarter you are trying to get a pack to land. If the chart of accounts is the true constraint, we will say so on the diagnostic and we will work inside the current system while that clean-up happens.
Our chart of accounts is a mess. Is that a blocker?
It is a delay, not a wall. We can still map what you have, write a dictionary, and build a first pack on a subset. A chaotic chart will cap how far a dashboard can go, because two lines that should be one will keep splitting the story. We will put a proposed mapping in the diagnostic. Some groups fix the chart in parallel. Others live with a mapping table for a quarter and tidy the books at year-end.
Can you work with Sheets only, without a BI tool?
Yes. Many of our models live in Google Sheets or Excel because that is where a finance lead will change an assumption in a meeting. We add Power BI or Looker Studio when several people need a living view and the joins have outgrown a tab. If the team is three people and the grain is simple, Sheets can be the whole delivery. We will not insist on a warehouse for its own sake.
How long until we see the first dashboard?
On a typical build you will see a working view on a subset in week three, and a pack that resembles the thing you will send in week four. A finished dashboard that an owner can refresh is usually a four-to-six-week object, longer if several entities and several source systems are in scope. We would rather show an honest incomplete view early than a polished screen that still cannot be tied to the close.
Who maintains the report after handover?
A named person in your finance team. We design the last fortnight around that person sitting in the chair and refreshing the pack from live data. Some groups then keep us on a monthly desk for the next two cycles. That is optional. If nobody can be named as owner on the scoping call, we will say the build is not ready to start, because a report without a steward dies in month two.
Can you work with our external bookkeeper?
Yes, and we prefer it. Bookkeepers close the books. We build the layer above that close. We will ask for a read-only view and for a short call so we do not invent a mapping they already have. We do not take over their work, and we do not second-guess a filing they are responsible for. Written protocols from our weekly call can be copied to them when you want the three-way conversation to stay aligned.
Do you sign an NDA?
Yes. A confidentiality agreement is signed before we receive extracts. We will use your paper or ours. Access is read-only where the system allows it. Working copies we hold are deleted thirty days after the project closes, unless a signed retainer says we still need a sandbox. Personal data is minimised before it lands, in line with Singapore’s PDPA for staff and customer records that happen to sit in a finance extract.
What if our monthly close is late?
Then the pack that claims to match the close will also be late, and we will say so rather than invent a number. We can still run a weekly operating view from invoices, POS or jobs, clearly labelled as not-yet-closed. The dictionary will keep those two layers apart. A late close is a process fact, not a reason to blur the management view and the ledger until they become two competing truths.
Do you work with companies outside Singapore?
We are based in Kallang and we work in English. Groups with a Singapore entity, a regional HQ here, or a finance lead who can meet in SGT hours are the usual fit. A company with no presence in Singapore can still be in scope if the work is remote, the data handling is agreed, and a single responsible contact sits in a compatible time zone. We will tell you on the first call if the rhythm will not work.
Tell us what decision is stuck
If the method above matches how you like to work, write to us with the decision on the table. We will reply within one working day, Singapore hours.