A working picture of the reporting cycle
Bring a recent report, the files or exports behind it, and the next deadline. The worksheet gives the conversation a shared reference without asking your team to decide how Workiva should be configured.
Capture the parts that still depend on a person: account mappings, manual adjustments, late files, review checks, and questions that do not yet have an answer.
Choose a blank workbook or a fictional worked example
Reporting project worksheet
An editable Excel workbook with three tabs for project context, sources and mappings, then owners, deadlines, pain points, and open questions.
Download the blank worksheetSee a completed example
The same workbook, completed with a fictional management-reporting scenario, to show the level of detail it is designed to hold.
Download the fictional exampleWhat the workbook asks for
The editable workbook has three focused tabs. It keeps the current process visible so a project can start from real reporting work rather than a generic intake form.
- Project brief for the report, purpose, prepare/review owners, deadline, pain points, and questions.
- Sources & mapping for files, timing, transformations, and manual checks.
- Owners & deadlines for the next decisions and reporting-cycle handoffs.
- Report / process
- Monthly management pack
- Source files
- General ledger, sales export, forecast
- Mapping & adjustments
- Account mapping; late adjustments
- Prepare / review
- Finance manager / controller
- Deadline
- Next reporting date
- Questions
- What is still unclear or slow?
The workbook includes dropdowns for work status and print settings for each tab.
Bring enough to have a useful first working session
- A recent report or output your team recognizes.
- A sample of each source, plus mappings and recurring adjustments.
- The people who prepare and review the work, and the next reporting deadline.
- A short list of delays, repeated checks, or decisions that keep returning.
Plan your reporting project
Bring the workbook as it stands. We can use the missing pieces and open questions to shape the next conversation.