Guide
Fixing a gap in a supply-chain compliance report
Plain steps for a collector or consultant whose compliance report does not tally: find where the gap starts, close it with real records, and prove nothing was invented.
General information, not audit or legal advice. Published .
1. Pin the starting point
Take the first period that does not tally. Its opening balance must equal the previous period's closing balance, exactly. If it does not, the gap is older: go back until opening and closing agree, and work forward from there.
From our work: we anchored the new system's opening balance to the old system's January closing.
2. Check the period boundary
List what came in during the last days of the period and what went out in the first days of the next. Each item must be counted once, in the period it belongs to, on both sides.
From our work: collections in one month were consumed by shipments in the next, so both systems had to agree across the month boundary.
3. Match records by identifier, not by name
Names repeat and drift: sites in a chain share a name, and spellings change between systems. Match every supplier and site on a fixed identifier. Where there is no exact match, create a new record and flag it rather than guess.
From our work: about 13 % of name matches were wrong on sites that belong to a chain, so we matched master records only on an exact place identifier, and created new records rather than risk a misrouted order.
4. Never fill the gap with invented entries
A balancing entry with no document behind it closes the report and opens a finding. Get the missing record from its source, or leave the gap visible with a note of what is missing and who was asked.
From our work: our rule is never to fabricate to make a balance close.
5. Tag every correction
Mark each corrected or added row with what changed, why, from which source and on what date. A tagged correction can be traced, and undone if it turns out to be wrong.
From our work: every migrated row was tagged so the migration was traceable and reversible.
6. Leave closed periods closed
Once a period has been reported, do not regenerate it. Correct forward, in the open period, with a reference back to the period the correction concerns.
From our work: month-ends on the old system stopped at its last real month; later months were never regenerated on it.
7. Prove the fix
Regenerate the report and compare it with the source records entry for entry, not only by totals. Then look at the entries per day: entries on a day with no activity, or an unnaturally even spread, point to records that were made up.
From our work: the month-end compliance report was generated on both systems and compared entry for entry, and a daily-distribution check proved no record had been invented.
8. Keep the way back
Keep a backup of the state before the fix until the corrected report has been signed off.
From our work: backups were kept on production pending the client's sign-off of the report.
Questions?
Email info@simplicityideatech.com with the step you are on. A written reply within two working days.
The notes above come from one past project: a legacy .NET CRM, moved onto Odoo.