A Guide to Storing Historical Data for Financial Audits and Performance Trend Analysis
Data Maintenance & Update Protocol
Regular Data Ingestion
Establish a monthly or quarterly routine to export new order data from your CNFANS account backend. Append this data directly to the Master Orders Sheet, preserving the existing chronological structure. Always back up the file prior to updates.
Data Validation & Cleanup
During each update:
- Check for and remove duplicate entries based on
Order_ID.
- Standardize categorical data (e.g., payment method names).
- Verify that currency formats and calculations are consistent.
Archiving Cycle
At the close of each fiscal year:
- Finalize the year's data in the Master Sheet.
- Generate and freeze the corresponding Annual Summary sheet.
- Create a separate, password-protected archive file (e.g.,
CNFANS_Orders_2023_ARCHIVE.xlsx) for the completed year. This master file then continues for the current operational year.