One version of the truth. For every department.

Why departments see different figures

Different figures in dashboards are rarely a calculation error. Usually each department works from its own source with its own definition, and those differences add up. The result: three reports, three revenue figures and a meeting about the numbers instead of the decision.

• Each department pulls data directly from its own system: finance from the ERP, sales from the CRM, operations from the planning system.
• Definitions differ: is revenue including or excluding credit notes, by invoice date or by order date?
• Excel exports take on a life of their own and are updated by hand.
• Dashboards are built separately, each with its own calculation of the same KPI.
• Reference dates diverge: one report is from this morning, another from last week.

How to build a single source of truth

A working single source of truth has three layers. If one is missing, multiple versions of the truth still emerge. A warehouse without agreements on definitions produces different figures just as easily as separate Excel files.

Centralise business data without replacing your systems

Breaking down data silos does not mean replacing all your systems with one big package. Your ERP, CRM and planning system remain the system of record for day-to-day work. What you centralise is the data: it is loaded periodically from each system into the data warehouse, for example with Airbyte or via the source's API, and linked together there.

This creates central business data in which a customer in the CRM is the same customer as the debtor in the ERP. For reporting and analysis, the warehouse is the reference point; for processes, the source system remains the system of record.

One version of the truth starts with definitions

Technology alone is not enough. The most important step is agreeing what your KPIs mean and who decides on them. Record those agreements in the data model and in the data dictionary, so every calculation follows them. The AI in the SQL Explorer also uses those descriptions when writing queries.

• Revenue: by invoice date or delivery date, including or excluding credit notes?
• Gross margin: which costs do you include?
• Active customer: within what period must someone have bought something?
• Stock value: at cost price or at selling price?

What a single source of truth in ENABLE delivers

In ENABLE, dashboards, the SQL Explorer and the Data API work on the same warehouse. A managing director opening a dashboard, a controller asking a question in the SQL Explorer and a planning tool retrieving figures via the API therefore all get the same answer.

On every Power BI dashboard, users see when the data was last refreshed, so everyone knows the reference date of the figures. Usage statistics also show which dashboards are still in use, so you can clean up old or duplicate reports.