Data reporting, explained in plain English.
The questions I get asked most — about the tools, the process, the price and what happens to your data. If yours isn't here, just ask.
What I do and how
What exactly is "report automation"?
It means setting your reports up so they refresh and deliver themselves on a schedule, instead of someone rebuilding the same thing by hand every week or month.
The benefits are simple: hours of time given back, no more copy-paste mistakes, and numbers that are always ready when a decision needs making. If you have a report that quietly eats a morning every week, that is exactly the kind of thing automation fixes.
Power BI or Excel — which do I need?
Excel is ideal for detailed, hands-on models and one-off analysis you want full control over. Power BI is better when you need live, interactive dashboards that refresh on their own and are shared across a team.
Plenty of businesses use both, and part of my job is recommending the right tool for what you are actually trying to do rather than forcing everything into one. I have written this up at length in Power BI vs Excel.
Can you find errors and discrepancies in our data?
Yes — it is one of the things I am asked for most. When two systems disagree, or a report never quite ties out, I cross-check the numbers across sources, track down where the mismatch comes from, and explain why it happened, not just that it did.
The same approach surfaces quiet losses: leakage, duplicate costs and missed revenue that add up over time. Where I can, I also leave behind a repeatable check so the problem gets caught next time rather than rediscovered.
What is a bank statement income report?
It turns raw, messy bank statements into a clear, categorised picture of income and outgoings. It is commonly used for affordability and lending decisions, for verifying self-employed income, or simply when someone needs a trustworthy view of where money is genuinely coming from and going.
It is a data product, not financial advice, and it is not itself a lending decision or an affordability assessment — those remain with whoever is making them. More detail in this explainer.
What tools and systems can you work with?
Power BI, Excel, SQL Server, Google Sheets, CSV and Excel exports from almost any system, and most CRMs that can produce a report or an export. If your system can get data out — even if only as a download — it can usually be worked with.
If you are not sure what your systems can export, that is one of the things the free first review is for.
Do you build one-off reports as well as ongoing ones?
Yes. A lot of the work is a single question answered properly: where the margin went, which customers are actually profitable, why last quarter missed. That is a fixed-price piece of work with no ongoing commitment.
What it costs and how it runs
How much does data reporting or report automation cost?
It depends on the size of the job, and I always agree a price before starting. A one-off report or spreadsheet clean-up is usually a fixed price; ongoing upkeep and automation works well on a monthly retainer, which starts at £400 a month.
Whatever the shape, you get a clear quote up front — no open-ended bills and no surprises. Full detail on the pricing page.
Is the first conversation really free?
Yes, including the initial data review. You get the findings — where the time is going and what I would tackle first — whether or not you go on to hire me. If it turns out you do not need me, that is a perfectly good outcome.
How long does a piece of work take?
A focused one-off analysis is often days rather than weeks. A full automated reporting build depends mostly on how many sources are involved and how clean they are — connecting one tidy system is quick; reconciling four systems that disagree with each other is the part that takes time.
You will get a realistic timescale with the quote, before anything starts.
Who owns the reports you build?
You do. Once an invoice is paid in full, the reports, dashboards and files created for you belong to you — not licensed to you, and not hosted on my account. I keep only general skills, methods and non-client-specific templates.
What if we want to stop?
Retainers are rolling monthly with no minimum term, and either side can end the arrangement with 30 days' written notice. Any work in progress at the end of the notice period is completed and invoiced.
Security, confidentiality and location
Is our data kept confidential?
Always. Your data is treated as strictly confidential, used only to deliver the work I have agreed, and handled in line with UK GDPR. It is never shared with third parties without your say-so, and it is returned or securely deleted whenever you ask, or when I stop working together.
Client work is never published as a case study or example. Everything on my examples page is invented sample data for that reason.
Do we have to send you real customer data to get started?
No. For a first look, a redacted extract, a screenshot, or a few dummy rows that show the structure is usually enough. I only need real data once there is agreed work to do, and then only the fields that the job actually requires.
Do you only work with North West businesses?
I am based in Merseyside and work with businesses across the North West, but I work with clients right across the UK remotely too. Data work is done securely online, so where you are based is rarely a barrier.
More on local coverage on the Merseyside and North West page.
Does this website track me?
Not in the way that word usually means. The site sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device, which is why there is no cookie banner.
It does use Cloudflare Web Analytics — a cookieless service that reports aggregate page views, so I can see which pages are genuinely useful and which are not. It does not follow you across other sites, build a profile of you, or identify you individually. There is no advertising or remarketing tracking of any kind.
The only information I actually see about you is what you choose to type into the contact form. Full detail in the privacy notice.
Got a question that isn't here?
Tell me what you are trying to sort out with your data and I will point you at the shortest way to fix it. Free, and no pressure.