Embarrassing question but need to ask... anyone have a good process for QC'ing your own work? Made a calculation error last month that cost me credibility with a client. Looking for systematic ways to catch mistakes before they become problems.
Quality control process - catching your own mistakes
Phil, we've all been there! I use a "fresh eyes" approach - finish my analysis, then put it aside for at least 24 hours before final review. Amazing what you catch when you come back to it later. Also helps to read through your own report as if you're the client seeing it for the first time.
I have a QC checklist I run through before finalizing any report: 1) Recalculate key findings independently 2) Check all formulas in spreadsheets 3) Verify tariff references are current 4) Cross-check dollar amounts between summary and details 5) Spell check everything. Takes an hour but saves headaches later.
Terry's checklist sounds solid. One thing I'd add - always verify your time periods match between different parts of the analysis. Easy to accidentally mix 12-month vs 24-month periods, especially when you're working on multiple projects. Caught myself doing this more than once.
For big dollar findings, I actually work backwards from the utility bill to double-check my math. Start with the final bill amount and trace each component back to the raw data. If I can't recreate the utility's calculation exactly, I'm not confident in my error analysis either.
All good suggestions here. Phil, don't beat yourself up too much - we're all human. The key is learning from it and building better processes. I keep a "lessons learned" log of my own mistakes. Humbling but helps me avoid repeating them.