TicketBI-1103

Three models, three Revenues

Sales, Finance and Operations each have a model with a measure called Revenue, and all three disagree. The CEO wants one version of the truth.

Reported by: Grace Hollis, CEO
Opened: Mon 11 May 2026, 10:02
Needed by: Plan by Fri 22 May; migration by end of June
Priority: High
Time box: 6 h

Labels: financesalesmarketingrevenue

Previously at Northwind

After the Finance dispute (Sprint 02) the sales dashboard shows both Net Sales and the ledger's Net Revenue. Then the leadership meeting got three different Q1 revenue figures from three different reports.

Why the business cares When three reports disagree, every meeting starts with an argument about numbers instead of decisions. Each copy of the model also costs refresh time, capacity and maintenance, and each one can drift further.

Brief

Grace HollisCEOemail Mon 11 May, 10:02

One number

Elena, this morning I saw three different Q1 revenue figures: Jordan's, Sarah's and one from Operations. All three were called "Revenue". I don't care which one is right; I care that we have one answer and that everyone uses it.

Please come back with a plan. Grace

Elena TorresBI Lead (your manager)chat Mon 11 May, 10:30

This is yours. I want an inventory of what exists, a proposal for one certified model, a migration plan for the reports and a clear owner for each definition.

Careful: "one number" doesn't mean one measure. It means nobody can be confused about which measure they're looking at.

Kenji MoriData Engineerchat Mon 11 May, 11:12

FYI the Ops model reads from the shipments table in the warehouse, not orders. Ops counts revenue when stuff leaves the building. Their dashboard drives the warehouse staffing plan, so don't break it.

What you are expected to do

Inventory the three models and their reports: what each Revenue measure means, who owns it, who depends on it.
Explain exactly why the three values differ (definitions, not bugs).
Design one shared, certified semantic model: its tables, its measures (with unambiguous names) and which one is the company's "Revenue".
Plan the migration of every report to thin reports on the shared model, in an order that never breaks a business process.
Define ownership: who owns each definition, who maintains the model, who can certify and who approves changes.

Deliverables

Inventory of models, measures, reports and owners
KPI dictionary with each revenue definition, its owner and its use
Shared model design: tables, grain, measures, security
Migration plan: report by report, with rollback
Ownership matrix (RACI) for definitions and the model
Short decision record: one shared model vs departmental models

Evidence

revenue_by_model_q1_2026.csv What each model's Revenue measure returns for Q1 2026.
revenue_measures.tmdl The three Revenue measures, copied from each model's TMDL.
report_inventory.csv Reports built on the three models.
Outcome of BI-1057 (Sprint 02)