Set up your tracking spreadsheet and line up the people you need.

• Create a spreadsheet with four tabs: Sources, Usage Map, Issues, and Action Plan
• Verify you have login access to every tool your team uses (CRM, accounting, analytics, project management, HR, support)
• Identify 2-3 people from different departments who can give you 15-20 minutes on Sunday morning
• Send calendar invites with a one-line ask: "I want to understand what data you use day to day"
• List every shared drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox folder your company uses

In the Sources tab, create columns for: Source Name, Type, Owner, Approximate Size, Update Frequency, Notes.

• SaaS tools: CRM, accounting, marketing analytics, HR, support platforms
• Spreadsheets: Shared drives, personal drives, email attachments. Note who owns each and how often it updates.
• Databases: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, or any data warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift)
• Manual reports: PDFs, emailed reports, vendor data, industry benchmarks
• Third-party data: Purchased datasets, API feeds, partner data shares
• Count your total. Fewer than 10 = you are missing things. More than 50 = that is itself a finding.

In the Usage Map tab, answer four questions for each source.

• Who accesses it? List specific people or roles
• How often? Daily, weekly, monthly, or rarely
• What decisions does it inform? Pricing, inventory, hiring, marketing spend
• How do they get to it? Direct login, export, someone emails it, or manual copy-paste
• Flag single points of failure (one person maintains a source everyone depends on)
• Flag data that gets manually copied between systems
• Flag departments maintaining conflicting versions of the same metric

In the Issues tab, work through three categories with your stakeholders.

• Gaps: "What questions come up in your work that you cannot answer with the data you have today?"
• Common gaps: customer lifetime value, true cost per acquisition, project profitability, inventory forecasting
• Duplicates: Where does the same data live in multiple places? Which version is the source of truth?
• Trust issues: "What data do you not trust?" Note data that exists but nobody uses.
• Note metrics that different departments calculate differently

In the Action Plan tab, sort findings into three buckets. For each, note owner, timeline, and success criteria.

• Quick wins (this week): Delete unused sources, fix broken reports, assign ownership, consolidate duplicates
• Short-term (30-90 days): Central dashboard for key metrics, automate manual workflows, establish single source of truth
• Strategic (next quarter+): Data warehouse, self-service reporting, fill biggest data gaps
• Keep the action plan to one page. Longer = overcomplicating it.

The audit is only valuable if it leads to action.

• Share findings with leadership. A clear inventory makes the case for investment better than any pitch deck.
• Use the usage map to scope future projects.
• Schedule a quarterly re-audit. Tools change, people leave, processes drift.
• Consider outside help if your action plan includes projects your team cannot execute.