Finance Workflow Sprint
One workflow. One definition of done. One handoff.
The sprint takes a single recurring piece of finance or operations work that is still assembled by hand, builds it properly, checks it against the source data, and hands it to the people who will run it. Scoped and written down in advance.
The shape
Four moves, applied to one subject at a time.
Start from your data
The extracts and systems already in use. No migration, no new source of truth.
Pin down the fields
What each field actually means, written down and confirmed with the process owner.
Prove the numbers
Every published figure reconciles to the source. If a total does not tie, it does not ship.
Hand it over
A report, a queue, or a scheduled run, delivered with the notes to run it yourself.
Workflow families
Where a sprint usually lands.
- Recurring review preparation. The pack somebody rebuilds every cycle.
- Reconciliation. Two systems that must agree, compared by eye today.
- Document intake. Files that arrive and get retyped into a system.
- Reporting. The same figures rebuilt by hand every month.
- Exception follow up. The queue that only moves when someone remembers.
- Data nobody fully trusts. Meetings that argue about the numbers instead of the decision.
Definition of done
Written before the work starts.
A short document agreed at the start names the workflow in scope, the inputs, the output, the checks it must pass, who runs it afterwards, and what is out of scope. The same document decides at the end whether the sprint finished.
Where a workflow involves judgment, the workflow prepares the judgment and a person makes it.
Start here
Name the one workflow that eats the most hours.
Describe it in a few sentences: what starts it, what it produces, and where the time goes. You get an honest read on whether a sprint fits.