Confirm the client, reporting period, and timezone
Compare the export, working file, and final report header before reviewing any KPI.
Pass whenThe same client, start date, end date, and timezone appear across all three.
Free pre-send resource
Marketing ReportingQA Checklist
Run these 14 checks after export and before client delivery. The pass is designed to catch scope mistakes, invalid rows, broken KPI relationships, reconciliation gaps, and unresolved warnings while a person still controls the send.
No upload on this page. No visitor report data is accepted or stored.
Use one completed export and the report that will be delivered.
Compare against the sourceWrite down every exceptionKeep the final send human-controlled
The checklist
Four passes. Fourteen explicit decisions.
“Pass” means the condition is resolved or documented—not that the report is guaranteed error-free.
Scope and definitions
Lock the report before checking the numbers.
Name the source of truth for every KPI
Write down which platform, export, or approved calculation owns each reported number.
Pass whenEvery KPI has one named source and a definition approved by the report owner.
Verify the required fields are present
Check for date, client, channel, campaign, spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions—or documented equivalents.
Pass whenEvery required field exists and its meaning is clear before calculations begin.
Row integrity
Stop impossible or ambiguous rows early.
Catch blanks and invalid numbers
Scan required text fields for blanks and metric fields for empty, malformed, or non-numeric values.
Pass whenNo required value is blank or invalid; unresolved rows are excluded from totals.
Review negative values and adjustments
Treat negative spend or volume as an exception that needs a documented refund, credit, or correction.
Pass whenEvery negative value is resolved at the source or isolated with a reviewer-approved reason.
Test clicks against impressions
Clicks above impressions usually indicate a mapping, aggregation, or source-definition problem.
Pass whenClicks do not exceed impressions, or the source definition is corrected before delivery.
Test conversions against the click definition
For click-through-only reporting, conversions should not exceed clicks. View-through, offline, or multi-event attribution can change that relationship.
Pass whenThe relationship fits the approved attribution definition and any exception is documented.
Detect duplicate reporting keys
Check whether the same date, client, channel, and campaign combination appears more than once.
Pass whenEach reporting key is unique or intentionally disambiguated before aggregation.
Calculation and reconciliation
Rebuild totals instead of trusting presentation cells.
Calculate ratios from totals
Use total clicks ÷ total impressions for CTR, total spend ÷ total clicks for CPC, total conversions ÷ total clicks for CVR, and total spend ÷ total conversions for CPA.
Pass whenRatios come from reconciled totals, not an average of row-level percentages.
Reconcile row totals to the source export
Compare spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions with the platform or approved source totals.
Pass whenTotals match, or every gap is traced to an explicit filter, attribution rule, or excluded row.
Keep currency, units, and formats consistent
Do not mix currencies, percentage scales, decimal conventions, or incompatible conversion definitions in one total.
Pass whenOne currency and one documented unit convention are used throughout the report.
Context and release
Make warnings visible before a person sends the report.
Investigate abnormal movement and missing channels
Review large period-over-period changes, positive spend with zero clicks, unusually high CTR, and channels that disappeared.
Pass whenEach anomaly is confirmed against the source, corrected, or clearly annotated for the reviewer.
Record warnings and manual overrides
Keep the warning, source check, reviewer, and reason together instead of silently editing the final number.
Pass whenAccepted exceptions have an audit note, while unresolved critical errors still block release.
Require a final human sign-off
A named reviewer—ideally a second person—checks the client and period again, acknowledges open warnings, and controls delivery.
Pass whenThe reviewer can stop the report, return to the source, and send only after the final check.
What this checklist will not do
It supports review. It does not replace judgment.
- It does not define your client's KPIs or source of truth.
- It does not guarantee an error-free report or campaign result.
- It does not accept, analyze, or store files on this public page.
- It does not send a report or approve delivery automatically.
FAQ
Before you use the checklist.
Is this a marketing report template?
No. It is a pre-delivery QA checklist for an existing report and source export. It does not replace your report design or KPI definitions.
Can I upload a report on this page?
No. This public resource accepts and stores no visitor files or report data. The paid RoutineCut kit processes a compatible CSV locally after download.
Which fields does the RoutineCut kit expect?
The included format uses date, client, channel, campaign, spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions, with one consistent currency per CSV.
Can conversions be higher than clicks?
It depends on the approved attribution definition. View-through, offline, or multi-event conversions can exceed clicks. The paid kit flags that relationship as critical so a human can reconcile definitions before sign-off.
For the repeatable pass
Get RoutineCut · $29 Turn the checklist into an offline review workspace.
RoutineCut recalculates KPIs, flags compatible CSV rows, keeps warnings visible, and leaves final delivery with a human operator.