The Governed Semantic Layer Checklist

A semantic layer is not a feature that comes with a BI tool. It is an organisational agreement: what the number means, who owns that meaning, which source may compute it, and what happens when someone wants to change it.

The four checks that bite

1. A named owner with the authority to refuse a change.
2. One allowed source of record, rather than whichever warehouse table is convenient.
3. A written definition a new hire can apply without a hallway conversation.
4. A change log. If the definition moved last quarter and nobody can say why, it is not a contract.

Eight more, where two ‘revenue’ numbers quietly become four

1. Grain. The level the metric is counted at (deal, account, order line) is written down.
2. Which date counts. Created, closed, booked or recognised, and in which time zone.
3. Currency. Which rate applies, taken on which date, for anything not in the base currency.
4. Late data. What happens when a record arrives after the period closed, and whether past numbers restate.
5. Exclusions. Returns, credits, internal accounts, test data or renewals, whichever apply, listed by name.
6. Known variants. Every other number people call by the same name, and how each one differs.
7. Where it is used. The meetings, reports and compensation plans that depend on it.
8. How it changes. Who proposes a change, who approves it, and how long the old and new versions run side by side.

Run the checklist once per metric. If it fails any of the first four, it is not ready to be on a slide: without an owner, one source, a written definition and a change log there is nothing to agree on. The other eight are where it drifts. Close those before a second dashboard shows it.