T69 Data question answer record
Data question answer record
The answer to one question from the Kestrel finance team: the figure, the definition behind it, the period and the source, plus a clear note on the part a consultant is still picking up. Answered by Sofia Reyes, senior analyst at Northfold Analytics, for the Kestrel finance team and Grace Whitfield, head of membership data. Question received Sep 24, 2026, record updated October 1, 2026.
Question from the Kestrel finance team, Sep 24, 2026: Why does Active members in the monthly pack not match the paid member count in our finance export?
Sample template: the firm, people, clients and figures are fictional, and the embedded view holds synthetic sample records.
The answer
Active members in the pack counts every membership holding a Paid or Frozen status on the last day of the four-week period, which gives 18,940. The finance export counts Paid memberships only, which gives 18,300. The 640 difference is the frozen memberships. Neither figure is wrong: they answer two different questions, and the pack names its definition on the page where the figure appears.
| Pack: Active members | Finance export: paid members | |
|---|---|---|
| What it counts | Memberships with status Paid or Frozen | Memberships with status Paid |
| Figure for the period | 18,940 | 18,300 |
| Source | Membership system, field membership.status | Finance export, paid memberships |
| Period basis | Four-week period, taken on the last day | Matched to the pack period before comparing |
| Owner | Arjun Mehta, Northfold Analytics | Kestrel finance team |
| Register status | Effective definition | Not in the register, Paid members is proposed |
Source trail
Every answer carries the trail below, so the finance team can check the figure without asking again.
Question Kestrel finance team, received Sep 24, 2026
Pack figure Active members = 18,940
Definition Count of memberships with status Paid or Frozen at period end
Source Membership system, membership.status
Period Four-week period, last day of the period
Paid only 18,300 (pack figure less 640 frozen memberships)
Difference 640 = memberships with status Frozen
Register Active members, effective, definition owner Arjun Mehta
Answered by Sofia Reyes, Sep 24, 2026, with both definitions attached
What a consultant is still picking up
Routed to a person: should frozen members count as active?
Whether frozen members count as active is a definition question, not a routine answer, so Sofia Reyes routed it to Arjun Mehta on Sep 24 instead of answering it. Arjun decides with Grace Whitfield whether the register needs a separate Paid members measure beside Active members. The proposal is in Client review, owned by Sofia Reyes. Until Grace decides, the pack keeps Active members as defined and finance keeps seeing a 640 gap that both sides can now explain. If there is no decision by Oct 5, the October pack prints both figures with their definitions side by side.
Definitions under review
The board lists every proposed definition across Northfold's reporting clients, grouped by stage. Kestrel Fitness has eight cards on it: Paid members, Average membership length and Trial conversion rate wait in Client review; Freeze rate, Class fill rate and Visits per active member are in Collision check; Failed payment rate and Net membership change are Proposed.
Before you share this page with a client
This sample board holds definitions for several clients, including Marlowe Freight, Brightline Dental Partners and Copperleaf Hotels. Switch the embed to a view filtered to Kestrel Fitness before you send this page to the Kestrel finance team or Grace Whitfield.
Which questions are answered how
Use when the figure is already in the pack, with the same definition, period and source. The reply carries the figure, the definition, the period and the source in one message.
Example. The Active members figure for the period, with the register entry attached. Nothing needs checking because nothing is recalculated.
Use when the figure is not printed in the pack but can be rebuilt under an existing definition, or when a source arrived late or incomplete. A second analyst or Arjun Mehta confirms the figure before it is sent.
Example. Visit totals for the one club whose check-in feed arrived 36 hours late. The answer says the total is incomplete and names the date the feed is expected to catch up.
Use when the question is about what a definition should be, whether a figure is correct, or what caused a change. The client receives a note that a consultant is picking it up, with the owner and the date to expect an answer.
Example. Whether the September change in members can be credited to the call program for members inactive for 21 days. Arjun Mehta recorded it as observed alongside the action, not attributed to it, because there is no comparison group.
Use when the same question arrives a second time. Arjun Mehta asks whether the pack itself should change instead of answering it again.
Example. Active members against paid members. If Grace Whitfield approves Paid members, a one line reconciliation between the two figures is proposed for the October pack, so the question stops arriving.
| Question log, four weeks to Oct 1 (sample figures) | Result |
|---|---|
| Questions logged | 23 |
| Answered from the existing pack | 14 of the 22 answered (64 percent) |
| Reached a senior analyst | 8 |
| Still open | 1, the frozen members question routed on Sep 24 |
| Median time to first answer | 3 hours |
| Repeated questions that became a pack change | 0 so far, 1 proposed |
Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Kestrel Fitness' demo data. Block dates move forward each week, so they can differ from the sample dates on this page.
Follow-up
How to use this template
Create one record per client question. Fill the variables below from the question log and the register entry, and attach the source trail to every answer.
| Variable | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
{{question.text}} | The question as the client asked it | Required |
{{question.received_date}} | Date the question arrived | Required |
{{answer.figure}} | Figure given, with its period | Required |
{{metric.definition}} | Definition the figure follows | Required |
{{source.trail}} | Source system, field and period behind the figure | Required |
{{answer.class}} | Direct, after a check, routed or repeated | Required |
{{routed.owner_name}} | Person who picks up a routed question | Optional |
If a required value is missing, show Needs review in its place and hold the answer; never fill it with a guess. If the pack or the register cannot be read, show Unavailable instead of a figure.
The live Dashboards blocks on this page show the Kestrel Fitness demo profile. Point each block at your own client's profile, or remove it, before you share the page. Filter the embedded view to the same client as well.