Set a clear acceptance test for the investment record.
Six checks for reliable evidence, review ownership and continuity.
Establish the initial investment case.
The management note provides the proposed cheque, reported revenue and recurring revenue share. Compare these inputs with the family’s investment criteria.
Test the record against a real decision
Ask the team to identify an approved figure, its reporting date and supporting source. Then recover the last investment decision and any unresolved questions. These tasks show whether the record can support a review and reveal gaps that a feature checklist may miss.
- Identity: the same business is not split across duplicate records.
- Provenance: material values have a source, period and unit.
- State: proposed and approved information are distinct.
- History: changes and decisions retain their original context.
- Relevance: a new deal can retrieve genuinely related precedent.
- Ownership: someone is accountable for review and correction.
Make unresolved information actionable
Treat missing fields and conflicting reports as review items with an owner and next step. Preserve the distinction between unavailable information and a genuine zero. Resolve material gaps before they are used to support a conclusion in the principal’s briefing.
Evaluate use in the agreed workflow
Observe whether the team can retrieve evidence, recognise exceptions and complete the review using the agreed process. Compare preparation time and correction rates with the baseline. A larger record is useful only if it improves the work the office needs to complete.