Data Analytics & Reporting in Houston
Leadership asks a handful of questions every month, and somebody rebuilds the same spreadsheet to answer them. We build the pipeline and the dashboards once, so the numbers refresh on their own and everyone in the meeting is arguing about the decision instead of the data.
The Problem
The reporting bottleneck in most Houston companies is a person, not a tool. One analyst or controller exports from the accounting system, pulls a job costing file, downloads a CRM report, and stitches them together in a workbook that only they understand. The board pack is three days late every month because of it. Two departments show different revenue for the same period because they filter differently, and the meeting turns into a debate about whose figure is right. Field, plant, or clinical data sits in an operational system nobody has ever joined to finance. When that one person is on vacation or leaves, the reporting capability leaves with them.
The Solution
Sentinel-Pros builds reporting as a system with named owners. We start from the questions leadership actually asks, trace each one back to the source system that holds the answer, and agree on a single definition for every metric before a chart is drawn. Then we build the pipeline into a model that refreshes on a schedule, and put Power BI dashboards on top with the detail rows available for anyone who wants to check the figure. Access follows role, so field supervisors, department heads, and the executive team see what belongs to them. The work is delivered remotely, and Houston is home base, so we run the requirements sessions and dashboard walkthroughs on-site across the metro when the room helps. Documentation stays with you.
Core Responsibilities
Agree what the numbers mean
Build the pipeline
Dashboards people use
Engagement Process
Start with the questions
We sit with leadership and department heads and write down the decisions they make and the figures those decisions depend on. Anything nobody acts on does not get built.
Trace and define
Each figure is traced to a source system and given a single written definition approved by the people who use it. This step ends most reporting disputes before they start.
Build the model and dashboards
We construct the refresh pipeline, the shared model, and the reports, then review drafts with real data so the layout matches how your team reads numbers.
Hand over and support
Training for the people who will use it, documentation for the model, monitored refreshes, and a change process for new reports as the business shifts.
More for Houston Businesses
Common Questions
Our numbers live in an old accounting system. Can you still pull from it?
Usually yes. Most systems expose a database, an export, or an interface we can automate against, and where none exists we can schedule a reliable extract. The age of the system matters less than whether the data inside it is consistent, which we assess in discovery.
Two departments report different revenue. Will a dashboard fix that?
A dashboard alone will not, and that is why the metric dictionary comes first. The difference is almost always a definition, such as when revenue is recognized or whether intercompany work is included. We get that agreed in writing, then the dashboard enforces it.
Do we have to buy Power BI licenses for everyone?
Not usually. Many people only need a scheduled report delivered to them, which costs less than an interactive license. We size licensing against who genuinely explores data versus who reads a fixed view, and include that in the plan before you commit.
Can field or plant supervisors see this from a job site?
Yes, and that is a common requirement here. Dashboards are built to work on a phone or tablet with the fields a supervisor needs, not a shrunken version of the executive view. Access is scoped by role so people see their own crews, sites, or clients.
What happens when the person who understands the reports leaves?
That is the risk this service is designed to remove. The model, definitions, and refresh process are documented and owned by the company, not held in one workbook or one head. Pricing is scoped on a discovery call, with ongoing support delivered as a fixed monthly retainer.
Ready to get started?
BOOK A CONSULTATIONData Analytics & Reporting for Houston, Texas
Reporting problems in Houston tend to follow the shape of the industry. Oilfield service and equipment companies in the Energy Corridor run project and job costing systems that never talk to accounting, so nobody can see true margin on a job until long after the crew has demobilized. Engineering and construction firms need utilization and work in progress by project, which lives in one system, and cash position, which lives in another. Physician groups, imaging centers, and billing companies near the Texas Medical Center track claims, denials, days in accounts receivable, and payer mix in a practice management system that produces reports designed for billers rather than owners. Freight forwarders, brokers, and warehousing operators around the Port of Houston need volume, dwell, and margin per lane or per customer, pulled from transportation systems that predate the current management team. Manufacturers and fabricators along the Ship Channel want throughput, scrap, and on time delivery in the same view as labor cost. Aerospace suppliers near NASA Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake report program status and cost against contract milestones. In every case the data exists somewhere in the building and the work is joining it, defining it, and refreshing it without a person spending three days a month in a spreadsheet.
See the statewide overview of Data Analytics & Reporting or all services available in Houston.