Specialist Guidelines

1. Handling employer data

Work only inside the files shared for your project, and only while the project is active. Never try to work out who or what an anonymized stand-in value really is.

View-only files stay in the secure room. Do not copy, screenshot, photograph or re-type their contents. Confidential downloads are kept on one secured device and deleted when the project ends.

Never paste employer data, real or anonymized, into public AI tools or outside services.

2. Building with stand-in data

Anonymized files keep amounts, dates and addresses real and swap names, IDs, emails, phones and account numbers for stand-ins such as Person 001 or Vendor 004. Build your logic so it works the same on the real values.

Keep stand-in values intact in your outputs. Do not rename or reformat them, so the employer's Restore real data tool can swap the real values back in, whatever layout your final report uses.

Do not hard-code stand-in values in formulas, queries or flows. Use lookups, parameters and column names instead.

3. Tracking the work

Break the project into tasks in the project's Work plan and keep their status current. Mark anything you are blocked on as Needs poster.

Post a progress update at the agreed cadence. Payouts unlock only after an update for that week.

4. Testing and sign-off

Agree on a test checklist with the employer early: totals that must tie out, exceptions that must be caught, and outputs that must match.

Test every item on the anonymized files and record what you ran and what you saw. Then the employer confirms each item on real data, either by running the automation on a fresh export from their system or by restoring your output with their key.

The final payout unlocks only once the employer has signed off every item.

5. Writing the SOP

Every automation ships with a standard operating procedure in the Work plan, covering its purpose, inputs and where they come from, numbered run steps, schedule, the human steps that remain, what to do when it fails, and the owner.

Write it for someone on the employer's team who has never seen the build. The employer approves the SOP before handoff.

6. Naming and build standards

Use clear, consistent names for queries, tables, flows and sheets. Remove test steps and unused queries before handoff.

Keep credentials out of files. Use the employer's own connections and sign-ins, and list them in the SOP's human steps.

7. Handoff

Deliver the working files through Project files, together with the approved SOP. Walk the owner through one live run if the contract includes it.

When the project ends, delete any local copies of employer files and confirm this in your final update.