Glossary

Decision-grade data refers to information that is accurate, complete, consistent, and sufficiently validated to support an immediate business decision. In finance operations, most raw data does not meet this standard. Extracted values, partially reconciled transactions, or unverified balances may exist, but they are not reliable enough to trigger payments, close accounts, or commit financial resources.

‍

What makes data decision-grade is not its format, but the validation it has undergone. This includes alignment across systems, reconciliation between sources, anomaly detection, and traceability back to original documents. Decision-grade data answers a critical operational question: can this information be acted upon safely, right now?

‍

For CFOs and finance teams, the absence of decision-grade data introduces friction and hidden risk. Decisions are slowed down by manual double checks, or taken based on assumptions when time pressure increases. This is particularly visible in processes such as invoice approval, cash reconciliation, and financial close, where unreliable data directly impacts cash flow and reporting credibility.

‍

Modern finance platforms rely on AI agents to continuously transform raw inputs into decision-grade data before execution. This approach is central to Phacet’s vision of end-to-end financial transparency, where validated data flows into downstream systems only once it is safe to act, as described in its perspective on end-to-end financial data automation.