Single source of truth (SSOT) refers to the principle and architectural practice of maintaining one definitive, authoritative record for each data entity within an organisation’s reporting environment. When reporting systems share a single source of truth, all reports and analyses referring to the same underlying data produce consistent results, eliminating the discrepancies that arise when different teams maintain separate copies of the same data with different transformation rules applied.
Why This Matters
The absence of a single source of truth is one of the most common causes of reporting distrust in organisations. When the same metric produces different figures in different reports, management cannot act with confidence on any of them. Establishing an SSOT removes this ambiguity: it creates a governed, authoritative data layer that all reporting draws from, so that the same question always produces the same answer regardless of who asks it or which report they look at.
Where This Fits
This term sits within the Reporting area of Performance & Control.
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