A group summary can look finished even when an outlet has sent nothing and another report is missing a required field. If those gaps disappear from the pack, a reader cannot tell what the figures cover.
This guide checks one report for one period against a list of outlets fixed before the cutoff, gives each expected outlet a single coverage status and records the gaps that must travel with the pack. The example, RC-027, is original fiction. It checks the presence of required records and fields; their accuracy needs separate review.
Fix the expected set before reports arrive
Write down the report, the period, the outlets expected to submit it and the fields every submission needs, then freeze that register before anything comes in. Scope exceptions, such as an outlet that is closed or not yet in scope, are approved and recorded at the same time. Changing the list after the cutoff can make a gap look as if it never existed.
Every expected outlet is checked. This is a full coverage check, not a sample, so it does not replace the sampled operational checks covered in a separate guide.
One status per outlet, and zero is not a status
Each outlet gets exactly one of four statuses. Complete means the specified record and every required field are present. Partial means a report arrived but required records or fields are missing. Missing means nothing arrived by the cutoff. Not expected means a predeclared exception applies.
Received is not the same as complete; a partial report has still been received. A zero is a reported value, with evidence supporting that declaration. It can appear in a partial report too: zero alone does not make the report complete. In RC-027, O2 is Complete because every required record and field is present. It is never a fifth status and never a stand-in for missing. Complete also says nothing about accuracy, reconciliation or comparability between outlets.
Worked example: RC-027 at the 7 November 2026, 10:00 IST cutoff
In this fictional case the report is ServiceSummary for the daily period 6 November 2026. Register REG027 was fixed on 5 November at 17:00 IST with six listed outlets, O1 to O6, after exception EX6 was approved at 16:00. Required fields are outlet ID, report ID, period, source reference, recorded order count and covered service windows.
| Outlet (fictional) | Report and arrival (7 Nov, IST) | Required fields | Status at 10:00 cutoff | Value and evidence note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O1 | D1 at 08:00 | All present | Complete | Order count 120 |
| O2 | D2 at 08:10 | All present | Complete | Order count 0, with zero declaration ZERO2 |
| O3 | D3 at 08:20 | Covered service windows missing | Partial | Count 80 recorded; it does not make the report complete |
| O4 | No report by cutoff | None | Missing | Blank; later arrival logged in history |
| O5 | D5 at 08:30 | All present | Complete | Order count 95 |
| O6 | None expected | Not applicable | Not expected | Scope exception EX6, approved 5 Nov 16:00 |
Count and reconcile by hand
Five outlets were expected and one was not. Four reports were received: three complete and one partial. One expected report was missing. The counts reconcile: 5 expected equals 3 complete plus 1 partial plus 1 missing. O2's zero sits inside the three complete reports.
Stop there. Do not turn this into a completeness percentage, do not sum the order counts into a chain figure and do not rank outlets. O3's recorded count of 80 is shown as a value with a note, not added to anything. The decision on whether to publish the pack is the reviewer's, made by hand.
Record arrivals after the cutoff separately
O4's report arrived at 11:00. It is added as a dated entry in the history log, linked to O4, and the 10:00 snapshot stays exactly as it was. The completeness of that later O4 report has not been assessed in this example. A revised O3 report would be handled the same way, as a new linked entry rather than an edit.
No separate submission deadline is specified in RC-027, so the cutoff is only the review time. The snapshot therefore gives no verdict on whether any report was late against an obligation.
What travels with the group pack
List each gap with an owner and an action: O3's missing service-window field and O4's absent report at the cutoff. Before counting, check that no outlet, period and report combination appears twice, because a duplicate can make coverage look better than it is.
State plainly in the pack that complete means present, not verified. That keeps a reader from treating the three complete reports as accurate or comparable figures.
Where the distinction comes from
The UK Government Data Quality Framework describes completeness as the degree to which the records that should exist are present and their essential values populated. It separates completeness from accuracy, noting that a complete data set can still hold wrong values, and treats uniqueness, the absence of duplicate records, as a separate dimension. Only these concepts are used. The framework is guidance for government data, not a restaurant requirement.
Put it into practice
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Report Coverage
Open Report Coverage for one named report and period, and record the cutoff, the fixed expected-outlet register, the required fields and any approved scope exceptions. The worksheet is fully manual. Its register holds up to 12 outlets, each with one status from Complete, Partial, Missing or Not expected, plus a separate value and evidence note to distinguish declared zero from a gap. The reviewer enters counts and reconciliation by hand and rechecks them after every detail change. A history log maintained by adding new entries takes 8 later arrivals or revisions, and there is space for 6 gap actions and the manual publication decision. There are no formulas, calculated totals or automatic checks; the reviewer looks for duplicate outlet, period and report entries and the supporting evidence. If more than 12 outlets are expected, extend the register before the review rather than leaving outlets out of the expected set.
Open the Report Coverage tab in the launch workbook. Keep a copy for your own business.
Download the free workbook See what’s inside the toolkit →Sources & further reading
- The Government Data Quality Framework (GOV.UK, Government Data Quality Hub) ↗
Retrieved 8 November 2026. Crown copyright 2020. Used only for its definitions of completeness and uniqueness and for separating completeness from accuracy. Its percentage examples and government context are not adopted, and it sets no restaurant requirement. RC-027 and its figures are original fiction.
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