In mediation, both sides show up with a number. The number that moves the room is the one the other side cannot dismiss — because they can follow it all the way back to the underlying record.
Spreadsheets are not evidence
A total on a slide invites an argument about the total. A total that expands into the exact pay periods, punches, and policies that produced it invites a very different conversation — one about the record itself.
Traceability is a strategy, not a feature
When calculations are traceable end to end, you can meet-and-confer with confidence, respond to challenges in real time, and keep the discussion on the facts instead of the math.