Now I'll provide a governance audit of this assumption register.

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## FY2026 Assumption Register Governance Review

**Date: 2026-10-03 | Audit Scope: data/assumptions_fy2026.csv | A-01 through A-20**

### Summary
The assumption register contains **20 core assumptions** across six business areas (Revenue, Margin, People, Opex, Working Capital, Cash, Financing, Capital). While ownership is mostly assigned and sources are generally documented, there are **4 material governance gaps** that should be resolved before plan lock.

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### Critical Findings

**1. Missing Owner (1 assumption)**
- **A-16** (Merit increase, 3.5%, People/Opex) has **no owner assigned**
  - This is a compensation-linked assumption that affects payroll forecasts; unclear who is accountable for reviewing/justifying the rate
  - Recommend: Assign to Elena Brandt (People area owner) or applicable HR contact

**2. Missing Source Documentation (1 assumption)**
- **A-04** (Average headcount, 23.75 FTE, People) has **no source cited**
  - Last reviewed 2025-12-15, but the basis (headcount plan, approved org chart, hiring roadmap, etc.) is not documented
  - Recommend: Add reference to org planning document or headcount plan version

**3. Stale Review Cycle (5 assumptions)**
The following assumptions have not been reviewed in **12+ months** as of plan lock:
- **A-09** (Inventory turns) — last reviewed 2025-03-14 (19 months ago)
- **A-10** (Days payables outstanding) — last reviewed 2025-10-30 (12 months ago, borderline)
- **A-11** (Minimum cash covenant) — last reviewed 2025-09-30 (12+ months, though credit agreement may be static)
- **A-12** (Line of credit limit) — last reviewed 2025-09-30 (12+ months, though credit agreement may be static)
- **A-13** (LOC interest rate) — last reviewed 2025-06-02 (16 months ago — material risk if rates have reset)

These should be refreshed before locking FY2026 to ensure they reflect current operational or contractual reality.

**4. Missing Driver Linkages (13 assumptions)**
The **linked_driver** column is empty for **65%** of assumptions (A-07, A-08, A-10 through A-20). This breaks traceability between:
- Assumptions → Forecast drivers → Financial outputs

Without these links, it's unclear how each assumption flows through the forecast model or which cells depend on which inputs. Recommend:
- Map each assumption to its corresponding forecast driver (e.g., A-08 DSO → `dso_driver`, A-11 minimum cash → `covenant_headroom`, etc.)
- This enables impact analysis and change tracking (e.g., "if DSO moves by 2 days, covenant headroom changes by X")

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### Secondary Observations

- **Version tracking**: Assumptions marked "Current" (A-01, A-03, A-04, A-07, A-08, A-09) show deltas from prior values, but the change **date** is not explicit—only "changed_in_version". Consider adding a `change_date` column for audit trail clarity.
- **Owner distribution**: Elena Brandt owns 6 assumptions; Dana Whitfield owns 4; Tomas Herrera, Priya Raman, and Marcus Oyelaran own 1–2 each. Load appears balanced, but verify Tomas Herrera can cover inventory/freight (A-09, A-19) given A-10 review date lag.

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### Recommendation for Plan Lock
✅ **Proceed conditionally**:
1. **Before sign-off**: Assign owner to A-16, add source to A-04, refresh reviews for A-09, A-10, A-13 (or document why they are unchanged)
2. **After lock (non-blocking)**: Map all 20 assumptions to forecast drivers to complete governance traceability

This will close the critical gaps and prepare for FY2027 assumption baseline work.