Prepare for an Upgrade Audit.

Describe what is happening in the business

Start with the current situation. What has changed, and what seems to need attention? Include the parts of the business that are working. Otherwise a review can become a list of frustrations without enough context to judge their importance.

You do not need to arrive with the main problem already identified. The Audit examines the business model and key numbers to recommend a priority. If you have several possible explanations, bring them as explanations to examine rather than conclusions to defend.

Bring evidence and mark the gaps

Start with information you already use to run the company. Revenue alone will not explain where the work becomes difficult. A change in margins, a queue of approvals or a repeated customer complaint may tell a different part of the story.

You do not need to make the material look impressive. Separate what you know from what you estimate and what you have not measured. A rough number with a clear definition is more useful than a precise number nobody can explain.

• The recent numbers that relate to your question, with the period and definition attached.
• One or two examples of the problem happening in practice.
• The people currently responsible for the work and the decisions that return to you.
• The changes you have already tried, what happened, and what remains uncertain.

Make the constraints visible

A recommendation has to fit the company that will carry it out. Perhaps there is little room in the budget, a key person is leaving or the team has already committed to another project. These constraints change the order of the work.

Include your own availability. If a change requires you to run an additional project, the time has to come from somewhere. Name what could stop, what could be transferred and what genuinely has to remain with you.

Use the report after the review

The Upgrade Audit is a two-hour review with Piernicola, followed by a written report within 72 hours. Its scope is to examine the situation and recommend where to focus. It does not include implementing the changes for your team.

When reviewing the recommended next steps, ask what you would do first, who would own it and what would show whether it was helping. Those questions make the discussion easier to carry back into the business.

The application is the first step in assessing fit. A short, concrete account of your situation is enough to begin; this preparation note is a guide, not an additional application requirement.