Metric definition & sign-off

Stop the “Data's Wrong” Argument. Forever.

DataContract lets business and data teams sign off on metric definitions — so when someone questions the numbers, you show them the contract they approved.

Used by data teams at 120+ companies. No credit card required.

contracts / revenue-active-customers
Metric
Revenue from Active Customers
v2 · Signed
Plain English

Sum of net invoice revenue for accounts with status = active in the trailing 30 days.

SELECT SUM(net_revenue)
FROM fct_invoices i
JOIN dim_accounts a USING(account_id)
WHERE a.status = 'active'
Finance
M. Alvarez
Jun 18, 2026
Data Eng
J. Park
Jun 18, 2026
Trusted by data teams shipping numbers people trust
Northwind
Acme Data
Quanta
Brightline
Helix
Foundry.io
The problem

Sound familiar?

Every analytics team has lived this. The data is fine — the agreement on what the data means never existed.

  • Stakeholder says the data is wrong — you spend 2 days proving it isn't.
  • Requirements change but nobody tells the data team.
  • 5 different reports show 5 different numbers.
  • No record of who approved what logic.
#analytics-questions
P
Priya (VP Sales)9:42 AM
hey — the revenue dashboard looks way off. Q2 number doesn't match what I'm seeing in Salesforce. can someone look?
J
Jordan (Data Eng)9:51 AM
looking… what definition of revenue are you using? booked, billed, or recognized?
P
Priya (VP Sales)9:53 AM
…the normal one?
+ 47 more messages · 2 days · 1 exec escalation
The fix

A signed contract for every metric.

Not another wiki. Not another catalog. An agreement — between the people who define the number and the people who build it.

Plain English first
Business defines the metric in language everyone understands.
Linked to real code
Data Eng links the definition to actual SQL or a dbt model.
Both parties sign
Timestamped, versioned, legally durable sign-off.
Provenance everywhere
Every dashboard shows the badge of the contract powering it.
Contract
Monthly Active Users · v3
Owner
Growth → Sasha L.
Grain
account_id × calendar_month
Filters
excludes internal + test accounts
Source
dbt: marts/growth/fct_mau.sql
Signed & locked
Growth (Sasha L.) + Data Eng (J. Park) · Jun 22, 2026 · SHA a91…f3
How it works

Four steps. One source of truth.

01
Business writes the definition
Structured form: name, formula, owner, filters, grain. No free-text wikis.
02
Data Eng links the code
Attach the actual SQL or dbt model. Review the plain-English definition.
03
Both sign off
Contract is locked, versioned, and timestamped. Changes require a new sign-off.
04
Dashboards prove it
“Built on MAU v3 · approved by Growth + DE on Jun 22” — embedded everywhere.
Features

Built for the people who get paged when the number looks wrong.

Metric Definition Forms
Structured definitions. Not free text. Not a wiki page.
DE Annotation Layer
Link every definition to the actual SQL or dbt model.
Sign-off Flow
DocuSign for data logic. Both sides sign before it ships.
Provenance Badge
Embed a live badge in any dashboard — Looker, Mode, Metabase, Tableau.
Change Request Flow
Versioned diffs. Re-sign required. Old contracts stay accessible.
Audit Trail
Full history of who signed what, when. SOC 2 / SOX friendly.
I used to spend 3 hours every week proving the data was right. Now I just send the contract link.
M
Marcus T.
Senior Data Engineer · Series C SaaS
Finally, one source of truth everyone agreed on — before the board meeting, not after.
E
Elena R.
Head of Finance · Public fintech
Pricing

Cheaper than the next argument.

Start free for 14 days. No credit card.

Starter
$49/month
  • 1 workspace
  • Up to 5 users
  • 20 metric definitions
  • Provenance badges
  • Email support
Start free trial
Most popular
Pro
$99/month
  • Unlimited metrics
  • Change request flow
  • Full audit trail
  • Slack + dbt integrations
  • Priority support
Start free trial
Enterprise
Custom
  • SSO / SAML
  • Custom integrations
  • Dedicated CSM
  • On-prem option
  • SOC 2 report
Talk to sales
FAQ

Questions, answered.

What if we use dbt?

DataContract links directly to your dbt models — point to a model and we track its lineage with the contract.

Is this just documentation?

No. It's a legally timestamped sign-off flow. Documentation nobody reads. Contracts people sign.

What databases do you support?

Any. You paste or link your SQL — no direct database connection required.

How is this different from Atlan?

Atlan catalogs data. DataContract closes the loop between business definition and DE execution with mutual sign-off.

Next time someone says the data's wrong — show them the contract.

14-day free trial · Cancel anytime · No card required