Reconcile temporary sales records after earthquake disruption

Treat temporary logs as controlled records

When a CRM is unavailable, approved temporary logs can preserve essential client actions. They should not become scattered personal spreadsheets containing unrestricted customer data. Define the minimum fields, permitted storage and authorized users before disruption wherever possible.

No recordkeeping task overrides staff welfare or official earthquake instructions. Nobody should retrieve paper notes or devices from restricted premises for reconciliation. Ready.gov's earthquake guidance addresses public safety separately; this article concerns the later administrative process when authorized people and systems are available.

Set a clear reconciliation boundary

Identify the interval covered by the temporary process and the version of the CRM being accepted for use. If a backup was restored, confirm the recovery point with the technical owner. CISA's backup guidance supports testing recovery copies, but technical restoration does not automatically resolve business-record conflicts.

Choose one reconciliation owner and define how conflicts will be reviewed. Prefer documented customer instructions over assumptions based on task dates. Preserve opt-outs and changed contact preferences. Do not overwrite a newer confirmed action simply because an older temporary log is being imported later.

Complete a reconciliation worksheet

For illustration, reconcile one appointment change at a time. Use record identifiers and evidence available through approved systems, and avoid copying entire message histories when a concise reference is sufficient.

• Temporary entry: Example Client D requested postponement through the account inbox.
• Existing CRM state: appointment still shows the original date.
• Evidence: approved message reference and timestamp; client preference is explicit.
• Resolution: amend the appointment, stop conflicting reminders and preserve the audit trail.
• Verification: second review for the sampled record; unresolved conflicts stay flagged.

Close the temporary process deliberately

After reconciliation, check totals and sample important outcomes: appointments, ownership changes, suppressed contacts and outstanding client requests. Record what could not be verified rather than inventing activity to fill gaps. A clean-looking CRM is not more valuable than an honest account of uncertainty.

Restrict or dispose of temporary copies according to approved retention requirements, while preserving necessary evidence. Tell staff when the main system becomes the authoritative record again so parallel updates do not continue indefinitely. Review which fields were missing and update the continuity worksheet. This creates a repeatable transition from fallback working to normal operations without treating an emergency as permission to weaken data controls.