> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beaconrevenue.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How a figure is made > The path from a system you connect to a number you can act on — five steps, what each one does, and the two places the chain stops rather than guessing. Every other page here describes one link in a chain. This one is the chain: how a system you connected on Monday becomes a number in front of you on Friday. ## The five steps | | Step | What happens | | - | - | - | | 1 | **You connect a system** | You authenticate in that tool's own screen. Beacon receives read access to a stated scope and never holds your credential | | 2 | **Beacon reads records** | Deals, subscriptions, invoices, usage — read on a schedule, at the level of detail that system provides | | 3 | **Each record is placed** | A record is matched to an account and put on a stage. The stage comes from the system that owns it; Beacon does not invent one | | 4 | **Values are worked out** | The stage, the record's own data and the benchmark for its segment produce the measured values — pace, dwell, health, cost, risk | | 5 | **The value is served** | Published through a defined door, with its definition, source, freshness and confidence attached | Step 4 is the one people expect to be a black box and is not: every published value states its inputs and method in [Definitions](/definitions/overview). ## Where each step is documented What Beacon reads, and what each connection unlocks. The stage rails a record is placed on. The five things measured about a stage. The objects, values and doors. ## Two places the chain stops **A source that is not connected stops the values that need it.** A figure whose inputs are not all available is not computed on a partial basis and quietly published. It is withheld and named, or published on a declared reduced basis that travels with the value. Nothing is estimated to fill the gap. See [When a source is missing](/when-a-source-is-missing). **The chain does not run when you ask.** Steps 2 to 4 happen on a schedule. Reading a figure returns the value already computed — it does not trigger a fresh calculation, which is why the same question returns the same answer to every reader at every hour. See [Boundaries](/boundaries). ## Why it is worth knowing the shape When a number looks wrong, the shape tells you where to look. A figure that is stale is a step 2 problem. A figure on the wrong account is step 3. A figure you disagree with is step 4, and the definition will tell you what went into it. A figure you cannot see at all is step 5, and it is usually access. See [Troubleshooting](/troubleshooting). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.