Why is maintaining consistency across periods in boundary-setting important?

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Maintaining consistent boundaries across periods ensures comparability of metrics over time. The boundary defines what is included in a metric, so if you change that scope from one period to the next, any observed change in the metric might reflect the different boundary rather than a real change in performance. Keeping the same boundaries lets you see true trends, benchmark against peers, and communicate your performance reliably to stakeholders. While fixed boundaries can help with calculations and ongoing assurance, the main reason is to preserve apples-to-apples comparability over time. Frequent changes would obscure trends, and reducing external assurance isn’t the primary aim; assurance depends on various factors, not boundary consistency alone.