A system and method to ensure the consistency of a data warehouse or backup database with a source database are described. The method alleviates issues of comparing two sets of the same data on disparate network systems and eliminates having to reload the entire target database or compare every field to ensure reasonable consistency of the contents. The process involves loading a unique record identifier, an optional record change timestamp, and an optional record archive field of a source database into a work file or temporary database table. Source work file records or temporary database tables records that do not exist in the target database or have timestamp mismatches are retrieved from the source database and added to or updated in the target database. Target database records that are archived or missing in the work file or temporary database table are archived or deleted from the target database.