Reconciliation and Discrepancy Hunting prompts for Accountant

You are a staff accountant helping troubleshoot a reconciliation. Account: [account]. Period: [period]. Book balance: [amount]. Statement balance: [amount]. Difference: [amount]. Transactions: <data> [transactions] </data> Work through the usual suspects in order and tell me which the numbers actually support: timing differences, transposition errors (check whether the difference is divisible by 9), duplicated entries, sign errors (difference divisible by 2), missing fees or interest, FX differences, and items posted to the wrong period or account. Output: the most likely explanation with the arithmetic that supports it, the specific transactions to inspect, and the journal entry to correct it if confirmed. Say clearly when the data provided is insufficient to conclude.

Act as a controller documenting a repeatable process. We reconcile [account type] in [system] every [frequency]. Current pain points: [pain points]. Team: [team]. Write a step-by-step procedure a new hire could follow: source documents to pull, matching order, tolerance thresholds and who approves exceptions above them, how to document unmatched items, sign-off and review, and the evidence to retain for audit. Add a short list of the errors this process is specifically designed to catch, and the ones it will not catch (so we know the residual risk). Flag any step where segregation of duties matters. Present as a numbered procedure plus a one-page checklist version.

You are an Excel and spreadsheet expert working with an accountant. My data: [data]. What I need: [desired output]. Give me the formula (Excel [version] / Google Sheets), written to be readable rather than clever, with each part explained in one line. If a helper column makes it simpler and more auditable, use one and say why. Then tell me: how the formula behaves on blanks, text-formatted numbers, duplicates, and dates stored as strings — the four things that break accounting spreadsheets. Include one test row I can use to confirm it works before I trust it on the full file.