Finding Data Entry Mistakes

Once you've been a consultant for awhile, you will hopefully pick up my favorite kind of client. These are the clients that want you to visit monthly (usually) and "find mistakes" or "clean up". I like these clients because it is indeed a challenge to simply walk in and find mistakes. By this time I pretty well know the business, but of course don't have time to go through every transaction. So this is my routine.

I first pull up a YTD P&L to see if 1) there are any account names followed by "-Other" and 2) if there are any negative numbers where there shouldn't be. The first problem means that the proper subaccount is not being used for allocation. The second problem could mean a lot of things including but in no way limited to income being allocated to expense or vice versa, a large refund check from a previous year, some dang journal entry from the accountant, items in the Item List set up incorrectly, etc. If there is too much for me to clean up in my 2-hour visit, I show the client where to go and how to clean.

I next look at the P&L by Class (if the company uses Classes), collapse the report, and look for any headings followed by "-Other". If they appear, subclasses are not being used correctly. I also look again for inappropriate negative numbers within each class's P&L.

Finally, I look at the Balance Sheet. Again, I look for inappropriate negative numbers and this is a long discussion in itself. Is A/R negative? It shouldn't be on Accrual, but may be on a Cash Basis. Same for A/P. Does the Payroll Liabilities balance match the balance appearing in the Pay Payroll Liabilities window? And the Sales Tax Liability balance with the Pay Sales Tax window?

Do you have a different routine to share? I'd love to know.