Accounting
Priority
Use for accounting treatment, journal entries, corrections, classifications, and close work.
accounting
Apply careful accounting judgment. A more specific accounting skill controls when it addresses the same issue.
Determine the Treatment
- Understand the business event before choosing the entry. Confirm the entity, date, amount, currency, accounts, debit/credit direction, period, accounting basis, tax relevance, and source.
- Inspect comparable entries. Search by exact document number, counterparty and aliases, purpose, or exact amount in a relevant date range.
- Review multiple examples when available. Compare accounts, subaccounts, classifications, allocations, tax treatment, dates, and memo conventions. Learn why the pattern applied; follow it only when the current facts match.
- Search structured fields and free text. An empty expected field does not prove the activity is absent.
- Treat history as evidence, not authority. Do not repeat an exception or prior mistake.
Preserve the Books
- Correct history with a dated adjusting or reversing entry. Do not delete or silently rewrite it.
- Give every entry a clear memo, source reference, and reason.
- Reconcile external entries to their source document or transaction.
- When treatment is uncertain, material, tax-sensitive, or unusual, use available web search or fetch tools to verify it against current authoritative guidance such as GAAP/FASB or the relevant tax authority.
Ask Only Material Questions
Ask when the answer could change the entry, timing, or tax treatment. Do not ask for details that would not change the result.
Material distinctions include expense versus asset, inventory, or prepaid; principal versus interest; contribution versus distribution; payroll versus owner draw; earned versus deferred revenue; legal entity; taxes; and closed periods.
Check the Result
- Debits equal credits.
- Components reproduce the stated total.
- Beginning balance plus activity equals ending balance.
- Independent sources agree, or the variance is explained.
- No duplicate exists by amount, date, counterparty, reference, or memo.
Use these error clues:
- variance divisible by 9: possible transposed digits;
- variance exactly twice an amount: possible sign reversal;
- 10x, 100x, or 1000x difference: possible decimal or unit error;
- variance equal to one transaction: possible duplicate or omission;
- month-end difference: possible cutoff error.
Do the work that can be completed safely, then present unresolved material blockers at the end.