What to be able to hand over
Accounting work depends on a trail from the source transaction to the final balance. A tidy reconciliation lets a reviewer find the exception and follow your reasoning.
- A reconciliation someone can review
- Keep a stable transaction key, identify unmatched entries, and separate a timing difference from an actual error.
- A close checklist with evidence
- Show the period, source totals, adjusting items and review status. Keep the original extract alongside your calculations.
- An exception report
- Prioritize duplicate invoices, missing keys and unusual amounts instead of treating a matching grand total as proof that every row is right.
Build beyond this course
Build accounting knowledge alongside spreadsheet practice: double-entry bookkeeping, relevant reporting standards, controls and the accounting system used by the employer. Professional licensing and tax work have separate requirements.
Occupational context: BLS: Accountants and auditors. The handover examples above are our practice suggestions.
Work to practise
- Compare posted and received amounts by invoice.
- Keep missing receipts visible for follow-up.
- Summarize exceptions before preparing a report.
All examples use original synthetic data. Source row numbers and column letters are shown so you can reproduce the formulas.
Find the invoice that needs investigation
Calculate posted minus received for every invoice. The received column has already been matched by exact invoice ID.
USD; one row per fictional invoice.
| Row | A · Invoice | B · Posted USD | C · Received USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | IN-701 | 240 | 240 |
| 3 | IN-702 | 315 | 270 |
| 4 | IN-703 | 180 | 180 |
| 5 | IN-704 | 96 | 96 |
| 6 | IN-705 | 420 | 420 |
| 7 | IN-706 | 75 | 75 |
Worked solution and complete results
IN-701 · D2
=B2-C2Result: 0
IN-702 · D3
=B3-C3Result: 45
IN-703 · D4
=B4-C4Result: 0
IN-704 · D5
=B5-C5Result: 0
IN-705 · D6
=B6-C6Result: 0
IN-706 · D7
=B7-C7Result: 0
Total discrepancy · D9
=SUM(D2:D7)Result: 45
A mistake to catch
Using ABS on every difference hides whether a balance is short or over. A missing lookup converted to zero can also look like an unpaid invoice.
Correction. Keep posted minus received as a signed amount. Check that each key exists once before treating its lookup as a receipt.
Read the result
IN-702 has USD 45 more posted than received. That identifies an exception to investigate; it does not establish the cause or authorize an adjustment.
Practise the skills in order
- XLOOKUP Read the guide, then open the actual lesson.
- Balance reconciliation Read the guide, then open the actual lesson.
- SUMIFS Read the guide, then open the actual lesson.
- ROUND Read the guide, then open the actual lesson.
- Pivot tables Read the guide, then open the actual lesson.
Begin with cell references and subtraction. These exercises cover matching and reporting, rather than tax, audit assurance or a complete accounting system.
Practice balance reconciliationPay and remote work
U.S. pay reference
- Published occupation
- Accountants and auditors
- Median annual wage
- USD 83,680
- Location and period
- United States · May 2025
This occupation covers professional accounting and audit work. It is not a benchmark for every bookkeeping, payroll or entry-level finance role.
These BLS figures cover employees across work arrangements. They are not a remote-only salary, an entry-level offer or an earnings outcome from this course. Median means half earn more and half earn less.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. Reviewed . Values are U.S. dollars; no currency conversion is applied.
Read a remote posting carefully
For a remote accounting role, ask about the close calendar, secure access to records and who reviews reconciliations. Confirm any client-site or office days in the actual job description.
Check the allowed country or state, working hours, employment or contractor status, and the currency and components of the offer. A remote role can still have location restrictions and locally set pay.
One employer example: GitLab’s candidate handbook says to check each listing’s hiring country. Its current compensation policy uses local market data and local-currency ranges. This is an illustration of employer policy, not a claim about every remote job.
Continue in a downloadable workbook
Lookup reconciliation practice
Distinguish missing keys, duplicated source keys and genuine zero balances before interpreting differences.
USD on two invented equipment receipt lists for November 2026. Duplicate ledger rows are additive postings.
Bank version 2026-11-02. Includes Instructions, Practice, AnswerKey; 15 live answer formulas. All source records are invented for education.
The download is an additional practice task. Its Instructions sheet identifies the source coordinates; this page’s illustrative example may use different records.
- Working answers use scalar Excel 2007+ functions. No macros, external links or dynamic-array dependency. Native Excel has not been launched for verification.
- XLOOKUP is available in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021+. For a validated unique key, INDEX/MATCH is a compatible alternative. This workbook aggregates duplicate postings with SUMIFS.