Free workout 1
AI move: CheckMake AI audit the number before you trust it.
Rebuild your closing inventory from every move. Then find every dollar with no document behind it.
You are finance manager at Ridgeway Industrial Supply, a practice company. The owner meets the bank next week and asks: "Can you defend that number line by line?"
2 prompts find all of it. Below is how.
The practice files
3 CSV files each. Made-up companies, built for this workout.
Step 1
Every closing number is an opening number plus everything that moved it. These 3 exports show both.
| date | entry | description | source | amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | OPEN | Opening balance | $323,837.64 | |
| 2026-08-31 | AP-AUG | Supplier receipts posted from AP | AP subledger | $174,548.83 |
| 2026-08-31 | COGS-AUG | Cost of goods shipped | Sales subledger | -$122,861.71 |
| 2026-08-31 | ADJ-AUG | Stock adjustments | Inventory system | -$8,197.86 |
| 2026-08-31 | JE-0831-07 | Inventory true-up per controller | Manual | $18,400.00 |
| 2026-08-31 | CLOSE | Closing balance, as reported | $385,726.90 |
| movement_id | date | item_code | type | qty | value | reference | reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MV-0001 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1231 | Receipt | 203 | $2,253.30 | PO-4501 | |
| MV-0002 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1273 | Receipt | 38 | $2,551.32 | PO-4502 | |
| MV-0003 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1014 | Receipt | 8 | $3,650.08 | PO-4503 | |
| MV-0004 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1252 | Shipment | -80 | -$1,440.00 | SO-88101 | |
| MV-0005 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1056 | Shipment | -116 | -$404.84 | SO-88102 | |
| MV-0006 | 2026-08-03 | RW-1007 | Shipment | -16 | -$1,302.40 | SO-88103 |
Step 2
Open Claude or ChatGPT, attach the 3 files and paste this.
I am the finance manager at an industrial supply distributor. I have 3 files for August 2026: the GL inventory account, the item list with opening stock, and every stock movement in the month. 1. Work out the opening value from the item list (quantity x unit cost). Check it equals the GL opening balance. 2. Rebuild the closing value: opening value plus every movement. 3. Compare it with the GL closing balance. Show the gap in dollars. 4. Match each GL line to the movements of the same type (receipts, shipments, adjustments). Show which GL lines do not tie, and by how much. Do not round. Show your working.
| Type | Lines | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Receipts | 47 | +$179,505.39 |
| Shipments | 93 | -$122,861.71 |
| Adjustments | 11 | -$8,197.86 |
| All movements | 151 | +$48,445.82 |
| Line in the books | Books | Movements | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP-AUGReceipts posted from AP | +$174,548.83 | +$179,505.39 | -$4,956.56 |
| COGS-AUGCost of goods shipped | -$122,861.71 | -$122,861.71 | $0.00 |
| ADJ-AUGStock adjustments | -$8,197.86 | -$8,197.86 | $0.00 |
| JE-0831-07Inventory true-up per controller, posted by hand | +$18,400.00 | no movement | +$18,400.00 |
| Total | +$13,443.44 |
Scale starts at $350,000.
The gap is 2 problems, not 1. An $18,400 entry with no support, and $4,957 of receipts the warehouse has and the books do not. They point in opposite directions, so the gap looks smaller than the problem.
The lines that do not tie must add up exactly to the gap: $18,400.00 minus $4,956.56 = $13,443.44. If they do not, the AI skipped lines. Ask it to count lines by type: 47, 93 and 11.
Step 3
Same chat. Paste this next.
Now test the trail. A line has a trail when it points to a document: a PO for a receipt, a sales order for a shipment, a reason and a number for an adjustment, support for a manual journal entry. 1. List every line with no trail: a missing reference, a missing reason, a GL entry posted by hand, and any document number used more than once. 2. Give the dollar value of each, and the total as positive amounts (a -$500 and a +$500 count as $1,000). 3. Show that total as a % of the closing balance. 4. Rank the list by dollars. Next to each line, write the one question to ask and who to ask.
| # | Line | Amount | The question, and who to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JE-0831-07Manual journal entry, no support | $18,400.00 | What supports this entry, and who approved it?Ask: Controller |
| 2 | MV-0067 and MV-0079PO-4521 entered twice | $4,956.56 | Was PO-4521 received once or twice? AP paid it once.Ask: Warehouse (kpatel) and AP |
| 3 | MV-0058Receipt, no PO: Coupling, 1 in | $3,773.33 | What was ordered, from which supplier, and is there a bill?Ask: Purchasing (kpatel) |
| 4 | MV-0151Adjustment, no reason: Pipe elbow, M8 | $2,389.77 | What was counted, and who approved the change?Ask: Warehouse (awright) |
| 5 | MV-0132Adjustment, no reason: Thermocouple, M12 | $1,728.00 | What was counted, and who approved the change?Ask: Warehouse (mchen) |
| 6 | MV-0057Receipt, no PO: Hose clamp, M12 | $1,593.00 | What was ordered, from which supplier, and is there a bill?Ask: Purchasing (jlopez) |
| 7 | MV-0141Adjustment, no reason: Pump impeller, 1 in | $935.04 | What was counted, and who approved the change?Ask: Warehouse (jlopez) |
| 8 | MV-0150Adjustment, no reason: Chain link, 1 in | $769.76 | What was counted, and who approved the change?Ask: Warehouse (kpatel) |
| 9 | MV-0091Receipt, no PO: Chain link, 1 in | $384.88 | What was ordered, from which supplier, and is there a bill?Ask: Purchasing (mchen) |
| 10 | MV-0149Adjustment, no reason: Seal kit, M8 | $71.20 | What was counted, and who approved the change?Ask: Warehouse (awright) |
Add up the 8 small lines (adjustments with no reason, receipts with no PO). First as they are. Then as positive amounts.
The 8 small lines net to -$0.16. A net check says "fine". The trail test says $11,645 of stock moved with no document behind it.
Same chat. There is no right answer here. Some people ask:
Which of these would worry a bank most, and why?
Draft a short note to the warehouse lead asking about the duplicate PO.
What one rule would stop these lines next month?
The $18,400 goes first. A manual entry with no support is the first thing a bank asks about, and it is the controller's to explain.
The duplicate PO is a process fix: the warehouse and AP each key receipts, and nobody matches them.
The 8 small lines are the habit to stop. No reason, no adjustment.
Step 4
A new practice company with the same kinds of problem and different amounts. Run the same 2 prompts, find what the small lines hide, ask your own question. Then post your gap in the comments.
3 CSV files. Practice data, made up for this workout.
The lines in the books that do not tie must add up exactly to the gap. If they do not, the AI skipped lines: ask it to count the lines by type.
Here are the column names from my [SYSTEM NAME] export: [PASTE THE HEADER ROW]. Match each one to: date, item, type of movement, quantity, unit cost, value, document reference, reason. Tell me which ones are missing and what I would need to export to get them. Do not guess a match. If unsure, ask.
Watch for: receipts keyed by the warehouse and posted again from AP, adjustments with a code but no reason, and entries posted after the stock system closes.
The 30-Day Numbers That Hold Challenge
Do the stock report and the books disagree item by item? Does each system record a move on a different date? Has the cost moved? 30 workouts in 5 stages, each ending on a number that must match.
US$497See the challenge
The next free workout, its practice data and the worked answers, when it is ready. No schedule, no filler.
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