finance analytics field guide

Data Analytics Quick Reference

Practical concepts for accounting data analysis

Use this as a plain-English reference for common accounting analytics tasks.

Data setup

Task Concept What to check
Load a report Source intake file name, report date, row count, control total
Inspect a file Data profiling columns, blanks, data types, duplicate keys
Standardize fields Data cleanup dates, amounts, account numbers, names
Preserve source totals Control check totals before and after transformation

Excel habit → analytics concept

Excel habit Analytics concept Review output
VLOOKUP / XLOOKUP table joins matched and unmatched records
Pivot Table grouped summary totals by account, department, period
SUMIFS / COUNTIFS conditional aggregation rule-based totals
manual filter exception criteria repeatable review list
Remove Duplicates duplicate analysis duplicate groups with reasons
IF formulas classification rules documented decision logic

Data quality checks

  • Missing account/vendor/customer IDs
  • Duplicate transaction IDs
  • Dates outside the expected period
  • Amounts equal to zero
  • Round-dollar transactions
  • Weekend or holiday activity
  • Unmatched master-data records
  • Text fields with inconsistent spelling or spacing

Reconciliation pattern

  1. Identify the two sources.
  2. Define the matching key.
  3. Preserve control totals from both sources.
  4. Separate matched and unmatched records.
  5. Summarize exceptions by reason.
  6. Export a review-ready workpaper.

Reporting pattern

  1. Define the reporting period.
  2. Clean the date and amount fields.
  3. Group by the business dimensions that matter.
  4. Tie totals back to the source report.
  5. Save the logic so it can be reused next month.

Workpaper tabs worth creating

  • Summary
  • Exceptions
  • Matched Detail
  • Data Quality Notes
  • Source Control Totals

Questions to ask before automating

  • Is this task repeated every month, quarter, or audit cycle?
  • Are the source files consistent enough to standardize?
  • What exceptions require human judgment?
  • What control total proves the output is complete?
  • Who reviews the final workpaper?