Track 12 · Systems and data
GL exports and data validation
Validate a general-ledger export before you rely on it: roll-forwards, totals, sequence gaps, duplicates, dates and formats.
You will be able to
- Describe the fields of a journal-line GL export and how exports go wrong.
- Test an export for completeness: totals, roll-forward to the trial balance and journal sequence.
- Test it for accuracy and integrity: balanced journals, valid codes, dates in period, duplicates and formats.
Reconciliations, analytics, audit requests and reporting packs often start with a GL export: a file of journal lines pulled from the accounting system. Typical fields are company, journal number, line number, posting date, entry date and time, period, account, cost centre, description, debit, credit (or one signed amount), currency, source module and the user who created and approved the entry. Before you analyse an export, validate it — otherwise you may be drawing confident conclusions from an incomplete or corrupted file.
Completeness — is everything there? - Totals agree to the system's own trial balance for the same period: total debits, total credits, and the activity on key accounts. - Roll-forward: for each account, opening balance + debits − credits = closing balance per the trial balance. A difference means lines are missing (or extra) for that account. - Sequence: journal numbers are usually sequential. Missing numbers may be cancelled drafts (fine, if the system shows them as such) or entries filtered out of your export. - Filters: an export filtered on entry date misses close adjustments entered in the first days of the next month but posted back into the period; one filtered on posting date catches them. Check that unposted or parked entries are excluded or included deliberately, and that every company and ledger you need is in scope. - Truncation: some tools cap the number of rows per export or per sheet. If the row count is a suspiciously round number, assume the file was cut off.
Accuracy and integrity — is what's there right? - Every journal balances, and every line has a valid account code. - Posting dates fall inside the period you asked for. - No duplicate rows — the same journal and line number twice usually means the export (or a copy-paste) duplicated it. - Amounts are numbers, not text: watch thousands separators, decimal commas from other locales, negatives shown in parentheses and trailing minus signs. A sum that silently skips text cells looks perfectly normal.
Document the export: who ran it, when, with what parameters, the row count and totals. Anyone repeating your work should get the same file.
Included with a Formula Quest membership
A membership includes the worked examples, all 6 graded exercises and the full curriculum. The foundations track, the first ledger lessons and the Northstar Trading case stay free.
Content review: answers and figures are checked by automated tests against the accounting engine, and the text has had an internal review against the standards; independent review by a qualified accountant is pending.