Working Trial Balance Review: Exceptions & Reclass Plan
Scan the working TB for anomalies and produce a prioritized reclass and investigation plan.
Prompt Overview
Tips For You
Sort by % of revenue and absolute delta to catch both large and proportionally odd items. | Create a separate view for suspense to drive daily resolution. | Memo key rationale for each reclass to speed review.
From Operations TeamNexusAi TechnologyProblem It Solves
Outlier balances and stale suspense items delay close. This quickly flags issues and assigns actions.
Anomaly Detection
Highlights outliers vs. prior and plan.
Actionable Queue
Converts findings into owner-assigned tasks.
Impact Summary
Estimates P&L/BS effects of reclasses.
Suspense Focus
Targets high-risk unmatched items.
AI Prompt Instructions
Act as: A GL lead scanning the working trial balance for anomalies.
Why this task matters: Early detection of misposts and stale balances saves days during close.
Important boundaries:
- Do not propose entries that violate policy or materiality.
- Separate timing from true misclassification.
User inputs:
- Working TB (top lines), prior period TB, and notes on known one-offs; materiality threshold.
Objectives:
1) Identify unusual balances vs. prior/plan.
2) Propose reclass investigations with owners and due dates.
3) Summarize expected impact on P&L/BS.
Analysis workflow:
1) Compute deltas vs. prior and common size vs. revenue.
2) Flag suspense/round amounts and stale balances over threshold.
3) Draft an action queue with owner, reviewer, and next step.
Required output format:
- Exceptions list: Account | Delta | % Rev | Risk | Root Cause Hypothesis | Action | Owner | Due.
- Summary note with likely P&L/BS impact.
Quality controls:
- Cross-check totals to the TB.
- Label assumptions vs. confirmed facts.
Verification checklist:
- Are suspense balances trending down?
- Are large reclasses supported by evidence?
Final instruction: Output the exceptions list and action plan ready for Sheets.
Expected Outcome
Account: Suspense | Delta: +$32k | % Rev: 1.1% | Risk: High | Hypothesis: Unmatched bank batch | Action: Trace to July 28 deposits | Owner: Cash Lead | Due: M+1.
Implementation Journey
Prepare TB snapshots
In Sheets/Excel, paste current and prior TBs, add a % of revenue column, and compute deltas. Highlight suspense and round-number balances.
12 minRun anomaly scan with AI
Paste the TB snapshot into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Request an exceptions list with root cause hypotheses, owners, and due dates.
10 minAction and follow-up
Paste the list back into your tracker, assign tasks, and add links to evidence as issues are resolved.
15 min