What should you do when two financial sources show different numbers?

Copy labels before copying numbers

For each figure, record the document, publication date, table heading, line label, currency, scale, period, and entity scope. Keep a link to the original passage. A number copied without its heading may lose the qualification that explains the apparent contradiction.

The SEC’s financial-statement guide distinguishes a balance-sheet snapshot from statements measuring activity over a period. Its API documentation also distinguishes units and describes the entity-wide scope of the standard XBRL facts it aggregates. These are reasons to inspect the context rather than compare bare values.

First worksheet: normalize units

In an invented example, Source A reports revenue of 1,250 in a table labelled USD millions. Source B reports 1.25 in USD billions for the same entity and period. Converting both to USD millions gives 1,250. The figures agree under the stated labels; there is no numerical disagreement to resolve.

Keep both original representations and the conversion formula. Do not remove the source scale after normalization. If the units instead refer to different currencies, a scale conversion alone is insufficient; a separate, stated conversion basis would be needed. This worksheet supplies no exchange-rate assumption.

Second worksheet: reconcile entity scope

Now invent a group with Division East revenue of 700, Division West revenue of 600, and a consolidation elimination of 50, all in the same fictional currency units and period. The reconciliation is 700 + 600 − 50 = 1,250. A divisional total of 1,300 and a group total of 1,250 can coexist in this deliberately constructed example.

The exercise does not assert that all real differences are eliminations. It shows why an agent should ask what each total includes. Look for the actual disclosure describing the relationship; do not invent an elimination merely to force a match.

Third worksheet: check the time basis

A hypothetical nine-month figure of 900 and a single-quarter figure of 300 describe different durations. Neither should overwrite the other. Subtracting a separately reported six-month figure may produce an implied quarter only when the relevant scope, definitions, and reporting basis are compatible.

If those conditions are unconfirmed, record the calculation as unavailable. A model should not use arithmetic to conceal a comparability question. Also distinguish reported measures from adjusted measures before deciding that one source contradicts another.

State the resolution precisely

End the worksheet with one of three outcomes: agrees after a documented conversion; differs for an explained scope or period; or unresolved. For an unresolved case, list the missing heading, note, or definition that would settle it. Choose a source according to the question being answered, not according to which number supports the preferred story.

A second reader should be able to reproduce the unit calculation and identify the exact disclosure used for the scope explanation. That is a verification target, not an observed result from this article.

Method, sources, and limits

All numbers, divisions, and reconciliations above are invented teaching examples. The SEC pages were opened and checked on 26 October 2026. No issuer financial statement was audited. The worksheet does not establish that two real accounting measures are comparable or resolve a question requiring professional judgment.