Financial Issue Log
Log every financial discrepancy with an amount, owner, due date, and status. See what is open, overdue, or carried over from last month, then export the log as CSV.
Built on question 6 of Dr. Michelle Gordon's guide, How to Tell If Your Financial Statements Are Accurate.
How do I track financial discrepancies until they are fixed?
Keep a log. Every discrepancy raised during a review gets one row: what was found, the amount at stake, who owns the fix, when it is due, and its status. Separate resolved, meaning the owner says it is fixed, from verified, meaning someone else has confirmed it. Review the open and overdue items at the start of every finance meeting, before the new numbers, so nothing quietly carries over to next month.
How to use this tool
- 1
Log each issue
Description, amount, owner, the date it was raised, a due date, and a status.
- 2
Review the log
See what is open, overdue, carried over from a previous month, and resolved but not yet verified.
- 3
Export and bring it back
Download the log as CSV and open it at the next finance review.
The same issue three months running is a process failure
Dr. Gordon calls follow-through one of the most overlooked parts of governance: "Asking questions is important. But asking questions without ensuring resolution does not create accountability." Her remedy is deliberately simple: "Even a simple financial issue log can make a significant difference."
An explanation is not a resolution
Management explains the unusual balance, everyone moves on, and it reappears next quarter. Logging it with an owner and a date turns the explanation into a commitment someone can check.
Resolved and verified are different states
The owner marking an item fixed is a claim. Someone else confirming the fix is the control. Keeping the two apart is what stops issues from bouncing back.
Carried over is the number to watch
Open items raised before this month are the ones that will show up in the next package. A rising carried-over count is an early sign the team is underwater.
Every issue needs a dollar figure
An amount, even an estimate, tells the room which issue to fix first. A $40 rounding difference and a $12,500 unsupported adjustment should not get the same airtime.
A log only holds what someone noticed
This tracks the issues your team has already found. Finding them in the first place, such as the duplicate payment, the unapplied receipt, or the account that stopped reconciling, takes someone combing through the ledger. DataWyse surfaces those discrepancies from your connected data as part of its analysis, with the source rows attached, so the log starts fuller and closes faster.
See how DataWyse answers thisQuestions finance teams ask about this tool
What should a financial issue log include?
At minimum: a description of the issue, the amount involved, the person responsible for fixing it, the date it was raised, a due date, and a status. Adding a separate verified status, confirmed by someone other than the owner, is what makes it a control rather than a to-do list.
What is the difference between resolved and verified?
Resolved means the owner reports the issue is fixed. Verified means a second person has checked the evidence and confirmed it. An issue is only closed when it is verified.
What does carried over mean?
An issue still open that was raised before the first day of the current month. It has already survived at least one reporting cycle and is likely to appear in the next package.
Does the log save my issues?
No. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere, so the log clears when you leave the page. Use Export the log as CSV to keep a copy, and paste rows back in at the next review.
Who should own the financial issue log?
Usually the controller or finance lead keeps it, but each issue should have its own owner. The log is reviewed by whoever chairs the finance meeting: the CFO, the CEO, or the board's finance or audit committee.
Is this tool really free?
Yes. No signup, no email required, no usage limit. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded to a server or stored anywhere. We build these because the people who find them useful are the people who eventually need a financial analyst that works the same way.
Related reading
- How to Tell If Your Financial Statements Are Accurate: 7 Questions Every CEO Should Ask Industry Expert · Dr. Michelle Gordon, CPA, CMA, CPHR, EMBA, DBA · 7 min read
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