A finished ACC-337 Topic 2 data preparation log example, recording each cleaning step on a payables extract with its rows affected, its reason and its effect on a ledger-tied control total. Searches like "acc 337 topic 2 assignment example", "acc337 topic 2 sample" and "acc-337 topic 2 example" land here.
What a finished ACC-337 Topic 2 data preparation log looks like
The finished log is a numbered table, one row per change, and it opens with the raw extract's row count and dollar total before anything is touched: 48,000 lines and $12,480,000. Step one removes 312 lines duplicated where the two systems' extracts overlapped during the migration, taking out $96,000. Step two re-signs 1,140 credit memos the older system stored as positive amounts with a type flag, which lowers the total by $420,000, twice their $210,000 face value. Step three converts dates stored as text in the old system and flags 86 rows whose day and month could be read either way, keeping them rather than dropping them. After each step the log restates the running total, and the final $11,964,000 is agreed to the general ledger's figure for invoices posted in the same period.
How an ACC-337 Topic 2 example is structured
The log is arranged so a second person could replay it from the raw file. It opens with the source: which systems, which date range, who ran the extract and on what day. A profile of the raw data follows, listing each field, its type, its count of blanks and anything that looked wrong on first inspection. The change table itself comes next, with a step number, the rule applied, the rows affected, the dollar effect and the reason, in the order the steps were run. Below it sits the list of 86 ambiguous dates, held as a flagged exception list instead of a silent fix. A reconciliation then compares the cleaned total with the ledger and shows the two agreeing. The log closes by stating which later questions the remaining flags could affect, and which they could not.
Raw totals recorded first
Row count and dollar total are captured before the first change, since every later step is measured against those two figures and neither can be reconstructed afterward.
One row per change, in run order
Each step appears where it was performed, because the dollar effect a step reports depends on what the earlier steps had already removed or re-signed.
Dollars reported beside row counts
Rows and dollars appear together, since a reader judging whether a step matters needs to know how much money it moved, not only how many lines.
Ambiguous dates kept and flagged
The 86 rows whose day and month could be read either way stay in the data with a flag, so later questions about timing can exclude them deliberately.
Cleaned total tied to the ledger
The final $11,964,000 matches the general ledger for the same posting period, which is the evidence that preparation removed errors without removing real invoices.
Where marks go in ACC-337 Topic 2
Cleaning performed without a record is the loss markers find first on this assignment, since a total that changed with no explanation cannot be trusted by anyone downstream. Logs listing the steps but not their effect on rows and dollars describe the work without letting a reader judge it. Dropping every problem row is a frequent shortcut, and here it would have discarded 86 real invoices along with their amounts. Treating credit memos as ordinary invoices overstates purchases, and the error stays invisible until the total is compared with the ledger. A preparation log that ends without that comparison has no evidence the cleaned file is right. Papers that hurry through preparation to reach the charts usually omit the reasoning behind each fix, which is the part a later reader relies on most.
Get an ACC-337 Topic 2 example written to your instructions
Send the ACC-337 Topic 2 instructions, the rubric in your classroom and a description of the dataset your section provided. The custom example comes written to those criteria, with raw totals captured, each change logged with its rows and dollars, doubtful records flagged rather than dropped and the cleaned file tied to a control figure, in 24 to 48 hours. The first is free.
ACC-337 Topic 2 questions, answered
Why not simply delete rows that look wrong?
Because a row that looks wrong is often a real transaction recorded under a different convention. Deleting it removes the amount from every total that follows, and nobody downstream can tell it happened. Flagging it keeps the money in the data while letting a particular question exclude it on purpose. Deletion is right for true duplicates and test records, and even then the log should say how many and how much.
What is a control total for?
Proving that cleaning changed only what it was meant to change. Record the row count and dollar total of the raw extract, restate them after every step, and compare the final figure with an independent source such as the general ledger. When the two agree, the preparation is supported by evidence; when they differ, the log shows at which step the gap appeared, which is usually where the mistake is.
How much detail belongs in the log?
Enough for a colleague to repeat each step on the raw file and reach the same result. That means the rule applied, stated precisely, the rows it affected and the effect on the total. Keystrokes and screenshots are unnecessary. Where a step needed judgment, such as deciding which date format a row used, a sentence on how the judgment was made is worth more than any amount of mechanical detail.