Tablora · Library
Find the difference from a stated total
When the entered lines add to 12.00 and the document says 15.00, the checker reports -3.00. Learn to read the signed gap without inventing a line.
What a signed difference tells you
A difference between a stated total and the lines you entered is a measurement, not a diagnosis. It tells you how large the gap is and in which direction. It cannot tell you whether a record is missing, a digit was misread, a line has the wrong sign, or the printed total itself is wrong.
The decimal totals checker always reports Difference as Calculated total minus Expected total. A negative result means the lines fall short of the stated figure; a positive one means they exceed it.
5.00 and 7.00 against 15.00
The page example enters 5.00 and 7.00 in Values with an Expected total of 15.00. The Calculated total is 12.00, the Difference is -3.00 and Totals match shows No. The entered lines are 3.00 short of the stated total.
Narrowing down the gap
- Count the lines in the source and compare them with the lines you entered; a missing record of exactly the gap is the simplest explanation.
- Look for a line whose sign would explain the gap: a line entered with the wrong sign changes the total by twice its amount.
- Check digits that are easy to confuse in photos and scans, such as 3 and 8 or 1 and 7. A gap made of one non-zero digit followed by zeros, such as 3.00 or 0.30, often points to a single misread digit.
- Confirm that the stated total covers the same period, account and currency as the lines.
- Check whether the document's total includes items that are not in the table, such as fees or carried-forward balances.
What not to do with -3.00
Do not add a balancing line of 3.00 to make the totals match. That hides the question you were trying to answer, and if the printed total was the wrong one, it builds the error into your data. Keep the difference visible and record what you checked.
Do not round the gap away either. The checker works in exact decimals, so a Difference of -3.00 is exactly three, not an artifact of floating-point arithmetic.
If the gap cannot be explained from the source, report it as it stands, together with the lines you checked.
If the lines came from a page
When the amounts were read by the Tablora app, start with the amber cells marked as ones to check, compare them with the Source · page view and correct any misread digit with Save. Then copy the column again, convert it with the numeric normalizer if needed, and recalculate. A gap that disappears after a correction was a reading problem.
Original synthetic example
- Values
- 5.00 7.00
- Expected total
- 15.00
- Calculated total
- 12.00
- Calculated minus expected
- -3.00