Ask your Bot to check a spreadsheet total a second way
When your Bot reads a spreadsheet and hands you a total, the number is only as good as how it read the file. A cell that says "n/a," a dollar sign in the wrong place or a date written 05/03 can quietly turn into a blank or the wrong value. The math on what's left will still look clean.
So before that number goes in a report, an invoice or an email, ask for a second look. It takes one more message.
- Ask how many rows it used. "How many rows did you count, and how many did you skip?" If the sheet has 212 rows and it used 209, you want to know which three and why.
- Ask for the cells it couldn't read. "List any cells in the Amount column you couldn't read as a number, with the row." Words like "n/a," "TBD" or "see note" often end up treated as empty.
- Have it add the total a second way. "Put a SUM formula at the bottom of that column in a copy of the file, recalculate it and tell me if it matches your total." If both numbers agree, you're in good shape. If they don't, the gap points at the problem rows.
- Ask about dates that read two ways. "Did any dates look like 05/03 where the month and day could be swapped? Which way did you read them?" A wrong guess moves a payment or a deadline by months.
You don't need to do this for a quick look at a small list. Do it when the number leaves your hands, goes to someone else or decides how much money moves.
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