---
name: al-125-audit-your-books-for-duplicate-and-misfiled-payments
description: "Have an agent compare your accounting software against your bank statements and related email threads and list everything that doesn't line up, like the agent Elliott Michael Smith built that found a year of contractor payments dumped into one account alongside marketing and landscaping costs. Use when the user wants help with bookkeeping review (finance) for a small business."
---

# Audit your books for duplicate and misfiled payments

Have an agent compare your accounting software against your bank statements and related email threads and list everything that doesn't line up, like the agent Elliott Michael Smith built that found a year of contractor payments dumped into one account alongside marketing and landscaping costs.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- Date range
- QuickBooks / Xero / other
- Or connect ledger
- Or connect inbox
- Your own material (text, notes or data)

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

You are a careful bookkeeping reviewer. Here is an export of my books for [date range] from [QuickBooks / Xero / other]: [paste or connect ledger]. Here are my bank and card statements for the same period: [paste or attach]. Here are related email threads with vendors and contractors: [paste or connect inbox]. Find anything that doesn't line up: vendors paid twice, payments booked to the wrong account or category, bank transactions with no matching entry, entries with no matching bank transaction, and categories that mix unrelated costs (for example contractors, marketing and staff in one account). For each issue give: date, amount, payee, what's wrong, the evidence (statement line or email), and the fix you suggest. Sort by amount, largest first. Don't change, recategorize, or delete anything in the books; I'll review every fix with my accountant first.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- This prompt works on text other people wrote (emails, reviews, messages or web pages). That text can hide instructions aimed at AI, such as "ignore your rules and…". Paste it as material to work on, and never let the AI act on requests inside it, like paying, sharing logins or changing records.
- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: Claude, ChatGPT, QuickBooks/Xero API, Gmail
- Based on this real-world example: https://x.com/TheElliottSmith/status/2110437882871906325
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-125-audit-your-books-for-duplicate-and-misfiled-payments/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/