GPT 6 document reconciliation with visible evidence
Compare documents through aligned fields and an evidence ledger so a reviewer can verify every important change.
GPT 6 document reconciliation with located differences
This GPT 6 document reconciliation example compares two synthetic Paper Lantern workshop records. GPT-6 Astra at medium reasoning effort in Codex read versions A and B and returned a located difference ledger on September 7, 2026. The experiment includes both source documents and the original response, so the comparison can be checked without trusting a summary alone.
Each record has stable entry IDs. That matters when a paragraph moves: its new position does not necessarily mean its wording changed. The task also includes unchanged fields, which make it possible to notice a comparison that reports every row as different.
What the response identified
The output identifies eight differences: the reporting quarter changes from Q2 to Q3; a venue-approval qualification disappears; a delivery-entrance instruction is deleted; an emergency-contact instruction is added; an approval paragraph moves; rental rises from USD 1,200.00 to USD 1,250.00; a refund adjustment changes from USD -75.00 to USD 75.00; and an equipment deposit changes from USD 300.00 to EUR 300.00.
The paper-stock amount and volunteer count remain unchanged. The response also preserves the distinction between moving one entry and counting every displaced neighbor as another move. Its single-move description fits the final ordering; it does not establish the historical sequence of editing actions.
These are reported findings in the first response, not an instruction to accept version B. The documents supply neither an authoritative version nor explanations for the revisions.
Check meaning before calculating a total
The rental difference is USD 50.00. Changing the adjustment from -75.00 to +75.00 produces a signed difference of USD 150.00; it is not merely a 75-dollar change. The response leaves the accounting intent unresolved.
The deposit’s face amount stays 300.00, but its currency changes. Without a conversion basis and date, a combined monetary difference would be invented. Similarly, Q2 and Q3 are different reporting periods. A useful ledger retains those boundaries instead of creating one apparently tidy total.
The removed phrase “subject to venue approval” deserves its own row. Its absence does not prove that approval occurred. For your own documents, route that question to the owner rather than silently weakening the qualification in a merged copy.
Evidence, official context and limits
The ledger points to A/B entries and text-file line numbers. It records that ID-bearing DOCX text matches the supplied text counterparts. Location conventions exclude document titles from entry numbering, while text-file line numbers include the preamble. Check that convention before using a location in a review comment.
OpenAI’s Legora account, rechecked September 7, reports 41 documents, four planted errors found, a 40% improvement on its financial-statement workflow and about 3% on the broader BAR benchmark. These are official reported results, not measurements from this small synthetic comparison.
Use document formatting when appearance must change without changing content. The practical guide explains how to retain source boundaries and reviewer decisions, while the examples index compares this task with browser and game work. Here, no financial approval, authoritative merge or explanation of the revisions is implied.
For a reusable comparison workflow, use the Document consistency check skill.
Reconcile two synthetic workshop records
Original input
Task
Reconcile the two attached synthetic workshop records, document-a.docx and document-b.docx. Plain-text counterparts are supplied to make locations easy to reproduce.
Instructions
Compare content and order using stable entry IDs. Identify additions, deletions, number/sign/unit changes, time-period changes, changes in conditions and moved entries. Distinguish semantic changes from layout. Do not normalize currencies or silently treat missing qualifications as equivalent.
Output
A difference table with ID/location, before, after, difference type and practical interpretation. Separately list unchanged controls and anything you could not resolve. Include an English summary and a machine-readable JSON version.
Checks
Every claim must be anchored in the supplied records. Do not invent a total across currencies. Explain movements precisely, so a block moved once is not counted as several separate movements.What the checks found
- All eight seeded changes match the root-frozen answer key, with no missing or extra change IDs. Both unchanged controls are correctly retained.
- The amount change is USD 50; the sign change is a signed USD 150 difference. USD→EUR is identified without inventing an exchange-rate conversion.
- P05 is counted as one movement; the resulting displacement of P03 is not a second independent change.
Revisions after the first output
- No correction to the first difference table was needed for this synthetic pair.
Original output
Eight differences are identified: a quarter change, a removed qualification, one deletion, one addition, one entry movement, a rental amount change, an adjustment sign change and a currency change. Paper stock and volunteer count remain unchanged. No total across currencies is calculated.
| ID | Location | Before | After | Difference type | Practical interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P01 | A entry 1 / TXT line 2 → B entry 1 / TXT line 2 | Reporting period: Q2 2026. | Reporting period: Q3 2026. | Time period | The reporting quarter changes from Q2 to Q3 in the same year; do not compare these as the same period. |
| P02 | A entry 2 / TXT line 3 → B entry 2 / TXT line 3 | The workshop serves up to 24 participants, subject to venue approval. | The workshop serves up to 24 participants. | Condition removed | The 24-person upper limit stays, but the venue-approval qualification is absent in B. This does not prove approval was obtained. |
| P04 | A entry 4 / TXT line 5 → absent in B | Use the east entrance for the supply delivery. | Absent | Deletion | B no longer specifies the east entrance for delivery. No replacement entrance is stated. |
| P05 | A entry 5 / TXT line 6 → B entry 3 / TXT line 4 | After P04 and after P03 | Immediately after P02 and before P03 | Single entry movement | The disposal-approval requirement is textually unchanged. Count one move of P05 before P03, not a second independent move for the resulting position change of P03. |
| P06 | Absent in A → B entry 5 / TXT line 6 | Absent | Record the emergency contact number at reception. | Addition | B adds a requirement to record the emergency contact number at reception. |
| T01 | A and B entry 6 / TXT line 7 | Room rental: USD 1,200.00 | Room rental: USD 1,250.00 | Number change | The stated rental rises by USD 50.00. |
| T02 | A and B entry 7 / TXT line 8 | Refund adjustment: USD -75.00 | Refund adjustment: USD 75.00 | Sign change | The adjustment switches from negative to positive; the signed numerical difference is +USD 150.00. The records do not explain the accounting intent. |
| T03 | A and B entry 8 / TXT line 9 | Equipment deposit: USD 300.00 | Equipment deposit: EUR 300.00 | Currency unit change | The face amount remains 300.00 but the currency changes. Its value difference cannot be calculated without an exchange-rate basis. |
Unchanged controls:
| ID | Location | Unchanged text |
|---|---|---|
| T04 | A and B entry 9 / TXT line 10 | Paper stock: USD 90.00 |
| T05 | A and B entry 10 / TXT line 11 | Volunteer count: 4 |
P03 also retains its full training-before-handover wording (A entry 3 → B entry 4), and P05 retains its coordinator-approval wording. Their relative ordering reverses because P05 is moved before P03; this is one movement, not two.
Order A: P01 → P02 → P03 → P04 → P05 → T01 → T02 → T03 → T04 → T05.
Order B: P01 → P02 → P05 → P03 → P06 → T01 → T02 → T03 → T04 → T05.
Read both DOCX paragraph contents and TXT counterparts. ID-bearing text matches between each DOCX and its TXT. Entry positions exclude the title and explanatory preamble. TXT line numbers include its single-line preamble. DOCX titles label versions A and B; this is a document label change, not an additional workshop content change. Paragraph placement and version labels do not make unchanged wording a semantic change.
Unresolved:
- The reason for each revision and which record is authoritative are not supplied.
- No exchange rate, valuation date or conversion policy is supplied for the currency change.
- The documents do not establish whether venue approval occurred or why the refund sign changed.
- The final order supports the single-move description for P05, but does not reveal the historical editing actions.
