Who this is for
An office manager, administrator or finance assistant who combines lists from several people, offices or systems and finds the dates and numbers will not sort or add up.
A date column sorts in the wrong order, a sum ignores some numbers, or the same file shows different dates on different computers.
The result
Each agreed date column holds real, unambiguous dates in one agreed format, each agreed number column holds real numbers, and every row whose reading rested on a written rule or could not be decided is listed, with the rule applied or the cell left blank for you to decide.
What is included
- One workbook or CSV file of up to 20,000 rows, with up to three date columns and two number columns, delivered as a new file with your originals kept beside the new columns (a CSV gets new columns in the same file)
- Agree the rules first: which convention applies to which source, office or column where that is known, the two-digit year cutoff and the output date format
- Convert text and mixed entries into real dates and numbers by those rules, and write the result as new columns
- List every row that is ambiguous or could not be read, and every row read only because of a rule, instead of choosing silently
You receive
- A new workbook or CSV with the cleaned columns beside the original ones
- An ambiguity sheet listing each uncertain row, the possible readings and what was done
- A rules note: the conventions applied, the cutoff for two-digit years and the output format
What is not included
- Deciding the correct date for a row that is ambiguous and has no source to settle it; those rows are listed for you
- Correcting dates that are valid but wrong for your business
- Time zones, times of day, currency conversion or unit conversion
- Repairing formulas, merged layouts or duplicates; those are separate jobs
- Confidential or personal data in the first enquiry
What we need from you first
- The columns involved, an approximate row count, and which sources or offices fed the file
- Which regional date order and decimal symbol each source is believed to use, if known
- Three or four invented example values for each kind of problem; no real file in the first enquiry
Never send passwords, keys, customer records or confidential code in the first enquiry. Secure handover is agreed after scoping.
How we check it is done
- Every non-blank cell in each agreed date column of the new file is either a real date value in the agreed format (in a workbook) or, in a CSV, text that matches the agreed format, YYYY-MM-DD unless you ask for another, and is a valid calendar date; or its row is on the ambiguity sheet.
- In an agreed reference set of at least 30 dates whose true values you confirm from source documents, every converted date equals the confirmed date.
- No row where day and month could both be valid and differ has been converted without either a written rule naming its source or a place on the ambiguity sheet.
- For each agreed number column, the sum of the unambiguous rows in the new column equals an independent sum worked from the source text of those same rows under the agreed decimal and thousands-separator convention. The before figure is not Excel's own SUM of the original column, because SUM skips numbers stored as text. Every row that could be read two ways is listed.
You check the reference dates, resolve the ambiguity sheet with us and sign off in writing. Payment follows sign-off.
When we would stop or decline
- Most rows are ambiguous and no source column or rule exists to settle them, so most of the file would end up on the ambiguity sheet
- The file mixes several time zones or times of day that matter to the result
- You want us to decide the correct date for each ambiguous row by judgement
Questions
Can you tell which is right when 03/04/2026 could be March or April?
Only if you can tell us the source or a rule. Otherwise the row goes on the ambiguity sheet for you to decide. We do not guess.
Will my original dates be overwritten?
No. The cleaned dates go in new columns next to the originals.
Do you handle times and time zones?
No. This job covers calendar dates and number formats.
Price and terms
From £125 · untested offer price. The fixed price is confirmed in writing and paid after the agreed checks pass and you sign off. No payment before sign-off.
This is a new service with no published client results. The price is a starting point we have not yet tested with buyers. Nothing is ordered or charged by the enquiry. The full specification is on the Synthetic Industry catalogue.