Across eight logged decisions, an AC312 Unit 3 data cleaning log takes a composite distributor's extract from 41,806 rows to 41,512 and ties it to the ledger. Searches like "ac 312 unit 3 assignment example", "ac312 unit 3 sample" and "ac312 unit 3 example" land here.
What a finished AC312 Unit 3 data cleaning log looks like
A numbered log of eight entries, a before-and-after panel and a control total. Each entry gives the issue found, the rule applied, the rows and dollars affected, and whether rows were removed, changed or only flagged. Entry one removes 212 exact duplicates, worth 305,114.20, created where two monthly exports overlapped. Entry two removes 82 payments dated outside fiscal 2025. Entry three converts 6,214 text-format dates written in three layouts. Entries four and five resolve 57 vendor numbers missing from the master file, 49 matched by tax identifier and 8 left flagged. Two entries separate 3,118 blank purchase order fields that are legitimate spend without orders from 14 that are not, and the last keeps 1,946 credit memos as labeled negatives. The panel closes at 62,994,701.25, matching the ledger.
How a AC312 Unit 3 example is structured
Entries run in the order the decisions were made, because some depend on earlier ones: duplicates are removed before any count is taken, and dates are converted before the period filter can work. Each entry follows one pattern, issue, rule, effect and treatment, so a reader could rerun it from the log alone. Removals and flags are kept apart deliberately; a flagged row stays in the population with a marker, while a removed row leaves it, and the log says which applies. The before-and-after panel shows rows and dollars at each stage, so the 294 rows removed and their 423,506.30 can be traced. The control total comes last and compares the cleaned sum with the ledger's disbursements from accounts payable for the year, the test proving nothing legitimate was lost.
Duplicates from overlapping exports
212 identical rows, worth 305,114.20, removed. The log names the fields compared and traces the overlap to two monthly pulls sharing a cutoff day.
Dates, then the period
6,214 text dates in three formats converted first, which let the period filter remove 82 payments falling outside fiscal 2025.
Vendors missing from the master
Of 57 unknown vendor numbers, 49 matched on tax identifier and were mapped; 8, covering 61 payments, stay in the file carrying a flag.
Blanks that mean different things
3,118 empty purchase order fields belong to rent, utilities and freight, which never use orders; 14 belong to stock vendors and are flagged.
The control total
Rows fall from 41,806 to 41,512 and dollars to 62,994,701.25, which equals the ledger's disbursements from accounts payable for the year.
Where marks go in AC312 Unit 3
Cleaning without a log loses the most, even when the cleaned file is correct, because the standard the course teaches is a figure another person can rebuild from the file and its notes. Graders next check the control total. A cleaned population that no longer ties to the ledger means something legitimate was dropped, and a log with no control total cannot show otherwise. Deleting credit memos as bad data is a frequent error that overstates spending by 1,232,329.15 in this file. Removing unmatched vendor rows, rather than flagging them, discards the very rows an exception test would want. Treating every blank purchase order field alike, when blanks mean different things for utilities and for stock purchases, loses judgment points. Entries that state what changed without the rule that justified it cost a smaller amount.
Get a AC312 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Attach the extract supplied with the Unit 3 assignment, or describe its columns if the file cannot leave your section, plus the brief and rubric. The log, the before-and-after panel and the control total come back within 24-48h, alongside the cleaned file itself. A first custom sample is free, and the log is written so your instructor could rerun it.
AC312 Unit 3 questions, answered
Why keep flagged rows instead of deleting them?
Because the analysis that follows may need them most. A payment to a vendor missing from the master file is exactly what an exception test later looks for, and deleting it during cleaning would hide it. The AC312 sample keeps such rows in the population with a flag column naming the issue, so later units can include or exclude them deliberately and say which they did.
What is a control total and why does it matter?
It is an independent figure the cleaned data should agree with, here the ledger's total disbursements from accounts payable for fiscal 2025. If the cleaned file sums to that figure, nothing legitimate was lost and nothing foreign was added. Without it, a cleaning step that lost rows without trace would go unnoticed, which is the error AC312 graders check for first.
How detailed should each log entry be?
Detailed enough that another person could repeat it without asking. That usually means the issue, the rule, the count of rows and dollars affected, and whether the rows were removed, changed or flagged. A sentence or two per entry is typical. The sample's entries run to about forty words each, and the before-and-after panel carries the numbers so the prose does not have to.