How do I find why an account won't tie out?

You can match the simple accounts, but when something does not tie out, you do not know how to hunt down the why, and it leaves you stuck. That is a real and specific gap, and the good news is that finding discrepancies is a method, not a gift. Once you learn the moves, the hunt stops feeling like guessing. Start with the size of the difference, because the number itself is a clue. Is it a round figure, a suggestion of a missing whole entry? Does it divide evenly by nine, a classic sign of two digits swapped? Is it exactly double something, a hint of an amount added instead of subtracted? Then check the usual suspects: timing differences, a transaction recorded twice, or one missed entirely. The discrepancy usually points at its own cause if you read it. So next time an account will not tie, do not scan randomly. Look hard at the difference itself first and let it suggest where to search. Learn these few common patterns and you will find that most breaks fall into a handful of familiar shapes. The hunt gets faster every time you name one.