Recheck settlement-sheet arithmetic

What you need

Your firm-approved AI assistant · prepared files

• Clio Manage Personal Injury add-on only for its native settlement export; otherwise actual draft and approved allocation documents must be available locally.
• Lawyer-approved final gross amount and each permitted deduction, with status/source/approver. No AI entitlement, lien or fee determination.
• Firm-approved Excel; optional Copilot entitlement and tenant approval for the exact minimized data. Native Excel analysis can be done manually if Copilot is absent.
• Keep raw exports and identifying source pointers in a separate restricted location. The AI workbook contains only approved alias-based tables and visible policy/scope text, never raw client records on another tab.
• Use synthetic inputs first. Keep real data in firm-approved accounts and processing, with appropriate access, confidentiality and retention controls. Aliases alone do not anonymize records. Never paste credentials, API keys or unnecessary client details.

How to use

Documentation-checked proposed route; source collection and human approval required

1. 1

   Export the actual proposed settlement

   Clio Manage Personal Injury · Matters > selected matter > Settlement > top-right Export

   Download the native Settlement CSV. Inspect the Recovery summary and its refresh timestamp, recovery amounts, fees, expense groups, liens and outstanding balances. If the add-on is absent, open the actual draft settlement statement locally and manually transcribe its lines with page references.

   Expected output

   Actual proposed settlement export/statement, with original line structure and total.

   Next step

   Separately collect lawyer-approved amount/deduction evidence; do not use the draft as its own approval source.

   Check before continuing

   Native grouping and default fee/deduction settings can differ from the approved arrangement. Preserve detail and avoid double-counting referral fees within legal fees.

   Step documentation 1 ↗
2. 2

   Map the observed records to the starter input

   Excel and authorized staff · Separate analysis workbook > Home > Format as Table

   Populate settlement.template.json: matter_id alias,currency,gross_cents; approved_lines with line_id,category,amount_cents,source_ref,approved_by,status from separate approval records; draft_lines with line_id,amount_cents from the actual draft; draft_net_cents from its stated net. Convert verified amounts to integer cents using the approved rounding rule. Put the same data in visible Control, ApprovedLines and DraftLines tables, with the approved deduction/sign convention and excluded unresolved items in Scope. Create named tables for Control, ApprovedLines and DraftLines. Put the policy and review scope in visible worksheets or paste them into the next prompt. Retain the actual gross-amount source and reviewer approval reference in visible Control/Scope; the JSON alone has no dedicated gross_source field.

   Expected output

   Editorial settlement JSON and reviewed tables, with separate approval provenance.

   Next step

   Check the mapping against each original source before using AI.

   Check before continuing

   Aliases and missing policy fields are staff-created; do not relabel a native export as the kit schema. Unknown stays blank/unknown, not false or zero.

   Step documentation 1 ↗
3. 3

   Review the bounded evidence with Copilot

   Excel Copilot, optional · Approved analysis workbook > Copilot icon at lower right > Chat only

   Use Chat only and submit the prompt. Without Copilot: sum only the approved final deduction amounts, then compare exact line IDs and the draft net. The manual fallback has the same mandatory completeness/approval stop before any final net comparison.

   Excel Copilot, optional promptCheck Control, ApprovedLines, DraftLines and Scope. First verify complete required-line coverage, unique approved line IDs, currency/integer cents, gross source evidence, source_ref, approved_by, final status and unambiguous draft mapping for every required item. If any is missing, conflicted or unresolved, STOP the final expected-net and draft-net comparison: report the missing evidence, and at most a clearly labeled partial subtotal that is not a final net. Only after this gate passes, compare draft deductions to the complete approved final lines; flag missing, extra, duplicate or changed lines, and recompute expected_net_cents=gross_cents-sum(approved final deduction cents) under the supplied sign/rounding rules. Compare draft_net_cents. Do not infer lien validity, fee entitlement, settlement approval or authority to disburse. Return exact arithmetic and source references.Copy step 3 prompt

   Expected output

   Settlement arithmetic and authorization-evidence exception list.

   Next step

   Copy the draft exception list to the reviewer; retain row references.

   Check before continuing

   Check every flagged row and the scope. A fluent answer is not evidence of completeness; no automatic workbook or source-system edits. A partial approved subset may yield a labeled partial subtotal only, never an expected final net.

   Step documentation 1 ↗Step documentation 2 ↗
4. 4

   Approve the review result

   Final human review

   Responsible staff reviewer · Reviewed local worksheet

   The lawyer verifies gross proceeds and all final deductions against actual signed/approved source records; accounting independently checks arithmetic and cleared-funds requirements outside this tool.

   Expected output

   Reviewed draft statement or unresolved-allocation hold.

   Next step

   Any external message, source change, payment or deletion requires its own authorized process.

   Check before continuing

   This workflow neither sends a settlement statement for signature nor approves or executes disbursement.

   Step documentation 1 ↗

What you’ll get

An arithmetic-difference worksheet with source IDs, duplicate or omitted lines and review questions about an already prepared proposed allocation.