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My Statement / The evidence
One hundred disputed lines
What a statement proves, and what a reader keeps
The argument of the whole desk collapses into one line: of a hundred disputed lines, the statement settled every one and a copy kept by the reader existed in a third. This page sets out what that means and what a reader should therefore keep.
Desk spec
- disputes
- 100
- settled by statement
- 100
- reader copy kept
- 34
- export available
- 79
the lineOne transaction, with a date, a type, an amount and a running balance. The sample month holds 240 of them, and every one belongs to a category.
the running balanceThe balance after each line, in the statement's own order. It is not the balance you can withdraw, because a bonus credit sits inside it: 312.00 shown against 292.00 settled.
the pending lineA line that has been recorded but not settled. Of 500 lines in the sample, 43 were pending and 21 were reversed, against 436 settled.
Direct answerOf 100 disputed lines the statement settled 100 and a copy kept by the reader existed in 34, so in 66 of the 100 the only record of the line was the operator one. An export was available for 79 of the 100, which is the difference between reading a record and keeping one.
Two records of one line
Two things can be said about a disputed line, and only one of them is a record. The statement is the operator's account of what happened, and it exists whether or not the reader kept anything. The reader's own copy - an export, a PDF, a screenshot of the line - is the only thing that lets the two be compared.
Sample I - two records, and what each settled
| Record | Produced, of 100 | Why |
|---|
| the statement line | 100 | it is the operator's record of the movement |
| a reader copy | 34 | only if the reader exported or kept it |
| an export available | 79 | the tool exists for four accounts in five |
| a PDF available | 61 | a printable form, for three in five |
| one line | 100 statements, 34 copies | the statement is the authoritative record |
sample I - the one line that decides the desk
disputed lines = 100
the statement line settled = 100 -> 100.0%
a reader copy existed = 34 -> 34.0%
an export was available = 79 -> 79.0%
so a reader with no copy of their own cannot compare the statement
against what they saw, and 66 of 100 were in that position,
while an export existed for 79 - the copy was available and not taken.
What to keep, and why the export matters
The practical consequence is small and worth doing: the export is the record in the reader's own hands, and it is available for four accounts in five. Taking it once a month converts a screen into a document.
samples I, F and D - the copy against the states
of 100 accounts (sample F):
an export existed = 79 -> 79.0%
a PDF existed = 61 -> 61.0%
neither = 21 -> 21.0%
and the lines worth exporting are not random (sample D, 500 lines):
settled = 436 -> 87.2% (final, but checkable)
pending = 43 -> 8.6% (still moving)
reversed = 21 -> 4.2% (two lines, easy to misread)
so 64 of 500 lines are the ones an export is most useful for,
and 34 of 100 readers had a copy when a line was disputed.
Keep these four things from any month
- The export or the PDF, taken before a line is disputed rather than after.
- The running balance at the close, so the column can be checked later.
- Any pending or reversed line flagged, since those are the ones that move.
- The date range the file covers, because a statement is a period as well as a record.
- The reference of any request made, so the next one can name the same line.
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