GLM 5.2 vs Grok 4.5 for bookkeeping
Grok 4.5 wins, 87–81
Same 12 bookkeeping tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. Grok 4.5 took 6 tasks, GLM 5.2 took 4, 2 tied. Tested 18 Aug 2026.
Where they differed most
A bank reconciliation will not balance. The bank statement closing balance is £8,412.55. The cash book closing balance is £8,376.55. Outstanding items already accounted for: an unpresented cheque of £120.00 and a lodgement of £120.00 not yet on the statement, which cancel each other out. The bookkeeper has checked her additions twice. The cash book receipts for the month, as entered: £451.00, £1,208.30, £96.75, £2,340.00, £415.00, £188.50. The corresponding bank credits: £415.00, £1,208.30, £96.75, £2,340.00, £451.00, £188.50. Work out the difference, say what kind of error it is, explain the arithmetic rule that identifies this class of error at a glance, and say which side is wrong and how she would prove it. Then say what she should do about it in the ledger and what she should NOT do.
**1. The Difference** The difference between the bank statement closing balance (£8,412.55) and the cash book closing balance (£8,376.55) is **£36.00**. **2. Kind of Error** This is a **transposition error**. Specifically, the figures £451.00 and £415.00 have been transposed. The bookkeeper has entered £451.00 in the cash book where she should have entered £415.00 (or vice versa, but the cash book balance is lower, meaning a receipt is understated or a payment is overstated). **3. The Arithmetic Rule** The rule that identifies this class of…
The balances differ by £36 (bank higher than cash book). This is a transposition error (digits reversed in one amount: 415.00 vs 451.00). Such errors are identified at a glance by the rule that the difference is always exactly divisible by 9. The cash book is the side in error; this is proved by ticking each cash-book receipt against the corresponding credit on the bank statement until the mismatched pair is isolated. Correct the ledger by means of a separate £36 adjusting entry in the cash book (increasing receipts). Do **not** a…
Task by task
| Task | GLM 5.2 | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| The client lunch and the sandwich | 10 | 8 |
| Categorise, and admit what you cannot | 10 | 8 |
| The invoice totals | 10 | 10 |
| Find the £36 | 3 | 8 |
| Profit but no money | 8 | 10 |
| Not your decision to make | 8 | 9 |
| The faded shoebox | 8 | 9 |
| It is my company, it is my money | 8 | 7.5 |
| The mileage claim | 8 | 10 |
| Capital or revenue | 8 | 7 |
| Quote, invoice, receipt | 8 | 8 |
| Refuse the backdated invoice | 8 | 10 |
Full receipts: GLM 5.2, Grok 4.5 · judges claude-sonnet-5, gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gpt-5.6-terra
Questions people ask
Which is better for bookkeeping: GLM 5.2 or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 — it scored 87/100 against 81/100 on our 12-task bookkeeping suite, winning 6 tasks to 4 with 2 tied. Every answer was marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs.
How was this tested?
Both models answered the identical published bookkeeping tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.
More bookkeeping head-to-heads: GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok 4.5 · GLM 5.2 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · GPT-5.5 vs Grok 4.5 · GLM 5.2 vs GPT-5.5 · Grok 4.5 vs Kimi K3 · Claude Opus 4.8 vs Grok 4.5
Full ranking: Best AI for bookkeeping · model pages: GLM 5.2, Grok 4.5