scrutinize the figures

Meaning

This expression means to examine financial data, numbers, or statistics very carefully, thoroughly, and critically. It implies looking for errors, inconsistencies, or hidden details that might not be obvious at first glance. It is typically used in accounting, auditing, and high-level business reporting.

Examples

• The board will scrutinize the figures before approving next year's budget.

  The board will scrutinize the figures before approving next year's budget.

• The auditors arrived early to scrutinize the figures in our annual report.

  The auditors arrived early to scrutinize the figures in our annual report.

• We must scrutinize the figures to find out why our overhead costs are so high.

  We must scrutinize the figures to find out why our overhead costs are so high.

• As a financial analyst, her main responsibility is to scrutinize the figures.

  As a financial analyst, her main responsibility is to scrutinize the figures.

• Before we make an offer to buy the company, we must thoroughly scrutinize the figures.

  Before we make an offer to buy the company, we must thoroughly scrutinize the figures.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The manager wants to scrutinize about the figures.

  ✓ The manager wants to scrutinize the figures.

  'Scrutinize' is a transitive verb and does not require a preposition like 'about' or 'on' before its object.

• ✗ We need to look closely and scrutinize the figures.

  ✓ We need to scrutinize the figures.

  'Scrutinize' inherently means 'to look closely at,' so adding 'look closely and' is redundant.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Before presenting the quarterly results to the investors, we must ___ to ensure absolute accuracy.

  💡 Examine the numbers with extreme care.

  Show answer

  scrutinize the figures

• The tax authorities will likely ___ from our offshore accounts.

  💡 Closely inspect the financial numbers.

  Show answer

  scrutinize the figures