Compare two columns with "SIMILAR VALUES"

[Utradeshow]

I have two large columns with company names. Some have "." where they aren't supposed to be, some have Dashes, some have Inc, instead of LLC. Is there a way to compare and contrast the two columns to find duplicates easily?

 

[Joe4]

Because there are no real rules for what the differences may be (there couple be tons of little variations), you will probably need to use some sort of "Fuzzy Match" solution.
There is a thread about that in our "Hall of Fame" here: comparing two columns

 

[StephenCrump]

There is a thread about that in our "Hall of Fame" ....

... and an update (and much longer thread!) here: Fuzzy Matching - new version plus explanation

 

[felixstraube]

Can you share some sample data?

 

[Utradeshow]

Here is what happens. Many times i compare data recorded slightly differently, missing a "." or spelling error, etc....

Book1
	A	B
1	Big Delivery Company, LLC.	Big Delivery Co LLC.
2	Jess Shipping, Inc.	Jess Shipping, Inc
3	Timmy's Delivery, LLC.	Timmy's Delivery LLC
4	Jeffery's Transportation, Inc.	Jeffery's Transportation, Inc
Sheet1

 

[felixstraube]

Are these all the type of differences you have in your data? If there are more, a bigger sample data would be useful.

If that are all the differences you have, something like this might work:

Book1
	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Big Delivery Company, LLC.	Big Delivery Co LLC.		Big Delivery Co LLC	Big Delivery Co LLC	TRUE
2	Jess Shipping, Inc.	Jess Shipping, Inc		Jess Shipping Inc	Jess Shipping Inc	TRUE
3	Timmy's Delivery, LLC.	Timmy's Delivery LLC		Timmy's Delivery LLC	Timmy's Delivery LLC	TRUE
4	Jeffery's Transportation, Inc.	Jeffery's Transportation, Inc		Jeffery's Transportation Inc	Jeffery's Transportation Inc	TRUE
Sheet2

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
D1:E4	D1	=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,",",""),".",""), " Company", " Co")
F1:F4	F1	=D1=E1