Sort data by columns

I have a ledger of 40,000 rows and I need it ordered for review. Sort the sheet by Date descending, then by Account number ascending, and then by Amount absolute value descending so the biggest items are visible at the top. Keep the header row locked, and after sorting paste a small note in cell A1 with the sort keys and the time you ran it.

Before I hand the sorted file to the audit manager, make it easy for them to find anomalies: freeze the header, add a temporary helper column that ranks absolute Amount within each Account, and color any rows where Amount is in the top 1 percent. Put a short legend at the top explaining the sorting and the helper column and save the file as Audit_Sort_2026-07-15.

I sorted a large ledger and the header row ended up mixed into the data below. It’s just me and Ramesh the auditor looking at this. I’m worried I’ve altered the original order permanently. What immediate steps do I take to restore the original sheet and how do I prevent this from recurring when I run multi-key sorts?

I keep spending hours re-sorting the same raw extract for different reviewers; every request asks for a different key order and I recreate the file each time. Where am I losing time and credibility and what one change in my workflow will stop ad-hoc re-sorts from draining my week? Recommend a naming or sheet-organization habit I can adopt so reviewers find what they need without me doing a new sort each time.