According to some embodiments, logic executing on a processor receives a request to compare a first file and a second file. Each file comprises records, attributes, and attribute values. An attribute value is a value that a record associates with a corresponding attribute. The logic receives a mapping file indicating a key and one or more selected attributes for comparison. The logic compares each record in the first file to its corresponding record in the second file, the corresponding record determined according to the key. For records that fail to match, the logic determines which of the selected attributes are unmatched. The logic communicates a report indicating a result of comparing the first file and the second file.