Help: Macro or function that helps match an inputted name with names in a master list

I am new to excel and have a few questions. The task I have to accomplish is to match a list of inputted client names with a master list of clients and then to populate relevant fields such as revenue, etc. for that inputted client by pulling in the data from the master list. VLOOKUP was my first guess but the situation requires more complexity than what the VLOOKUP function offers.

Since the client name will be inputted manually by various users, spelling, punctuation, and abbreviations will all vary. This will make it more difficult. As a result, the inputted names will probably have to first be cleaned up before any search function is run on them.

I have a list of specifications that will be helpful when cleaning up the name.

1.) I will get rid of any attached ending to client company names such as "Co.", "Inc.", "LLD", "Company" etc.
-Would an "If" function be able to do this?
- What about if the attached ending such as "Co" actually appears in the beginning of the word and should not be removed (such as in the case of
Colorado)?

2.) How to automatically pair abbreviations with companies automatically? For example, if someone types in GE, it will get mapped to General Electric and then the search algorithm will look for General Electric instead of GE in the master list?
- I don't know if there is some autocorrect function that automatically changes abbreviations into whole names.

3.) How to account for spelling mistakes?
- This might not be completely necessary but I would like to make my model as robust as possible.

4.) How to remove punctuation from the names of clients, such as when there is a "dash (-)" in between two names?


Once the name is cleaned up, then I assume I could use a VLOOKUP on the cleaned up name to find the match in the master list? Is there a better function to use?

Any help would be appreciated. If there is a sample model anyone could show me, I would really love it. It would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance for all the help.

Feel free to add suggestions to what I should do in the model too.