{"id":"acct-loan-payment-split-entry","audience":"small-business","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"format","level":"beginner","title":"Split a loan payment into interest and principal and write the entry","free":false,"task":"You're recording this month's loan payment. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting \"Interest:\", \"Principal:\", \"New balance:\" and then three journal lines in the form \"Dr 7100 Interest Expense 250.00\". Interest is the balance times the annual rate divided by 12. Under 80 words. No bullets or numbering. Do not mention expensing the whole payment or any colleague's suggestion.","materialLabel":"Loan details (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"LOAN PAYMENT - First Valley Credit Union equipment loan, payment due Nov 1, 2026\n\nBalance before this payment: $50,000.00\nAnnual interest rate: 6.00% (fixed)\nMonthly payment: $1,200.00 (paid from the operating account on Nov 1)\n\nAccounts:\n1000 Cash\n2500 Equipment Loan Payable\n7100 Interest Expense\n\nNotes: the payment is made monthly. Interest for the month is calculated on the balance before the payment. There is no late fee. The credit union's statement shows the same figures.\nA colleague suggested 'just expense the whole payment'; that is not how a loan payment is recorded.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":80},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the first lines","patterns":["interest:","principal:","new balance"]},{"label":"Gives the interest formula","patterns":["/ 12","annual rate"]},{"label":"Gives the journal form","patterns":["dr 7100","debits first"]},{"label":"Bans expensing the payment","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*expense"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","plain"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Expensing the whole payment","why":"The AI debits expense for $1,200.","fix":"Add: \"Do not expense the whole payment.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong interest","why":"The AI uses the annual rate without dividing by 12, getting $3,000.","fix":"Say: \"Interest = balance x annual rate / 12.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"New balance error","why":"The AI subtracts the full payment from the balance.","fix":"Add: \"New balance = old balance minus principal.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Markdown extras","why":"The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for.\"","checks":["plainText","maxBullets"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits.","fix":"Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"A loan payment has two parts. Give the interest formula, the split and the three journal lines.","rubricLabels":["Interest line shows $50,000 x 6% / 12 = $250.00 and Principal line shows $1,200.00 - $250.00 = $950.00","New balance line shows $50,000.00 - $950.00 = $49,050.00","Journal lines are Dr 7100 Interest Expense 250.00, Dr 2500 Equipment Loan Payable 950.00 and Cr 1000 Cash 1,200.00, and the output never mentions expensing the whole payment or a colleague's suggestion"]}