{"id":"acct-misapplied-payment-correction-lines","audience":"accounting","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"verification","level":"intermediate","title":"Correct a payment applied to the wrong customer and show the effect","free":false,"task":"You're correcting a payment applied to a similarly named customer. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting \"Wrong customer:\", \"Correct customer:\", \"Subledger steps:\", \"GL entry:\", \"Effect:\" and \"Confirm:\". The GL entry line says whether a general ledger entry is needed and why. The Confirm line is one question to verify before posting. Show the math. Under 110 words.","materialLabel":"Source material (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"MISAPPLIED PAYMENT - Nov 3, 2026\n\nPayment received Oct 30: $5,000 by ACH, remittance reads \"Harbor Dental INV-2105\".\nThe cash application clerk applied it to Harbor Dental Group (customer ID 4410), invoice INV-2090, $5,000, because the names are similar.\nThe correct customer is Harbor Dental (customer ID 4402), which has open invoice INV-2105 for $5,000.\n\nAccounting setup: Accounts receivable control account 1200 is a single GL account that holds the total of all customer balances; each customer's balance is tracked in the AR subledger. Cash was correctly recorded in the bank account on Oct 30.\n\nObservations: Harbor Dental Group's INV-2090 was due Oct 20. Harbor Dental's INV-2105 is due Nov 14. Both are real customers; Harbor Dental Group is a larger company. The collections team has an automated reminder going to Harbor Dental Group on Nov 4 for any past-due balance.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":110}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the six lines","patterns":["wrong customer","correct customer","subledger steps","gl entry","effect","confirm"]},{"label":"Explains the control account","patterns":["control account","1200","same"]},{"label":"Shows the effect","patterns":["past due","open","\\$5,000"]},{"label":"Frames the confirm line as a question","patterns":["question","verify"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","under \\d+"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Writing a GL entry","why":"The AI debits and credits AR accounts.","fix":"Add: \"Say whether a GL entry is needed; both customers are in the same control account.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Missing the side effect","why":"The AI forgets INV-2090 becomes past due again.","fix":"Add: \"Effect: show both invoice balances after the fix.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Contacting customers","why":"The AI drafts emails to both customers.","fix":"Add: \"Lines only; no emails.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Skipping the question","why":"The AI posts without a check.","fix":"Add: \"Confirm: one question to verify before posting.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"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"]},{"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 part short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"The fix lives in the subledger. Ask whether the GL moves at all and what the correction does to both customers.","rubricLabels":["The six lines start Wrong customer:, Correct customer:, Subledger steps:, GL entry:, Effect: and Confirm: in that order, naming Harbor Dental Group (4410) as wrong and Harbor Dental (4402) as correct","Subledger steps say to unapply $5,000 from INV-2090 and apply $5,000 to INV-2105, and GL entry says none is needed because both balances sit in the same control account 1200 and cash is unchanged","Effect shows INV-2090 returns to open $5,000 (past due) and INV-2105 goes from $5,000 to $0, and Confirm is one question (such as confirming with the customer's remittance before posting, or pausing the Nov 4 reminder)"]}