{"id":"acct-payment-run-cash-floor","audience":"accounting","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"constraints","level":"intermediate","title":"Plan a payment run under a cash limit and a minimum balance","free":false,"task":"You're proposing this week's payment run for the controller to approve. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting \"Pay:\", \"Defer:\" and \"Cash left above floor:\". Pay invoices in due-date order, skipping any that don't fit within available cash (cash minus the minimum balance) and continuing with the next. The Pay line lists each with a running balance. This is a proposal, so end the Defer line with \"(controller to approve)\". Under 80 words.","materialLabel":"Cash position and invoices due (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"WEEKLY PAYMENT RUN - Nov 9, 2026, Dunmore Foods\n\nBank balance available today: $50,000\nMinimum balance policy: keep at least $5,000 in the operating account at all times.\n\nInvoices due this week (all approved):\nINV-A Hartwell Printing - $18,000 - due Nov 9\nINV-B Tallis Freight - $12,500 - due Nov 10\nINV-C Corbel Packaging - $9,000 - due Nov 11\nINV-D Wexler Equipment - $15,000 - due Nov 12\nINV-E Marlow Cleaning - $2,500 - due Nov 13\n\nNotes: Corbel offers a 2% discount if paid by Nov 11; ignore the discount for this exercise. A customer payment of $20,000 is expected on Nov 12 but is not yet received, so it is not available.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":80}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the three lines","patterns":["pay:","defer:","cash left"]},{"label":"Subtracts the floor","patterns":["minimum","floor","45,000"]},{"label":"Gives the order and skip rule","patterns":["due.date order","skip","fit"]},{"label":"Excludes the pending payment","patterns":["(don'?t|not).*(count|expected)"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","plain"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Ignoring the minimum balance","why":"The AI starts from $50,000 and ends with $8,000.","fix":"Say: \"Available = bank balance minus the $5,000 minimum.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Counting the expected customer payment","why":"The AI adds the $20,000 and pays D.","fix":"Add: \"Don't count the expected customer payment.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Stopping at the first miss","why":"The AI stops after INV-C and never considers INV-E.","fix":"Say: \"If an invoice doesn't fit, defer it and continue with the next.\"","checks":["r0","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"]},{"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 payment run follows a rule, a cash floor and a skip-and-continue step. Give all three and the closing label.","rubricLabels":["Pay line lists INV-A, INV-B, INV-C and INV-E in due-date order with running balances $27,000 after A, $14,500 after B, $5,500 after C and $3,000 after E (starting from $50,000 - $5,000 = $45,000 available)","Defer line names INV-D ($15,000) and ends with \"(controller to approve)\"","Cash left above floor line shows $3,000 and the unreceived $20,000 customer payment is not counted"]}