{"id":"acct-recon-aging-escalation-list","audience":"accounting","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"constraints","level":"advanced","title":"Age reconciling items and escalate those over 60 days","free":false,"task":"You're closing the operating account reconciliation on Nov 6, 2026. Write a prompt for plain text with one line per reconciling item, oldest first, formatted \"Item - N days - $amount - Escalate or Monitor\", then a last line starting \"Escalated total:\" with the addition. Age runs from the item date to Nov 6. Escalate items more than 60 days old. Don't guess who or what an unidentified item belongs to. Under 110 words. No bullets or numbering.","materialLabel":"Open reconciling items (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Operating account reconciliation - open reconciling items as of Nov 6, 2026\n\nAug 17   Unidentified deposit on bank statement, no matching invoice - $780\nAug 28   Outstanding check #1177 to Hartwell Printing - $320\nSep 1    Bank service fee on statement, not booked in GL - $45\nSep 14   Outstanding check #1190 to Dunmore Tools - $1,150\nOct 30   Deposit in transit (weekend sales) - $2,200\n\nPreparer comments:\n- The Aug 17 deposit is probably from Delgado Catering, they usually pay around then, but there's no remittance advice.\n- Hartwell said they would deposit #1177 \"soon\" on Oct 5.\n- Sep 1 fee: needs a journal entry; not yet prepared.\n\nPolicy: reconciling items older than 60 days are escalated to the controller. Day counts are calendar days.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":110},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"States the date and age rule","patterns":["nov(ember)? 6","calendar days"]},{"label":"Gives the line format","patterns":["oldest first","format"]},{"label":"States the 60-day rule","patterns":["60 days","escalate"]},{"label":"Bans guessing","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*(say|guess)","unidentified"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","plain"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Attributing the deposit","why":"The AI repeats the preparer's guess that Delgado paid.","fix":"Add: \"Call it unidentified; do not say who it belongs to.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Miscounting days","why":"The AI counts from the wrong date or by months.","fix":"Say: \"Age = calendar days from the item date to Nov 6.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Escalating by amount","why":"The AI escalates the biggest item (the $2,200 deposit).","fix":"Add: \"Escalate if more than 60 days old, otherwise Monitor.\"","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":"Age is arithmetic and escalation is a rule. Spell out both, the order and the closing total.","rubricLabels":["Items are listed oldest first with ages Aug 17 = 81 days, Aug 28 = 70 days, Sep 1 = 66 days, Sep 14 = 53 days and Oct 30 = 7 days","Aug 17, Aug 28 and Sep 1 items are Escalate and Sep 14 and Oct 30 are Monitor; the last line starts \"Escalated total:\" and shows $780 + $320 + $45 = $1,145","The unidentified deposit isn't attributed to Delgado Catering or anyone else"]}