{"id":"acct-unapplied-cash-match-table","audience":"accounting","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"format","level":"intermediate","title":"Match unapplied payments to open invoices without applying them","free":false,"task":"You're researching unapplied customer payments. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Payment | Likely invoice | Match | Note, one row per payment. Match is exactly one of \"Exact match\", \"Amount match only\", \"Partial payment\" or \"No match\". Note says what to confirm or what remains, and never says to apply the payment; a person applies cash. Under 110 words. No bullets or numbering.","materialLabel":"Unapplied payments and open invoices (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"UNAPPLIED CASH - Nov 6, 2026\n\nPayments received:\nP1  $2,300.00  Delmar Auto Repair, remittance says 'INV-2189'\nP2  $1,850.00  Oak & Ivy Florists, no remittance note\nP3  $1,000.00  Brightwell Dental, remittance says 'INV-2201'\nP4  $780.00   unknown payer (bank reference only), no note\n\nOpen invoices:\nINV-2189  Delmar Auto Repair      $2,300.00\nINV-2214  Oak & Ivy Florists      $1,850.00\nINV-2201  Brightwell Dental       $4,200.00\nINV-2230  Pine Ridge Dental       $960.00\n\nNote from the collector: 'P4 is probably Sable Law, they usually pay odd amounts.' Sable Law has no open invoice at $780.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":110},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the columns","patterns":["payment.*likely invoice.*match.*note","columns"]},{"label":"Restricts match labels","patterns":["exact match.*amount match only.*partial payment"]},{"label":"Asks for the remaining balance","patterns":["remaining","balance"]},{"label":"Bans applying and guessing","patterns":["(never|do not|don'?t).*(apply|guess)"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","only the table"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Naming the unknown payer","why":"The AI repeats the collector's guess that P4 is Sable Law.","fix":"Add: \"Do not guess who the unknown payer is.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Calling P2 an exact match","why":"The AI treats an amount match with no reference as exact.","fix":"Define: \"Exact match needs the reference and the amount to agree.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Missing the partial balance","why":"The AI marks P3 matched and skips the $3,200 left.","fix":"Add: \"Partial payment: show the remaining balance.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Applying cash","why":"The AI writes 'apply to INV-2201'.","fix":"Add: \"Never say to apply the payment.\"","checks":["r2","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":"Matching is research, not posting. Define each match label and ban both applying and guessing.","rubricLabels":["P1 is Exact match to INV-2189 and P2 is Amount match only to INV-2214 (same payer and amount, no reference), with a note to confirm","P3 is Partial payment to INV-2201 with $3,200.00 remaining ($4,200.00 - $1,000.00)","P4 is No match and the note does not name Sable Law or any payer, and no note says to apply a payment"]}