{"id":"dat-fin-budget-formulas-in-words","audience":"finance","category":"data","technique":"audience","title":"Explain a budget sheet's formulas in plain words","free":false,"task":"Dmitri left, and the new program coordinator, Lucy, now owns his budget tracker. She has never used spreadsheet formulas. Write exactly 4 numbered lines, one per formula, each one sentence under 20 words using column names (no cell letters or function names). Then one unnumbered last line starting \"Problem:\" if any formula doesn't cover all the data. Plain text, under 110 words.","materialLabel":"Formulas from the budget tracker (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"PROGRAM BUDGET TRACKER - formulas Dmitri set up\n\nColumns: A = Category, C = Budget, D = Spent\nData rows: 2 through 13 (12 categories, one per row)\n\nE2 \"Remaining\" (copied down to E13):\n=C2-D2\n\nF2 \"% used\" (copied down to F13):\n=D2/C2\n\nG2 \"Over budget?\" (copied down to G13):\n=IF(D2>C2,\"YES\",\"no\")\n\nH15 \"Total travel spend\":\n=SUMIF(A2:A12,\"Travel*\",D2:D12)\n\nDmitri's note: \"Travel categories all start with 'Travel' (Travel - Air, Travel - Hotel, etc). The last row, row 13, is Travel - Mileage, added in October.\"\n\nOther:\n- File lives in the shared Finance drive.\n- Lucy starts Monday.\n- Lucy will update the Spent column each month from the accounting export.\n- Categories include Travel - Air, Travel - Hotel, Travel - Meals, Supplies, Printing and others.\n- Dmitri's handoff doc says he \"tested everything,\" but that was before October.\n- Program director reviews the tracker quarterly.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":110}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Not saying who reads it","why":"The AI explains SUMIF syntax and cell ranges that mean nothing to Lucy.","fix":"Add: \"She's never used formulas. Use column names, no cell letters or function names.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Not asking it to check the ranges","why":"The AI explains the travel total without noticing it skips the last row.","fix":"Add: \"Check each formula covers rows 2 to 13; flag any that don't.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Leaving the shape open","why":"The AI writes a tutorial with headings and code blocks.","fix":"Say: \"Exactly 4 numbered lines, one sentence each, then one Problem: line.\"","checks":["numberedItems","r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each line: \"each line one sentence under 20 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it goes","why":"AI loves markdown tables and bold, which show up as clutter in a handoff doc.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold, headings or tables.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Says who reads it","patterns":["lucy","coordinator","never used|new to|beginner|non-?technical"]},{"label":"Bans cell letters","patterns":["cell","column names","no (function|formula) names"]},{"label":"Asks to check the ranges","patterns":["range","row 13","all (the )?(data|rows)","problem|bug|error"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)","under \\d+"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown","no formatting","no (headings|tables)"]}],"hint":"Say who will read this and what they don't know, and ask the AI to check each formula covers all the rows.","rubricLabels":["Explains each formula correctly by column name: Remaining is Budget minus Spent; % used is Spent divided by Budget; Over budget? shows YES when Spent is more than Budget; Total travel spend adds Spent for categories starting with Travel","Uses no lettered cell references (like C2 or D2:D12) and no function names (like SUMIF or IF) in the numbered lines; plain row numbers are fine","The last line flags that the travel total stops at row 12 and misses row 13 (Travel - Mileage), and there is no intro"]}