{"id":"fpa-burn-discrepancy-memo","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"grounding","level":"advanced","title":"Write a CFO note that surfaces two conflicting burn numbers","free":false,"task":"You're giving the CFO a short pre-read before a board call. Write a prompt for plain text with three lines starting \"What happened:\", \"What we don't know:\" and \"Ask:\", under 110 words in total. Use the bank-based numbers as facts and show the subtraction. If two sources disagree, show both with their owners and don't pick one. The Ask is one specific request with a date from the notes.","materialLabel":"Cash notes from three people (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"CASH NOTES - Oct 2026, Pinecone Robotics\n\nBank export (treasury, Rae): Cash at Sep 30 was $2,400,000. Cash at Oct 31 was $2,202,000. The decrease includes a one-time $20,000 legal settlement payment on Oct 14.\n\nDana (Controller), Slack: \"Our burn is about $210k a month, I use that in the board deck.\" She did not say how she computed it.\n\nIlan (FP&A model): The forecast model shows October net burn of $195,000. It has the legal settlement in November, not October.\n\nRae: I can reconcile the three numbers if Dana sends me her calculation. The board call is Nov 19. I need the reconciliation done by Nov 12 to update the deck.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":110}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the three lines","patterns":["what happened","what we don'?t know","ask:"]},{"label":"Uses the bank export","patterns":["bank"]},{"label":"Keeps both numbers","patterns":["owner","both","dana","ilan"]},{"label":"Bans choosing","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*(choose|pick)"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","plain"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Picking a burn number","why":"The AI says burn is about $195k or $210k as fact.","fix":"Add: \"Show both with their owners. Do not choose between them.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Skipping the subtraction","why":"The AI says 'about $200k' without the bank math.","fix":"Say: \"Show $2,400,000 - $2,202,000 = $198,000 and the one-time adjustment.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Vague ask","why":"The AI asks to 'align on numbers'.","fix":"Add: \"Ask: one request with a date from the notes.\"","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 line short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"The notes hold a clean bank number and two unreconciled ones. Name the three lines and what to do with disagreement.","rubricLabels":["Has exactly three lines starting What happened:, What we don't know: and Ask:, and What happened shows the bank decrease $2,400,000 - $2,202,000 = $198,000 and $198,000 - $20,000 = $178,000 excluding the one-time settlement","What we don't know shows both burn figures with owners ($210k from Dana's deck, $195,000 from Ilan's model) and doesn't pick one as correct","Ask is one request tied to a date from the notes, such as Dana sending her calculation to Rae so the reconciliation is done by Nov 12"]}