{"id":"fpa-cost-center-ytd-overrun-table","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"format","level":"intermediate","title":"Flag cost centers more than 5% over year-to-date budget","free":false,"task":"You're reviewing year-to-date spend by cost center. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Cost center | YTD budget | YTD actual | Variance % | Flag, one row per cost center and a Total row. Variance % = (actual - budget) / budget to one decimal with a sign (positive is over budget). Flag is \"Over 5%\" when the variance is above +5.0%. Don't mention causes or the managers' comments. No commentary. Under 90 words.","materialLabel":"YTD budget and actual by cost center, in $K (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"YTD SPEND BY COST CENTER - through October 2026, Pinecrest Software ($ thousands)\n\nCost center | YTD budget | YTD actual\nCC1 Marketing | 100 | 108\nCC2 Engineering | 200 | 204\nCC3 Operations | 150 | 140\nTotal | 450 | 452\n\nMethod: variance % = (actual - budget) / budget. Positive means over budget. Flag Over 5% only when the variance is above +5.0%.\n\nManager comments (not part of the table): CC1 says 'a conference was paid early'; CC3 says 'we are holding back purchases'. These are explanations; the table only measures variance.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the columns","patterns":["cost center.*ytd budget.*ytd actual.*variance.*flag","columns"]},{"label":"Gives the formula","patterns":["actual - budget"]},{"label":"Defines the flag","patterns":["over 5%","above \\+5\\.0%"]},{"label":"Bans causes","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*(causes|comments)"]},{"label":"Limits output","patterns":["no commentary","only the table"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Flagging CC3","why":"The AI flags CC3 because its variance is large (negative).","fix":"Say: \"Flag Over 5% only when the variance is above +5.0%.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Adding the managers' explanations","why":"The AI mentions the conference or held-back purchases.","fix":"Add: \"Do not mention causes or managers' comments.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong sign","why":"The AI subtracts budget from actual the other way.","fix":"Add: \"Variance % = (actual - budget) / budget, positive = over.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Missing total row","why":"The AI drops the Total row.","fix":"Say: \"Rows CC1, CC2, CC3 and Total.\"","checks":["r0","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":"A variance flag looks only at over-budget percents. Give the formula, the threshold and the bans.","rubricLabels":["Table has the columns Cost center | YTD budget | YTD actual | Variance % | Flag with rows CC1, CC2, CC3 and a Total row","Variances are +8.0%, +2.0%, -6.7% and +0.4% for the total, and only CC1 is flagged Over 5%","The output never mentions the managers' comments, the conference or held-back purchases, and has no commentary"]}