{"id":"fpa-headcount-bridge-reconcile-table","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"verification","level":"intermediate","title":"Bridge opening to ending headcount and flag the unexplained gap","free":false,"task":"You're reconciling headcount for the CFO. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Step, Count and Math, covering opening, hires, terminations, computed ending and reported ending, followed by one \"Gap:\" line. Transfers between departments net to zero company-wide, so leave them out. If the computed ending does not match the reported ending, the Gap line states the difference and says what to confirm with HR. Do not guess the cause as fact. Under 110 words.","materialLabel":"Source material (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"HRIS HEADCOUNT SUMMARY - Q3 2026 (company-wide, employees only)\n\nOpening headcount, Jul 1: 120\nNew hires in the quarter: 14\nTerminations in the quarter: 9\nInternal transfers in: 3 (Sales from Support)\nInternal transfers out: 3 (Support to Sales)\nReported ending headcount, Sep 30: 126\n\nDepartment detail (for reference): Sales ended at 38, Support at 31, Engineering at 41, G&A at 16. The HRIS report is generated on the first business day after quarter end. HR says the numbers are final unless a correction is filed. Contractors are excluded from every number in this summary. Leaves of absence are still counted as employees.\n\nFootnote: One summer intern was converted to a full-time employee on Sep 30. Interns are not counted as employees until conversion, and the conversion is not in the new hires number above.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":110}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the columns","patterns":["step","count","math"]},{"label":"Excludes transfers","patterns":["transfer","net to zero","leave out"]},{"label":"Asks for the Gap line","patterns":["gap"]},{"label":"Says to confirm, not conclude","patterns":["confirm","hr","do not guess"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","under \\d+"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Counting the transfers","why":"The AI adds 3 in and subtracts 3 out, which clutters the bridge.","fix":"Say: \"Leave transfers out; they net to zero.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Forcing the totals to tie","why":"The AI changes a number or ignores the 126.","fix":"Add: \"Show computed ending and reported ending separately.\"","checks":["r0","r1"]},{"title":"Stating the cause as fact","why":"The AI says the intern conversion is the answer.","fix":"Add: \"Do not state a cause as fact; say what to confirm with HR.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"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 part short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"A bridge should prove itself. Show each step's math, keep computed and reported apart, and say what a human must confirm.","rubricLabels":["The table has rows for opening (120), hires (14), terminations (9), computed ending (125, shown as 120 + 14 - 9) and reported ending (126), and does not include the transfers","A \"Gap:\" line states a difference of 1 (126 - 125)","The Gap line says to confirm with HR whether the intern conversion explains it, using words like \"possible\" or \"confirm\" and not stating it as the established cause"]}