{"id":"fpa-headcount-plan-tieout","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"verification","level":"advanced","title":"Check a headcount plan for numbers that do not tie","free":false,"task":"You're reviewing the FY27 headcount plan before it goes to the CFO. Write a prompt for a checklist of exactly 3 lines starting with \"- [ ]\", one per issue, each stating the plan's figure, your recomputed figure and the difference. Recompute from the roster, the hire list and the cost assumption. Don't recommend hiring, cutting or approving any role. Plain text, under 120 words.","materialLabel":"Headcount plan summary and hire list (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"FY27 HEADCOUNT PLAN SUMMARY - draft v3, Nov 4, 2026\n\nStarting roster (Jan 1): 38 employees\nPlanned attrition: 2 (1 Support in Q2, 1 Sales in Q3)\nEnd-of-year headcount per plan summary: 44\n\nHIRE LIST (start months, all in 2027)\nEngineering: Feb, Apr, Jul (3 hires, req numbers ENG-21, ENG-22, ENG-23)\nSales: Mar, Aug (2 hires, req SAL-09 only for the March hire; the August hire has no req number yet)\nSupport: May (1 hire, req SUP-04)\n\nCOST ASSUMPTION\nAverage fully loaded cost per hire: $120,000 per year.\nPlan summary shows total FY27 cost of new hires: $720,000 (6 hires x $120,000).\n\nNotes: start months are the first day of the month. Cost for a hire is prorated by months employed in 2027, counting the start month through December. The Feb hire counts 11 months, the Apr hire 9, Jul 6, Mar 10, Aug 5, May 8.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":120},{"type":"maxBullets","max":3}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Specifies checklist format","patterns":["- \\[ \\]","checklist","3 lines"]},{"label":"Asks to recompute","patterns":["recompute","roster \\+","months"]},{"label":"Shows the cost math","patterns":["divide by 12","\\$120,000","prorat"]},{"label":"Flags missing req","patterns":["requisition","req"]},{"label":"Bans recommendations","patterns":["(do not|don'?t).*(recommend|approve|cut|hire)"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Trusting the plan totals","why":"The AI repeats 44 and $720,000 without recomputing.","fix":"Say: \"Recompute headcount and cost from the roster and hire list; show the arithmetic.\"","checks":["r0","r1"]},{"title":"Full-year cost for part-year hires","why":"The AI multiplies six hires by $120,000.","fix":"Add: \"Prorate by months employed: add all six hires' months, divide by 12.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Giving hiring advice","why":"The AI suggests cutting the August hire or approving the missing req.","fix":"Add: \"Do not recommend hiring, cutting or approving any role.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong format","why":"The AI writes a long memo with bold headers.","fix":"Say: 'Exactly 3 lines starting \"- [ ]\", plain text.'","checks":["plainText","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":"The summary may not tie to its own inputs. Ask for recomputation with arithmetic and for flags only.","rubricLabels":["One line says end-of-year headcount in the plan is 44 but 38 + 6 hires - 2 attrition = 42, a difference of 2","One line says new-hire cost in the plan is $720,000 but prorated months (11+9+6+10+5+8 = 49 months) / 12 x $120,000 = $490,000, a difference of $230,000","One line flags that the August Sales hire has no requisition number, and no line recommends hiring, cutting or approving any role"]}