{"id":"fpa-hiring-cost-by-quarter","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"verification","level":"intermediate","title":"Spread three hires' costs across quarters with the latest start dates","free":false,"task":"You're spreading hiring costs across FY27 quarters. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Quarter | Hire 1 | Hire 2 | Hire 3 | Total, rows Q1 to Q4, then a line starting \"FY27 total:\" with the quarterly totals added. Use each hire's monthly cost and the latest start dates. Count the start month as a full month. No commentary. Under 90 words. No bullets or numbering.","materialLabel":"Hire list and start-date updates (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"HIRING PLAN COST INPUTS - FY27 (calendar year)\n\nMonthly cost per hire (loaded):\nHire 1 (Engineer): $12,000, starts Jan 1\nHire 2 (Analyst): $10,000, starts Mar 1\nHire 3 (Designer): $9,000, originally planned for Apr 1\n\nUpdate from HR (Nov 3 email): Hire 3's start is delayed to Jul 1. Offer accepted; no further changes expected.\n\nNotes: the start month counts as a full month. Quarters: Q1 Jan-Mar, Q2 Apr-Jun, Q3 Jul-Sep, Q4 Oct-Dec. The department head asked whether Hire 3 could be pulled back to April; HR said no.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the columns","patterns":["quarter.*hire 1.*total","columns"]},{"label":"Gives the proration rule","patterns":["months employed","start month"]},{"label":"Uses the updated date","patterns":["jul(y)? 1","updated","delay"]},{"label":"Asks for the total line","patterns":["fy27 total"]},{"label":"Limits output","patterns":["no commentary","only"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Using the original April start","why":"The AI starts Hire 3 in Q2 and totals $325,000.","fix":"Say: \"Use Hire 3's updated July 1 start.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Prorating the start month","why":"The AI halves the first month.","fix":"Add: \"The start month counts as a full month.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"No total line","why":"The AI ends without the addition.","fix":"Add: 'One line \"FY27 total:\" with the quarterly totals added.'","checks":["r2","maxBullets","r0"]},{"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 date changed after the original plan. Give the latest start, the month rule and the total line.","rubricLabels":["Table has columns Quarter | Hire 1 | Hire 2 | Hire 3 | Total with rows Q1 to Q4","Totals are Q1 $46,000, Q2 $66,000, Q3 $93,000 and Q4 $93,000 using Hire 3's July start (Hire 3 is $0 in Q1 and Q2)","FY27 total line shows $46,000 + $66,000 + $93,000 + $93,000 = $298,000 and there is no commentary"]}