{"id":"fpa-it-cost-allocation-headcount-excluding-it-lines","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"constraints","level":"intermediate","title":"Allocate IT cost to departments by headcount, leaving IT out","free":false,"task":"You're allocating the quarter's IT cost to the departments that use it. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting \"Allocation base:\", \"Rate per head:\", \"Sales:\", \"Support:\", \"Finance:\" and \"Check:\". Allocate by headcount, using only the departments being charged; the IT team is not charged for its own cost. Show the math. The Check line proves the allocations add to the IT cost. Under 100 words.","materialLabel":"Source material (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"IT COST ALLOCATION - Q3 2026\n\nTotal IT cost to allocate: $120,000\n\nHeadcount at Sep 30:\n- Sales: 40\n- Support: 30\n- Finance: 10\n- IT: 20 (the IT department does not get charged for its own cost)\n- Contractors in Sales (5) are not employees and are not counted\n\nNotes: the CFO asked for a simple method. The company previously split IT cost evenly over all 100 employees (including IT), which gave $1,200 per head. That method is replaced this quarter because IT staff would be charged for their own cost. Allocations are rounded to whole dollars. Facilities and HR costs are allocated separately and are not part of this exercise.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":100}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the six lines","patterns":["allocation base","rate per head","sales","support","finance","check"]},{"label":"Excludes IT and contractors","patterns":["it","contractor","exclude","leave out"]},{"label":"Asks for the math","patterns":["show the math","math"]},{"label":"Asks for the check","patterns":["add to","check","120,000"]},{"label":"Caps length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","under \\d+"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Using all 100 employees","why":"The AI divides by 100 and charges IT.","fix":"Say: \"Base is the charged departments only; leave out IT and contractors.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Counting contractors","why":"The AI adds the 5 contractors to Sales.","fix":"Add: \"Contractors are not counted.\"","checks":["r0","r1"]},{"title":"Missing the check","why":"The AI doesn't prove the total.","fix":"Add: \"A Check line: allocations add to $120,000.\"","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 part short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"The base decides the answer. Say which departments count and which people don't.","rubricLabels":["Allocation base shows 40 + 30 + 10 = 80 heads (IT's 20 and the 5 contractors excluded) and Rate per head shows $120,000 / 80 = $1,500","Sales shows 40 x $1,500 = $60,000, Support shows 30 x $1,500 = $45,000 and Finance shows 10 x $1,500 = $15,000","Check shows $60,000 + $45,000 + $15,000 = $120,000"]}