{"id":"fpa-q3-opex-variance-commentary-reclass","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","level":"intermediate","technique":"grounding","title":"Write Q3 opex variance lines that apply the controller's reclass","free":false,"task":"You're writing variance commentary for the Q3 business review deck. Write exactly 4 numbered lines, one per expense line in the order shown, each showing actual − budget = variance with an F (favorable) or U (unfavorable) label and the percent of budget, then a one-phrase reason. Use the numbers after the controller's reclass. End each line with one tag in brackets: [Timing], [One-time] or [Ongoing]. Plain text, under 120 words.","materialLabel":"Source material (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"LARKSPUR ANALYTICS - Q3 OPEX, BUDGET VS ACTUAL (preliminary GL pull, Oct 4)\n\nLine | Q3 Budget | Q3 Actual\nSalaries | $900,000 | $864,000\nContractors | $64,000 | $95,000\nSoftware | $120,000 | $129,000\nTravel | $40,000 | $22,000\n\nOwner notes:\n- Salaries: two engineering hires planned for July started Sept 15. Full cost runs from Q4.\n- Contractors: the data migration ran three weeks long. Vendor work finished Sept 30.\n- Software: seat count went from 200 to 240 in August and stays there.\n- Travel: sales kickoff moved from September to October 12.\n\nController, Oct 6: Invoice #4471 ($15,000, Fenwick Systems implementation) was coded to Contractors by mistake. It belongs in Software. Reclass posted in the final close; final numbers reflect it.\n\nFYI the Q3 deck template moved to the shared drive, slide 7.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":120}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Ignoring the reclass","why":"The AI often uses the first table it sees and misses the controller's later correction.","fix":"Add: \"Move the $15,000 Fenwick invoice from Contractors to Software before calculating.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Bare variance numbers","why":"Without a format the AI gives a total and a percent, but not the subtraction a reviewer can check.","fix":"Show the line: \"1. Salaries: $864,000 − $900,000 = $36,000 F (4%). Late hires. [Timing]\"","checks":["r1","numberedItems"]},{"title":"No timing tag","why":"The AI explains causes but rarely says whether they will repeat, which is what leaders ask first.","fix":"Add: \"End each line with [Timing], [One-time] or [Ongoing].\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it goes","why":"AI adds bold and headings, which show up as ** and # clutter in email and chat.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text only, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting and usually runs long on finance write-ups.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"each line under 15 words\" so the total stays well under 120.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Applies the reclass","patterns":["reclass","fenwick","15,?000","controller"]},{"label":"Labels F and U","patterns":["\\bF\\b.*\\bU\\b","favorable","unfavorable"]},{"label":"Shows the math","patterns":["actual\\s*[-−]\\s*budget","show (the )?math","subtract"]},{"label":"Asks for a timing tag","patterns":["timing","one-time","ongoing"]},{"label":"Sets a length limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)","under \\d+"]}],"hint":"Think about which numbers are final, and what a leader wants to know about each variance besides its size.","rubricLabels":["Contractors and Software use the post-reclass figures: Contractors $80,000 actual = $16,000 U (25%); Software $144,000 actual = $24,000 U (20%)","Salaries shows $36,000 F (4%) and Travel shows $18,000 F (45%), and every line writes out actual minus budget with an F or U label","Every line ends with one bracketed tag, with Salaries and Travel tagged [Timing] and Contractors tagged [One-time]"]}