{"id":"ind-fin-auditor-pbc-status","audience":"finance","category":"writing-emails","technique":"format","title":"Give an auditor a status line for every requested item","free":false,"task":"Your outside auditor sent a list of 5 requested documents. Reply with exactly 5 numbered lines in the auditor's order, each in the form \"Item: Status - detail\", where Status is exactly Ready, In progress or Not ours. Give a date for anything in progress and name who owns anything that isn't yours. Keep it under 90 words, plain text. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.","materialLabel":"The request list and your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"FROM: Keisha Monroe, Audit Senior, Pratt & Wilde LLP (fictional)\nSubject: Year-end PBC list - Delmar Clinics\n\nHi team, please send status on these by Friday:\n1. Bank reconciliations, all 3 accounts, Dec 31\n2. Fixed asset rollforward\n3. Payroll register for Q4\n4. Lease agreements for the 2 new locations\n5. Accounts payable aging, Dec 31\n\n---\nMY NOTES (Owen, staff accountant)\n- Bank recs: done for all 3 accounts, uploaded to the audit portal Monday.\n- Fixed assets: about half done, waiting on the depreciation report. Should be finished Jan 22.\n- Payroll register: payroll is outsourced to Gridline Payroll; HR (Tamsin Lee) has to request it from them. Not something I can pull.\n- Leases: I have the Oak Street lease signed. The Pine Ave lease is still with Legal (Carlos Vega) for countersignature; Legal says Jan 24.\n- AP aging: run and reviewed, sitting in my drafts; need to upload. Can upload today.\n- Reminder: Keisha prefers short replies, she's tracking 40 clients.\n- Office closed Monday for the holiday.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":5},{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"No fixed shape","why":"The AI writes a friendly email with paragraphs per item.","fix":"Be exact: \"Exactly 5 numbered lines, in her order: Item: Status - detail.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText","r2"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for \"under 90 words\" and it often lands well over.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"each detail under 10 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Inventing status words","why":"The AI uses Done, Pending, Partially complete, Waiting, so the auditor can't sort.","fix":"Add: \"Status is exactly Ready, In progress or Not ours.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Leaving out dates and owners","why":"The AI says \"in progress\" without a date or doesn't say who owns payroll.","fix":"Add: \"Give a date for In progress items and name the owner for Not ours.\"","checks":["r1"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Uses exact status labels","patterns":["ready","in progress","not ours","exact(ly)? (status|label)"]},{"label":"Keeps her order","patterns":["same order","her order","auditor'?s order","numbered"]},{"label":"Asks for dates and owners","patterns":["date","owner","who owns"]},{"label":"Sets the number of lines","patterns":["\\b(5|five)\\b.{0,20}(lines|items)"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"An auditor tracking 40 clients needs status at a glance. Give the AI exact labels, the order, and what each label must come with.","rubricLabels":["Each line uses exactly one of the statuses Ready, In progress or Not ours (no other labels like Done, Pending, Partial)","The statuses are: bank recs Ready, fixed assets In progress (Jan 22), payroll register Not ours (naming Tamsin Lee/HR or Gridline Payroll), leases In progress (Jan 24), AP aging Ready; every In progress line has a date","The 5 lines follow the auditor's numbering and order, and there is no greeting paragraph, closing paragraph or explanation beyond the 5 lines"]}