{"id":"mgr-x-budget-variance-note","audience":"managers","category":"data","track":"data","technique":"verification","title":"Explain a budget overspend with the math first","free":false,"task":"Your director asked why your team went over its Q3 supplies budget. Write the variance with its math in the first sentence ('spent X vs budget Y = Z over'), then exactly 2 numbered reasons with their dollar amounts, plain text, under 70 words. Use the corrected invoice, and leave out reasons that didn't cost anything.","materialLabel":"Your budget notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Q3 supplies budget - Dock C team (Cedar Freight)\n\nBudget: $18,000.\nSpent: $22,400 (per finance report Oct 3).\n  CORRECTION (Oct 6): a $1,100 pallet wrap invoice was charged to us by mistake; it belongs to Dock A. Our real spend is $21,300.\n\nWhy we went over:\n- Replaced 6 broken pallet jacks early after a safety inspection: $2,100 unplanned.\n- Peak season started 3 weeks early, so we bought extra shrink wrap and labels: $1,200 more than planned.\n- New label printer arrived; it was under warranty, $0 to us.\n- Team asked for new chairs in the break room (not approved, nothing spent).\n\nDirector (Mara) style: numbers first, short. She'll forward it to finance.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":2},{"type":"maxWords","max":70},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Burying the number","why":"The AI explains the season before saying how much you went over.","fix":"Add: \"First sentence: spent $21,300 vs $18,000 budget = $3,300 over.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"each line under 18 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Using the uncorrected spend","why":"The finance report figure appears first, with the correction below it.","fix":"Add: \"Use the corrected spend after removing Dock A's $1,100 invoice.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Listing every event","why":"The AI includes the printer and chairs, which cost nothing.","fix":"Add: \"Exactly 2 numbered reasons with dollar amounts. Skip anything that cost $0.\"","checks":["numberedItems","r1","r2"]},{"title":"Formatting a report","why":"The AI adds a bold table that breaks when forwarded.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no table.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Shows the math first","patterns":["first sentence","vs budget","= .{0,10}over","math"]},{"label":"Uses the correction","patterns":["21,?300","correct","dock a"]},{"label":"Limits to real costs","patterns":["dollar","\\$0","cost nothing","skip"]},{"label":"Sets the number of reasons","patterns":["\\b(2|two)\\b.{0,15}reason"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Finance reads the number first. Tell the AI to lead with the corrected math, then exactly the reasons that cost money.","rubricLabels":["The first sentence shows $21,300 spent vs $18,000 budget = $3,300 over (not $22,400 or $4,400)","The 2 reasons are the early replacement of 6 pallet jacks after a safety inspection ($2,100) and peak season starting 3 weeks early with extra wrap and labels ($1,200)","Mentions neither the warranty printer nor the break-room chairs, and has no intro or closing paragraph"]}