{"id":"sheet-fin-pivot-plan-q3-spend","audience":"finance","category":"spreadsheets","track":"data","technique":"format","title":"Plan a pivot table for Q3 approved spend in four lines","free":false,"task":"Your CFO wants Q3 2026 approved spend with departments down the side and categories across the top, in US dollars. Before you build it, ask for the pivot table plan as exactly 4 numbered lines labeled Rows:, Columns:, Values: and Filter:, naming the exact column from the export on each line. Plain text, under 70 words.","materialLabel":"Your expense export (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Expense export - Jan 1 to Oct 31, 2026 (2,318 rows)\n\nColumns:\nA Txn date | B Department | C Category | D Vendor | E Amount (local) | F Currency | G Amount (USD) | H Status | I Submitted by\n\nSample rows:\n2026-07-03 | Sales | Travel | SkyLane Air | 1,240.00 | USD | 1,240.00 | Approved | P. Ruiz\n2026-07-11 | Engineering | Software | CodeVault | 980.00 | EUR | 1,062.30 | Approved | K. Osei\n2026-08-02 | Marketing | Events | Hall 9 Venue | 4,500.00 | GBP | 5,715.00 | Pending | L. Brandt\n2026-08-19 | Sales | Meals | Corner Bistro | 86.40 | USD | 86.40 | Rejected | P. Ruiz\n2026-09-05 | Operations | Equipment | ToolDepot | 2,310.00 | CAD | 1,686.30 | Approved | M. Tan\n2026-10-02 | Engineering | Software | CodeVault | 980.00 | EUR | 1,066.10 | Approved | K. Osei\n\nNotes:\n- Status values: Approved, Pending, Rejected\n- About 30% of rows are in non-USD currencies\n- Last quarter someone summed column E and the totals were off","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"maxWords","max":70},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Not saying what the CFO wants","why":"The AI picks its own layout, often vendors or months as rows.","fix":"Add: \"Departments down the side, categories across the top, Q3 approved only.\"","checks":["r0","r2"]},{"title":"Summing the wrong amount","why":"The AI grabs the first Amount column, which mixes currencies.","fix":"Add: \"Use Amount (USD), column G.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Getting click-by-click steps","why":"The AI writes a long how-to for building pivot tables.","fix":"Say: \"Just the plan: exactly 4 lines, Rows:, Columns:, Values:, Filter:.\"","checks":["numberedItems","maxWords"]},{"title":"Getting markdown back","why":"AI bolds the labels and adds headings.","fix":"Ask for \"plain text, no bold.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Says what the CFO wants","patterns":["q3","approved","department","categor"]},{"label":"Picks the USD column","patterns":["usd","column g","dollars"]},{"label":"Names the 4 labels","patterns":["rows:","columns:","values:","filter:"]},{"label":"Asks for a plan, not steps","patterns":["plan","\\b(4|four)\\b.{0,20}lines","no steps"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown"]}],"hint":"A pivot table is four choices. Tell the AI what the CFO wants to see and ask for exactly those four choices, naming real columns.","rubricLabels":["The 4 lines are labeled Rows:, Columns:, Values: and Filter:, with Rows: Department and Columns: Category","Values: is the sum of Amount (USD), column G (not Amount (local) and not a count)","Filter: keeps Status = Approved only and Txn date from July 1 to September 30, 2026"]}