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Nudge approvers about invoices stuck before a payment run
- For Accountants
- You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
- Time about 5 minutes
- Level Beginner
About this exercise
Bea in AP wants a Slack post nudging approvers before Thursday's payment run. Write a prompt for a plain-text message with first line exactly "Invoices waiting on your approval (payment run Thursday):", then one line per invoice still waiting, oldest first, formatted "@Name - Vendor $amount - N days", and a last line with the Wednesday 5pm cutoff. Leave out anything already approved. Under 80 words.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Including the approved invoice. The AI lists everything in the report and misses the note that Sam already approved. Try: Say: "Leave out anything the notes say is already approved."
- Report order instead of oldest first. The AI keeps the report's order, so the most overdue item isn't on top. Try: Ask: "Oldest first by days waiting."
- No fixed line shape. The AI writes sentences per approver, hard to scan in Slack. Try: Show the line: "@Name - Vendor $amount - N days".
- Missing the cutoff. The AI says 'please approve soon' instead of the real deadline. Try: Add: "Last line: approve by Wed 5pm or it rolls to next week."
- Slack-unfriendly formatting. The AI adds bold, headers and emoji, and runs long. Try: Say: "Plain text, under 60 words, first line exactly ..."
What a strong prompt includes
- Gives the first line
- Drops approved items
- Sets the order
- Shows the line format
- Adds the cutoff
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