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Decide capitalize or expense for five purchases against the policy

  • For Accountants
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

You're reviewing five purchases against the capitalization policy. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Item, Cost, Decision and Reason, one row per purchase in the order listed. Decision must be exactly Capitalize, Expense or Ask Controller (use Ask Controller for anything the policy does not cover). Reason is under 8 words. Cost is the amount that would be recorded. Under 130 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Capitalizing the grouped laptops. The AI adds the five laptops into $7,000. Try: Say: "Apply the threshold per unit, even when bought in groups."
  • Leaving out installation. The AI records the rack at $2,900. Try: Add: "Include installation in cost."
  • Deciding the software. The AI capitalizes the license on its own. Try: Add: "Use Ask Controller for anything the policy does not cover."
  • Long reasons. The AI writes full sentences in the table. Try: Add: "Reason under 8 words."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits. Try: Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each part short.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the columns
  • Gives the three labels
  • Says per unit
  • Caps the reason
  • Caps length

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