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Compute the dollar cost of a euro invoice at booking and at payment

  • For Accountants
  • You practice Catching mistakes and made-up facts
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

You're booking and paying a euro-denominated supplier invoice. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Booked:", "Paid:" and "FX difference:", each with the math in dollars. Use the rate on the invoice date to book and the rate on the payment date to pay. Say whether the difference is a loss or a gain for us, and ignore the month-end rate and the bank fee. Under 60 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Using the month-end rate. The AI books at 1.09, giving $2,180. Try: Say: "Book at the invoice date rate (Oct 10) and pay at the Nov 5 rate."
  • Adding the wire fee. The AI includes the $15 in the paid amount. Try: Add: "Ignore the wire fee."
  • Wrong direction. The AI calls the $40 a gain. Try: Add: "Say loss or gain for us: paying more dollars is a loss."
  • Markdown extras. The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note. Try: Say: "Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for."
  • 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 line short.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the three lines
  • Gives the rates to use
  • Asks loss or gain
  • Ignores month-end and fee
  • Caps length

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