Library › Finance AI › Small business owners
Total a mileage log at the reimbursement rate
- For Small business owners
- You practice Asking for a format you can use
- Time about 5 minutes
- Level Beginner
About this exercise
You're reviewing an employee's mileage claim. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Date | Trip | Miles | Amount, one row per reimbursable trip, then a line starting "Total:" with the addition. Rate is $0.60 per mile. Leave out the commute from home to the office. No commentary. Under 100 words. No bullets or numbering.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Including the commute. The AI claims the Oct 7 commute at $10.80. Try: Say: "Leave out the regular home-to-office commute."
- Second-guessing the Oct 19 trip. The AI subtracts the normal commute from the Oct 19 miles. Try: Add: "Use the miles as logged for every other trip."
- No total or wrong total. The AI skips the total line or adds all five rows. Try: Add: 'One line "Total:" with the four amounts added.'
- 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 columns
- Excludes the commute
- Gives the rate
- Asks for the total line
- Limits output
Related exercises
- Accrue goods received but not invoiced at PO price (Finance AI · Accountants)
- Adapt one ad image to 3 sizes with Midjourney (Image & Video AI · Marketing and content)
- Age open requisitions as of today and flag the old ones (Finance AI · FP&A and financial analysts)
- Age reconciling items and escalate those over 60 days (Finance AI · Accountants)
- Allocate shared rent by headcount using the right roster (Finance AI · Accountants)