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Plan a payment run under a cash limit and a minimum balance

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

About this exercise

You're proposing this week's payment run for the controller to approve. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Pay:", "Defer:" and "Cash left above floor:". Pay invoices in due-date order, skipping any that don't fit within available cash (cash minus the minimum balance) and continuing with the next. The Pay line lists each with a running balance. This is a proposal, so end the Defer line with "(controller to approve)". Under 80 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Ignoring the minimum balance. The AI starts from $50,000 and ends with $8,000. Try: Say: "Available = bank balance minus the $5,000 minimum."
  • Counting the expected customer payment. The AI adds the $20,000 and pays D. Try: Add: "Don't count the expected customer payment."
  • Stopping at the first miss. The AI stops after INV-C and never considers INV-E. Try: Say: "If an invoice doesn't fit, defer it and continue with the next."
  • 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
  • Subtracts the floor
  • Gives the order and skip rule
  • Excludes the pending payment
  • Caps length

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