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Summarize a contract's revenue terms for the controller

  • For Accountants
  • You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Advanced

About this exercise

The controller will decide the revenue treatment of a new order form; your job is a fact summary, not a conclusion. Write a prompt for a memo with exactly four headings in order: Promises, Price and payment, Timing terms, Open questions for the controller. Use only what the signed order form says, flag anything outside it, and don't conclude how or when revenue is recognized. Under 260 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Making the accounting call. Asked about revenue, the AI concludes the treatment, splitting the price and picking dates on its own. Try: Say: "Don't conclude how or when revenue is recognized. Put those as questions for the controller."
  • Treating the sales email as the deal. The AI folds the free-months promise into the terms as if it were signed. Try: Add: "Use only the signed order form; flag anything outside it, like the Sept 27 email."
  • No set structure. The AI picks its own headings, so the controller can't scan it the same way each time. Try: Give the four headings word for word, in order.
  • Dropping terms that matter. Summaries skip the training or the month-12 exit, which change the analysis. Try: Ask: "List every promise, price, and the termination and acceptance terms."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. Contract memos sprawl past any limit. Try: Say: "Each bullet under 18 words, at most 4 bullets per heading."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Gives the headings
  • Stays inside the contract
  • Flags outside promises
  • Leaves the conclusion to the controller
  • Sets length

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