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Reconcile why two dashboards show different revenue
- For Finance and accounting
- You practice Catching mistakes and made-up facts
- Time about 5 minutes
- Level Advanced
About this exercise
Two dashboards show different October revenue and a director wants to know why. Write a plain-text reconciliation of exactly 3 labeled lines: Dashboard A, Dashboard B and Gap. Show the subtraction from A's number to B's number step by step, name each cause with its dollar amount, and end the Gap line with whether anything is unexplained. Under 90 words, using only the figures given.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Naming causes without math. The AI lists reasons but never subtracts them from A. Try: Add: "Show $1,200,000 - $84,000 - ... = $X."
- Forcing a perfect match. The AI claims the four items explain the whole gap. Try: Add: "State how far the result is from B and call the leftover unexplained."
- Inventing a cause. The AI blames currency conversion or rounding for the leftover. Try: Add: "Use only the figures given. Don't guess a cause for any leftover."
- Leaving the format to chance. The AI picks its own length and layout unless told the exact shape. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold or headings."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each part instead, for example "each line under 15 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Asks for three labeled lines
- Asks for the subtraction
- Names the amounts
- Asks for leftover handling
- Caps length
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