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Check a department budget submission against four guardrails

  • For FP&A and financial analysts
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

You're screening FY27 budget submissions. Write a prompt for plain text with four lines starting "Growth cap:", "New heads:", "One-time split:" and "Assumptions:", each saying Pass or Fail and the evidence with the math, then a last line "Overall:" that says Ready only if all four pass, otherwise Not ready. Under 90 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Accepting the assumptions claim. The AI passes assumptions because the head says they're obvious. Try: Add: "Judge by what was submitted, not by what the head says."
  • No growth math. The AI says 'a bit above the cap'. Try: Say: "Show the growth math: increase / FY26 budget."
  • Wrong overall. The AI says Ready because most checks pass. Try: Add: '"Ready" only if all four pass.'
  • 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 five lines
  • Asks for Pass or Fail
  • Shows the math
  • States the overall rule
  • Caps length

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