Library › Finance AI › FP&A and financial analysts

Compute remaining capex budget per project including commitments

  • For FP&A and financial analysts
  • You practice Catching mistakes and made-up facts
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

You're reviewing capital project budgets. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns Project | Budget | Actual | Committed | Remaining | Flag, one row per project, then a line starting "Total remaining:" with the addition. Remaining = budget - actual - committed. Flag is "Over" if remaining is negative. Don't net one project's overage against another. No commentary. Under 90 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Ignoring commitments. The AI computes remaining as budget minus actual only. Try: Say: "Remaining = Budget - Actual - Committed."
  • Netting the overage. The AI nets P2's overage against P3 and shows no Over flag. Try: Add: "Do not net projects; flag P2 Over."
  • Echoing the manager's plan. The AI repeats that P3 will cover P2. Try: Add: "Do not mention the plan to offset the overage."
  • Wrong table shape. The AI drops the Committed column or adds notes. Try: Say: "Columns exactly: Project | Budget | Actual | Committed | Remaining | Flag."
  • 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
  • Gives the remaining formula
  • Defines the flag
  • Bans the offset comment
  • Limits output

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises