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Email the CEO a runway number that excludes a one-time prepayment

  • For FP&A and financial analysts
  • You practice Giving the right context
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

Your CEO, Mira, emailed: "How many months of cash do we have?" Reply with a short email whose first sentence gives the runway in months. Base burn on the last 3 months, but exclude the one-time customer prepayment from October. Show the math in one line, keep it under 90 words and plain text, and sign off exactly "Jonah, FP&A".

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Averaging the raw months. The AI averages Aug-Oct as given, and the one-time prepayment makes burn look far lower. Try: Add: "Exclude the $400,000 Halden prepayment, so October burn is $500,000."
  • Burying the answer. The AI opens with context and caveats, and Mira has to hunt for the number. Try: Say: "First sentence: the runway in months."
  • Letting it pick a sign-off. The AI ends with "Best regards" and an offer to walk through it. Try: Say: "Sign off exactly: Jonah, FP&A. Nothing after it."
  • Forgetting where it goes. AI adds bold and headings, which show up as ** and # clutter in email and chat. Try: Add: "Plain text only, no bold, no headings."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and usually runs long on finance write-ups. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 15 words" so the total stays well under 90.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Excludes the one-time item
  • Puts the answer first
  • Shows the math
  • Gives the sign-off
  • Sets a length limit

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