Cost a three-year contract with a percent escalator and a dollar cap

About this exercise

You're budgeting a three-year software contract for the procurement lead. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Year 1:", "Year 2:", "Year 3:", "Total:" and "Cap effect:". Use the contract's cap on the annual increase. Show the math with the uncapped increase and the capped increase. Cap effect compares the total with the uncapped total. Under 110 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Using the rep's email. The AI budgets $106,000 and $112,360. Try: Say: "Use the signed contract's cap, not the earlier email."
• Capping from the start. The AI caps both years from the Year 1 fee. Try: Add: "Apply 6% to the prior year's fee, then cap the increase at $5,000."
• Missing the cap comparison. The AI stops at the total. Try: Add: "Cap effect: uncapped total minus capped total."
• 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 part short.

What a strong prompt includes

• Names the five lines
• States the cap
• Uses the contract
• Asks for the math
• Caps length

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