Library › Finance AI › FP&A and financial analysts

Compute days of cash using cash costs only

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

About this exercise

You're giving the CFO a quick days-of-cash figure. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Cash operating costs:", "Per day:" and "Days of cash:", each with the math. Use 30 days per month and remove non-cash costs. Don't mention financing plans or fundraising anywhere. Under 60 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Including depreciation. The AI uses $450,000 and shows 200 days. Try: Say: "Remove depreciation and amortization first."
  • Mentioning the loan. The AI adds a note about the possible loan. Try: Add: "Do not mention loans, fundraising or financing."
  • Wrong day basis. The AI divides by 365 or 31. Try: Add: "Per day = cash costs / 30."
  • 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 three lines
  • Removes non-cash costs
  • Gives the divisor
  • Bans financing talk
  • Caps length

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises