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Apply an inflation adjustment to non-labor budget lines only

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

About this exercise

You're drafting a department's FY27 budget ask. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Labor:", "Non-labor:", "New total:" and "Increase:", each with the math. The 3% inflation adjustment applies to non-labor lines only. Increase shows dollars and percent of the current total to one decimal. Don't mention the department head's request for 5% on everything. Under 70 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Inflating labor too. The AI applies 3% to the whole $1,000,000 and gets $1,030,000. Try: Say: "The 3% applies to non-labor lines only."
  • Using the department head's 5%. The AI follows the request. Try: Add: "Do not mention the department head's 5% request."
  • Percent on the wrong base. The AI computes 3.0% of the total. Try: Add: "Increase as a percent of the current total ($1,000,000)."
  • 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 four lines
  • Applies 3% to non-labor only
  • Shows the sum
  • Bans the 5% request
  • Caps length

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