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Spread a lease with free months and a step-up into a planning average

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

About this exercise

You're giving FP&A a planning view of lease cost. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Total rent:", "Straight-line monthly:", "Month 1 cash:", "Month 1 planning view:" and "Note:". Total rent adds the paid months at each rent level. The Note line says this is a planning view and the accounting treatment is decided by the controller. Don't state any accounting treatment. Under 90 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Counting the free months as paid. The AI uses 36 months at $10,000 and gets a wrong total. Try: Say: "33 months at $10,000 (months 4 to 36) plus 24 months at $10,800."
  • Stating how it must be booked. The AI says the lease must be booked straight-line. Try: Add: "Do not state any accounting treatment; that is the controller's decision."
  • Adding the allowance. The AI nets the $60,000 improvement allowance into the average. Try: Add: "Do not mention the improvement allowance."
  • 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 five lines
  • Counts the months
  • Adds the controller note
  • Bans accounting treatment
  • Caps length

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