Library › Data AI › Managers and team leads
Explain a budget overspend with the math first
Practice: Catching mistakes and made-up facts. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
Your director asked why your team went over its Q3 supplies budget. Write the variance with its math in the first sentence ('spent X vs budget Y = Z over'), then exactly 2 numbered reasons with their dollar amounts, plain text, under 70 words. Use the corrected invoice, and leave out reasons that didn't cost anything.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Burying the number. The AI explains the season before saying how much you went over. Try: Add: "First sentence: spent $21,300 vs $18,000 budget = $3,300 over."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 18 words."
- Using the uncorrected spend. The finance report figure appears first, with the correction below it. Try: Add: "Use the corrected spend after removing Dock A's $1,100 invoice."
- Listing every event. The AI includes the printer and chairs, which cost nothing. Try: Add: "Exactly 2 numbered reasons with dollar amounts. Skip anything that cost $0."
- Formatting a report. The AI adds a bold table that breaks when forwarded. Try: Add: "Plain text, no table."
What a strong prompt includes
- Shows the math first
- Uses the correction
- Limits to real costs
- Sets the number of reasons
- Sets a word limit
Related exercises
- Alert sales to a competitor's price change, facts only (Research AI · Product managers)
- Approve or return expense claims against the policy (Productivity AI · Finance and accounting)
- Approve part of an overtime request with the math (Writing AI · Managers and team leads)
- Average daily call activity after fixing a dialer glitch (Data AI · Sales and customer success)
- Average handle times after removing outage calls (Data AI · Customer support teams)