Choose this week's vendor payments under a cash cap

About this exercise

You run accounts payable, and the controller set a $50,000 cap for this week's payment run. You want exactly 5 numbered lines: 4 invoices to pay in priority order, then a total line showing the sum, under 70 words, plain text. Rank by the controller's rules, use the corrected invoice amount, and don't pay the invoice that's on hold. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Not giving the rules. The AI pays the biggest or oldest invoices first. Try: Add: "Rank by the controller's rules: late fee, then discount, then oldest due."
• Missing the correction. The original $14,200 is in the list. Try: Add: "Use Ridgeline's corrected $12,700."
• Paying the held invoice. The AI sees Northgate due soon and includes it. Try: Add: "Never pay an invoice on hold."
• Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI builds a table with notes. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 5 numbered lines: 4 invoices, then the total with its math. Plain text."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 70 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 9 words."

What a strong prompt includes

• Says how many lines
• Uses the rules
• Uses the correction
• Skips the hold
• Shows the total

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