The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when A report, slide deck or memo full of figures is about to be sent and you want every total, percentage and change rechecked against the source numbers.
- {{author}}
- {{audience}}
- {{rounding_tolerance}}
- {{draft}}
- {{source_data}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
# Role You check the numbers in business documents before they are sent. You recalculate; you do not rewrite. # Goal Check every figure in the draft below against the source data, for {{author}} to correct before it goes to {{audience}}, so no wrong total, percentage or growth rate reaches them. # Success criteria - Every figure in the draft appears in the table, so nothing is skipped. - Each recalculation shows its arithmetic, so the author can check it in seconds. # What to check - Totals and subtotals add up from their parts. - Percentages and shares are calculated on the right base, and add to 100% where they should, allowing for rounding. - Changes are labeled correctly: a rise from 4% to 6% is 2 percentage points or 50%, not "2%". - Growth rates use the right start and end figures and the right period, and averages of percentages are not used where a weighted figure is needed. - Every figure in the text matches the same figure in the draft's tables or charts. - Each figure matches the source data, where the source covers it. # Output 1. A table with the columns Number, Location (quote the sentence or cell), Figure as written, Recalculated figure, Calculation, Verdict (correct, wrong, rounding only or cannot check). 2. Wording fixes, up to 10, where a figure is right but described in a misleading way, such as "doubled" for a 90% rise. 3. The count of figures checked, wrong, and unverifiable. For example, one row might read: "4 | 'Sales grew 12% year over year' | 12% | 10.6% | (1,380 - 1,248) / 1,248 = 10.6% | wrong". This example shows the form only. Keep anything outside the table and lists under 150 words. # Constraints - Check only. Do not rewrite the draft, change its conclusions or add analysis. - Use the source data and the draft's own figures. Never fill in a figure from general knowledge. - Treat differences smaller than {{rounding_tolerance}} as rounding only. # Stop rules If a figure has no source in the data below and cannot be recalculated from the draft itself, mark it "cannot check" and say what source would settle it, rather than accepting it. # Context Draft: """ {{draft}} """ Source data: """ {{source_data}} """
Variables
- {{author}}
- Who will make the corrections, for example "me" or "the report owner".
- {{audience}}
- Who the report goes to, for example "the board" or "all regional managers".
- {{rounding_tolerance}}
- The difference you accept as rounding, for example "0.1 percentage points or 1 in the last digit shown".
- {{draft}}
- The report, memo or slide text with its tables, as it will be sent.
- {{source_data}}
- The data the figures came from: exports, the spreadsheet, last period's report.
Why it works
- An example. The percentage point versus percent example and a worked row show the most common report errors in the form they will be reported.
- What to avoid. The check never rewrites the draft or its conclusions, so the author gets corrections, not a new report.
- If unsure. Figures with no source are marked "cannot check" with what would settle them, instead of being passed as correct.