The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You want approval to buy a tool, hire a contractor or add budget, and need a short business case that finance can check line by line.
- {{request}}
- {{cost}}
- {{budget_line}}
- {{problem_and_benefits}}
- {{alternatives}}
- {{approver}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
<request> What I want to buy or fund: {{request}} Cost, as quoted: {{cost}} Budget line it would come from: {{budget_line}} </request> <problem_and_benefits> {{problem_and_benefits}} </problem_and_benefits> <alternatives> {{alternatives}} </alternatives> <constraints> - Use only the costs, figures and benefits given above. Do not estimate savings, hours or revenue that are not stated. Where a benefit is real but not measured, describe it in words and label it "not quantified". - Show every calculation on one line, for example "4 hours a week x 48 weeks x 35 per hour = 6,720 a year", using only numbers from the material. - Include the full cost: one-off and recurring, plus any setup, training or switching costs the material mentions. - Present the alternatives fairly, including doing nothing. - Plain, factual tone, with no sales language carried over from vendor materials. </constraints> <format> A one-page request of about 400 words, in Markdown: 1. The ask: one sentence with the amount and the decision needed. 2. The problem today, with any evidence from the material. 3. Options compared: a table with the columns Option, Cost (one-off and yearly), Benefits, Risks, including doing nothing. 4. Recommendation and payback, with calculations shown. 5. Risks and how they would be managed. 6. What I will report back on, and when. </format> <task> Using the material above, write a spend request for the approver, {{approver}}, who will approve or decline it. The approver should be able to check every number against the material. If the case is weak on the evidence given, say so in the recommendation rather than overstating it, and list the facts that would make it stronger. </task>
Variables
- {{request}}
- What you want to buy or fund, in one line.
- {{cost}}
- The quoted price and its terms, for example per seat per month, plus any setup fee.
- {{budget_line}}
- Where the money would come from, or "new budget".
- {{problem_and_benefits}}
- The problem today and what the purchase would change, with any numbers you have and where they come from.
- {{alternatives}}
- Other options you looked at, including doing nothing, with what you know about each.
- {{approver}}
- Who decides, for example "the finance director".
Why it works
- What good looks like. Every calculation is shown on one line from numbers in the material, so the approver can check the payback instead of trusting it.
- What to avoid. Benefits nobody has measured are labeled "not quantified" instead of being turned into invented savings.
- If unsure. If the evidence is thin, the request says so and lists the facts that would make it stronger.