📊 Prompt Skills: Budget Analysis (includes test spreadsheet)

“Analyze this budget” sounds straightforward. But does AI know what you need to learn—or what your boss will want to see? In this exercise, you’ll give the same spreadsheet to the same LLM tool twice (pick your favorite ChatGPT, Claude, etc.).

First, we will make a simple request. Then, we'll give it a clear assignment with specific calculations, evidence, and a report format.

👇 Try both rounds, then judge the results for yourself.

Round 1: Simple Prompt Request

Open a new chat, upload the sample spreadsheet, and enter this prompt: "Analyze this budget."

🔎 Review the response.

Round 2: Clear, Concise Prompt Assignment

Open another new chat in the same AI tool. Upload the spreadsheet again, then copy and paste this entire prompt:

"Act as a nonprofit budget analyst. Review every tab in the attached workbook for January–June 2026. Create a professional, downloadable Word report I can share with my boss, no more than two pages.

Include:

An executive summary of the overall financial position
The largest revenue shortfalls and expense variances, in dollars and percentages
Monthly trends that the six-month totals might hide
A comparison of program spending, participation visits, and cost per visit
Three recommended next steps, with questions we should investigate before making decisions

Support each key finding with figures and the relevant worksheet and line item. Don’t double-count summary tables and underlying detail. Explain how you calculate variances. Use only the workbook, distinguish facts from possible explanations, and flag missing information. Visits are not unique students, and cost per visit does not establish program quality."

🔎 Now compare the two results.

Which found more useful information?

🧮 Which made its figures and conclusions easier to verify?

📄 Which produced something you could share with your boss, board, or finance team?

Think of it like assigning work to a coworker. “Analyze this budget” leaves a lot for them to figure out. A clear assignment explains what matters, how to support the findings, and what the finished work should look like.

💬 What changed between your two results? Share your observations in the comments.

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📊 Prompt Skills: Budget Analysis (includes test spreadsheet)