Tie every line on the settlement statement to a source
Lesson 5 of 6 · Contract to close
1 · Learn the move · Template pattern
The settlement statement turns the whole contract into debits, credits and one cash figure, and it is where a model does quiet damage. Ask it to check the math and it will recompute a tax proration, get the day count slightly wrong, and present the result with total confidence. Land adds lines a building closing rarely carries, and each is a place to be wrong: rollback taxes, a survey invoice, a partial release fee from the seller's lender, a credit nobody remembers negotiating. A template fixes this. Every line gets a row with the same columns: the line as printed, the amount as printed, who it is charged to, the document that sets it, the words in that document, and a verdict of TIES, MISMATCH or NO SOURCE. Prorations get a METHOD cell that restates the contract's method and a formula for your spreadsheet, never a result. There is no row for checking the cash to close, on purpose. The settlement agent's figures govern, and your review exists to catch the line that traces to nothing.
Fill this template for every line of the settlement statement I paste, and nothing else: LINE AS PRINTED | AMOUNT AS PRINTED | CHARGED TO | SOURCE DOCUMENT | QUOTE | METHOD (prorations and tax lines only, as a formula) | VERDICT (TIES, MISMATCH, NO SOURCE). Never compute a proration, a subtotal or the cash to close.
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
The draft settlement statement for your purchase of a hold parcel in Tamsett County arrives two days before closing. It has eight lines, including a rollback tax charge to you, a partial release fee, and a 'land clearing credit' you do not remember agreeing. You paste the statement, the PSA's price, deposit, tax and title sections, the survey invoice and the title invoice. Write the prompt.
Write the prompt for this scenario as given, or swap in a real one from your own work. The score works the same either way.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
Optional. These shape the output when you run your prompt below, not your score.