# Check a report before it goes to the board: checklist Check a report for wrong or unsupported figures, a figure given two ways and a missing ask, and get a ready, ready after fixes or not ready verdict with a fix list that you decide on. ## Before you start - [ ] Have ready: The Report Paste the full text as it will be sent, with the paragraphs in order. Paste only what your organization lets you put into an AI tool. - [ ] Have ready: Source Figures (optional) Paste the records the numbers should come from, such as a finance summary or a program log. Strongly advised. Without them, every figure is marked no source and only the report itself is checked. - [ ] Have ready: What The Board Is Being Asked To Decide State the decision in one line, in your own words. ## Step 1: List Every Figure And Claim - [ ] Quote each number, date, percentage, name and word of change in the report, word for word, so the checks that follow have a fixed list to work from. - [ ] You have: A numbered table of every figure and claim, each quoted from the report. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the Quote column appears in the report, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Tie Each Figure To Its Source - [ ] Match each figure to a passage in the source figures, say whether they agree, and recompute every percentage, total and change. - [ ] You have: A table that sets each figure beside its source passage, with a verdict and the working for every worked-out figure. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "matches", "differs" or "no source" in the Verdict column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Check The Report Agrees With Itself - [ ] Find a figure given two ways, parts that do not add up to their total, and a name or a period that changes. - [ ] You have: A table of repeated items and totals, each with its places in the report and whether they agree. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has something written in "Appearances", "Agrees" and "Sum Check" (a blank or a dash does not count). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Read It As The Board Will - [ ] Check that the ask, the recommendation, the main risk, the cost or effort and the result of saying no are all there, each with a quote or the word Missing. - [ ] You have: A table of the five things a board looks for, each with a quote or Missing, and a line of unexplained abbreviations. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has something written in "Quote" and "Matches Ask" (a blank or a dash does not count). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 5: Give The Verdict And The Fix List - [ ] Turn every problem into one fix row, then give one verdict by a fixed rule and stop. - [ ] You have: A verdict, a fix table with a row for every problem, and the line that says a person must read the flagged parts. - [ ] Check: Every number in the answer also appears somewhere in at least one of "the report", "source figures" and "what the board is being asked to decide"; this does not check what each number means. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "number", "date", "percentage", "name" or "change" in the Type column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Look at the table. Count the percentages, totals and changes in the Quote column, and look in the Sum column for each. Does every one have a worked sum, and is each sum right when you work it again from the source figures below? Answer FAIL and quote each row whose sum is missing or wrong. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: For each row of the table whose Source Passage is not No source, is that passage in the source figures below, word for word? Answer FAIL and quote each passage that is not. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "yes" or "no" in the Agrees column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the report below. Find every list of parts that has a stated total, such as sources of funding or a budget. Does the table show a sum for each one in the Sum Check column, and is each sum right? Answer FAIL and quote each total with no sum or a wrong sum. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Count the words in the first paragraph of the report below. Is it 120 words or fewer? Answer FAIL, give the count, and quote the first sentence that goes past the limit. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. - [ ] Check: The answer contains the text fragment "This verdict comes from the checks above. An AI tool can miss things, so read the flagged parts yourself." (including inside a longer word). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Count the problems in the three tables below: each verdict of differs, each Agrees of no, each part marked Missing, each Matches Ask of no, an opening paragraph over 120 words, and each abbreviation listed. Count a problem raised in two tables once. Does the fix table have one row for each? Show both numbers. Answer FAIL and name each problem with no row. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: The rule is: Not ready if any figure differs or the Ask is Missing. Ready after fixes if any other problem was raised. Ready by these checks if none was. Use the two tables below. Does the verdict follow the rule? Answer FAIL and say which line of the rule it breaks. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: For each figure that differs, look at both numbers and decide which one is right, then decide whether a part marked Missing was left out on purpose. Read the fix list against the verdict yourself. The checks find what is wrong or missing; only a person can decide whether the report goes, waits or changes. Checked by you. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## You end up with - [ ] A verdict of ready, ready after fixes or not ready, with the one reason that decides it. - [ ] A fix table with a row for every problem, each with the words in the report, the evidence and a safe suggestion. - [ ] Tables that tie each figure to your records, check the report against itself and show whether the ask, the recommendation, the main risk, the cost and the cost of saying no are there. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.