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Spot where costs crept up last month
A plain-English read of your monthly figures that shows which costs rose, by how much, and the questions worth asking your team.
When to use it
Every month when the figures come in
Step by step
Export the figures
Export this month's and last month's cost or activity report to Excel, or copy the summary table. Remove supplier bank details and anything personal.
Ask for a plain-English review
Attach the file or paste the table into your AI assistant with this prompt.
Prompt to copyI'm an operations manager. Here are our [department / site] figures for [this month] and [last month]: [paste table or attach file]. 1) List the five biggest increases in cost, in money and as a percentage, worked out from the figures. 2) Flag anything that rose while output or sales fell. 3) For each, suggest two likely explanations to check and one question to ask the team. 4) Summarise in three sentences I could share with my manager. Show your working for every number so I can check it.Check the maths
Spot-check two or three of the numbers against your spreadsheet before you rely on them.
Take the questions to your team
Use the questions in your next team meeting rather than guessing at causes.
What you get
1) Overtime: up £3,200 (+28%) while orders fell 5%. Possible causes: absence cover, late deliveries. Ask: 'Which shifts needed the most overtime and why?' 2) Packaging: up £900 (+15%)...
Tips
- Ask the assistant to compare the same month last year too, if you have it, so seasonal changes don't look like problems.