Author: AILesson9 min setupTested with:ChatGPTReviewed: 2026-08-28
Quick answer
Build a repeatable pre-approval check for units, variable cost, capacity, fees, tax treatment, discounts, and target contribution. Provide: Cost and capacity inputs, Pricing target and offer design, Workbook and review controls. Expected result: A spreadsheet-ready pricing checklist with formulas, gates, scenarios, and missing-data flags.
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Design a spreadsheet-ready pricing checklist from the supplied cost model and targets. Do not present accounting, tax, or legal assumptions as confirmed facts.
Units, direct/variable costs, allocation policy, labor capacity, waste, fees, shipping, returns, taxes, and currencies:
[costs]
Price, discounts, commissions, volume, target definition, channel, constraints, and decision rights:
[targets]
Spreadsheet locale, rounding, scenarios, missing-data behavior, thresholds, reviewers, and external confirmations:
[controls]
Define the unit of sale and keep tax-inclusive/exclusive, cash collected, revenue, contribution, markup, gross margin, and allocated profit distinct. Map every input to source/date/unit and required/optional status. Provide formulas using named fields, not invented cell references, for effective price, net revenue, variable cost, contribution amount/rate, break-even units under the stated allocation policy, and capacity check. Model base, downside, and upside by changing explicit drivers; never hide unknown inputs as zero. Include discount, minimum order, commission, payment timing, refund/return, shipping, waste, overtime, currency, rounding, and price-display gates where relevant. Return input table, calculation sequence, checklist with pass/review/block states, scenario table, sensitivity priorities, approval routing, worked reconciliation, and tests for zero volume, maximum discount, missing cost, different tax basis, return spike, and capacity breach.
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From input to outcome
A worked example
See how concrete context turns this recipe into a usable result
Actual input
Cost and capacity inputs
One workshop seat. Materials CNY 42/attendee; venue CNY 1,200/session; instructor CNY 1,600/session up to 20 attendees, then second instructor required; payment fee 1.2% of cash collected; printed kit waste base 5%, downside 12%. Refunds historically 4% of paid seats, but whether fee is refunded is unknown. VAT treatment and displayed-price requirement need accountant confirmation. Capacity 24 seats, but 21–24 requires second instructor. Currency CNY.
Pricing target and offer design
Candidate tax-inclusive list price CNY 299/seat; group discount 10% for 5+ seats; partner commission 8% of net collected after refunds. Forecast 18 paid seats. Owner wants contribution rate at least 30%, defined as contribution divided by tax-exclusive net revenue after refunds/discounts, but tax basis is unknown. Owner approves list price; finance approves discounts beyond 10%.
Workbook and review controls
Excel 365 Chinese locale; round customer price to fen and internal totals to yuan only for display. Unknown tax or fee refund treatment must block final approval, not equal zero. Scenarios: 12, 18, 22 paid seats and refund 0%, 4%, 10%. Accountant confirms VAT; operations confirms instructor and room capacity.
Example output
Approval status: BLOCKED for a final 30% contribution conclusion because tax-exclusive revenue and refund-fee treatment are unknown. The workbook must preserve those as required inputs.
Named calculations: EffectivePrice = ListPrice × (1 − DiscountRate). ExpectedRetainedSeats = PaidSeats × (1 − RefundRate), kept unrounded for calculation. CashAfterRefund = EffectivePrice × ExpectedRetainedSeats. PaymentFee requires a confirmed rule for refunded transactions. PartnerCommission = CashAfterRefund × CommissionRate. MaterialUnits = PaidSeats × (1 + WasteRate), with a stated rounding rule before purchase. InstructorCost = 1600 when PaidSeats ≤20 and 3200 when 21–24; above 24 blocks. NetRevenueExTax = CashAfterRefund ÷ (1 + ConfirmedVATRate) only after accountant confirmation. Contribution = NetRevenueExTax − materials − venue − instructor − payment fee − commission; rate = Contribution ÷ NetRevenueExTax.
At 18 seats and no group/partner fields specified for this sale, do not assume either discount or commission; require channel/order facts. At 22 seats the second instructor creates a discrete cost jump, so price sensitivity alone is misleading. Gates: source/date all inputs; confirm VAT/display rule; confirm fee-refund rule; choose waste rounding; confirm whether venue supports 24; apply discount approval; reconcile cash to contribution. Test 12/18/22 seats across three refund rates, maximum authorized discount, missing material cost, and 25 seats.
Why this works
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Named units and definitions prevent markup, margin, contribution, and cash collection from being mixed.
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Block states keep missing costs and exceeded capacity from masquerading as profitable prices.
Check the result
Are unit, tax basis, currency, time period, and every cost source explicit?
Do formulas reconcile effective price, net revenue, variable cost, contribution, and capacity without unknowns becoming zero?
Are discounts, returns, fees, timing, downside scenarios, and approval thresholds tested?
Use it with confidence
Frequently asked questions
Practical answers about when to use this recipe, what to provide, and where human review still matters
What should I prepare before using “Design a pricing checklist from costs and targets”?
For “Design a pricing checklist from costs and targets,” prepare Cost and capacity inputs, Pricing target and offer design, and Workbook and review controls. Replace placeholders only with information you can verify. If a detail is unknown, preserve that uncertainty explicitly instead of asking the model to infer it.
When is the “Design a pricing checklist from costs and targets” result not ready to use?
The result is not ready if it does not yet deliver the stated outcome—A spreadsheet-ready pricing checklist with formulas, gates, scenarios, and missing-data flags—from the supplied evidence, or if it relies on unresolved assumptions, missing approvals, or invented details. Use the checks as release gates: revise the source inputs or assign a named, authorized reviewer instead of polishing an unsupported output.
Which AI tools have recorded tests for “Design a pricing checklist from costs and targets”?
The published test record for “Design a pricing checklist from costs and targets” lists ChatGPT as of 2026-08-28. This confirms recorded runs, not guaranteed compatibility or identical results in later product versions. For another tool or version, keep every constraint visible and repeat the result checks before use.
ChatGPT