Explain why gross margin fell from August to September
The president asks a read-only analyst why gross margin fell in September. The answer, in answer.md, gives both months' margin under the reporting definition and names each discrete cause with its amount and where it is recorded: a supplier price increase, a customer rebate, a write-off, and an unusual freight charge.
Proto passed 5 of 5 attempts, median 4.2 minutes; Codex passed 5 of 5 attempts, median 2.8 minutes. Provisional: run in local mode, before the practitioner review. Conditions and data.
The requests
The example below is generated at seed 0. Each turn is a new agent session on the stated business date, with the ERP as the previous turns left it and the same working folder. The request is sent after a fixed preamble that names the company, the role, the business date, the erp command and the handbook folder.
from Erin Walsh (President)
budget 20 min
Priya is out today and I need this for tomorrow's board call. Gross margin went down in September compared with August. What drove it? Write it up in answer.md, with the amount behind each cause.
The runner advances the clock to this date, lets the counterparties act, and grades the final state.
Checks
The attempt passes only if every check passes. Clause references point into the handbook below. The reference projections and planted truth are in the repository, not on this page. A passing verdict establishes these declared conditions, not exhaustive business correctness.
| Check | Type | Handbook clauses |
|---|---|---|
| margin percentages for both months | text_numbers_present | RPT-1.1RPT-1.2RPT-1.3 |
| price increase and its amount | text_numbers_present | RPT-2.1 |
| price increase named with its supplier | text_sentence_matches | RPT-2.1 |
| rebate and its amount | text_numbers_present | RPT-2.1 |
| rebate named with its customer | text_sentence_matches | RPT-2.1 |
| write-off and its amount | text_numbers_present | RPT-2.1 |
| write-off named with what was scrapped | text_sentence_matches | RPT-2.1 |
| freight charge and its amount | text_numbers_present | RPT-2.1 |
| freight named with its cause | text_sentence_matches | RPT-2.1 |
| read-only analyst changed nothing | state_values |
Negative controls
Each negative control is a reference policy with one plausible mistake built in. Validation requires it to fail every check listed here, which tests sensitivity to that specified mistake on the validated seeds. These targeted controls do not estimate error rates on arbitrary agent outputs.
| Control | Must fail |
|---|---|
cogs_only | margin percentages for both months; price increase and its amount; rebate and its amount; write-off and its amount; freight charge and its amount |
revenue_side_only | price increase and its amount; write-off and its amount; freight charge and its amount |
miss_price_increase | price increase and its amount |
august_amounts | price increase and its amount; rebate and its amount; write-off and its amount; freight charge and its amount |
Handbook
The company policy the agent receives in ./handbook. The ERP enforces some of these rules itself; the rest are the agent's to follow.
Northgate Valve Co. handbook
Management reporting definitions. Clause numbers are referred to in board packs and audits, so cite them when you explain a figure.
- Management reporting (RPT)
The ledger is kept by accounting period (calendar months). Periods are closed a few working days after month end; figures for a closed period are final.
Management reporting (RPT)
RPT-1.1 Net revenue is the total of accounts 4000 Product sales, 4100 Sales discounts and 4200 Customer rebates. Cost of sales is the total of accounts 5000 Cost of goods sold, 5050 Purchase price variance, 5060 Invoice price variance, 5070 Manufacturing variance, 5080 Inventory adjustments and write-offs, 5100 Freight in and 5150 Purchase discounts taken.
RPT-1.2 Gross margin is net revenue less cost of sales. Gross margin percentage is gross margin divided by net revenue, reported to one decimal place.
RPT-1.3 Report a month from the posted ledger entries of its accounting period.
RPT-2.1 When you explain a change in gross margin between two months, name each discrete cause (a supplier price change, a rebate, a write-off, an unusual charge), give the amount it contributed in the later month, and say where it is recorded: the account, and the document, item or entry behind it.
RPT-2.2 Keep discrete causes apart from ordinary month-to-month movement in volume and mix, and say how much of the change the discrete causes explain.