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Reports vs notes

⏱ 30 min6 steps

Numbers reach you two ways. Some come from a report, like the register's sales report or a bank download. Others come from a note: "slammed all day", a text from the van. You can check a report. A note is somebody's memory. You'll write a rule card that keeps the two apart, then have Claude pull numbers from a real report and stop before it leans on a note. Some papers sit on the line between the two, and nearly everyone hesitates over a few.

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  1. Start a new chat and set the rule

    A café's register report has Saturday's sales count in it. The note from the weekend staff says "slammed all day". The first is a number. The second is a feeling, and it should stay one until you decide otherwise. If you can't tell whether a paper is a report or a note, like a handwritten job sheet, treat it as a note. This gives Claude that rule before it sees anything.

    drafts and sorts; a person approves anything with a price, a date or your name on it. A number that turns up in a quote or a message carries your name, so you decide which ones get used.

    This part of the section is words, sheets and exports only. You don't connect Claude to your bank, card reader, or accounting or invoicing software in these lessons. Never paste or attach bank account numbers, card numbers, tax ID numbers, passwords or a full statement that shows your account number.

    1. Open the or claude.ai and start a new chat.
    2. Copy the prompt below.
    I own a small business, and I want you to keep two kinds of number apart in this chat. A report number comes from a report a system made, like a sales report, a booking report or a bank download. A note number comes from something a person wrote or said, like a text, a jotted note or "about 20". The rules: you may use a report number, and you always say which report, and which page or row, it came from. You never turn a note into a number, and you never use a note number unless I say OK in this chat. Words like busy, a few or most stay as words. If something isn't in the report, write "not in the report". Never ask me for bank, card or account details. Say the rule back to me in two lines, then wait.
    1. Paste it into the chat and send it.
    prompt What you type to Claude. A good one says what you want, how to work and what never to do. All wordsAI Short for artificial intelligence. Here it means a program like Claude that reads what you write and writes back in plain words. All wordsClaude app Claude on your phone or computer, where you chat with it by typing. claude.ai is the same thing in a web browser. All words

    You should see:

    Claude says the rule back in two lines and waits.

    That's not what I see
    Claude said it back wrong.
    Reply: Not quite. Read the rules again and say them back in two lines. Don't go on until it gets them right.

  2. Try it on a note

    Pick a real note: a text from your installer ("did 3 today, one needs a callback"), a sales clerk's note ("ran out of the blue ones by lunch"), or your own jottings from a meeting. This prompt shows you every number and amount word in it, and leaves them as they are.

    1. Copy the note, and delete any names, phone numbers or addresses in it, or write [Name] over them.
    2. Copy the prompt below.
    Here's a note from [who wrote it]: [paste the note]. List every number in it, and every word that sounds like an amount, like busy, a few, loads or most. Mark each one NOTE. Don't turn any word into a number, and don't add anything up.
    1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the parts in square brackets with who wrote the note and the note itself.
    2. Send it.

    You should see:

    A list of the numbers and amount words in your note, each marked NOTE, with the words left as words.

    That's not what I see
    Claude turned "busy" into a number.
    Reply: That came from a note. Put the word back, and mark it NOTE.

  3. Get a report ready to attach

    Pick a report a system made: a sales report from the register, a bookings report, or a month's summary from your job app. If you can get it as a , take the private details out in NumbersExcel first.

    1. Download the report from your system. Pick CSV if it offers it.
    2. Open Downloads in and drag the onto the Numbers icon in the Dock.
    3. Hold Command (Ctrl in Excel) and click the letter at the top of each column that holds a name, an email, a phone number, an address, or an account or card number.
    4. Move the pointer over one of those letters, click the arrow that appears, then chooseRight-click one of those letters, then choose Delete Selected ColumnsDelete.
    5. If there are rows above the column names with your account number, your name or a balance summary, delete them too. Hold Command (Ctrl in Excel), click those row numbers, click the arrow that appearsright-click one of them, then choose Delete Selected RowsDelete.
    6. Choose File > Export To > CSV, then click Save.
    7. Name it Report for Claude, pick Desktop from the Where menu, and click Export.

    On Windows, in Excel:

    • To open the file, open Downloads in File Explorer and double-click it. If it doesn't open in Excel, open Excel, choose File > Open, click Browse, and pick it from Downloads.
    • To save it, choose File > Save As, click Browse, pick Desktop, and name it Report for Claude. Choose CSV (Comma delimited) from Save as type, then click Save.
    CSV A plain spreadsheet file with commas between the columns. Most sales, booking and job systems can download one. All wordsFinder The Mac app for looking through your files and folders. Its icon is a blue smiling face. All wordsfile One document on your computer, like a letter or a photo. Files live inside folders. All words
    That's not what I see
    My system only makes PDF reports.
    If the PDF shows no account numbers, card numbers, or customer or staff names anywhere, attach it as it is. If it shows any, don't attach it. Type the numbers you want into the chat instead, with the page each one is on.
    Everything opened in one column.
    Click anywhere in the table. In the **Format** sidebar, click the **Table** tab, then click **Adjust Import Settings**. Click the **Delimited** tab, check **Comma** next to **Separate Values Using**, then click **Update Table**. Do this before you change anything else in the table. On Windows, in Excel: click the **A** at the top of the first column, choose **Data > Text to Columns**, pick **Delimited**, click **Next**, check **Comma**, click **Next**, then click **Finish**.
    I don't have Excel.
    Google Sheets is free, in your web at sheets.google.com. Start a blank spreadsheet, choose **File > Import**, upload the file and import it. Right-click a column letter or row number and choose **Delete column** or **Delete row**. To save, choose **File > Download > Comma-separated values**.browser The app you use to visit websites, like Safari or Chrome. All words
    Excel changed some of my numbers.
    Excel drops zeros at the start of a number and rounds very long ones. Close it without saving, and open the original file another way. In Excel, choose **Data > From Text/CSV**, pick the file, click **Import**, then click **Transform Data**. Click the top of each column with order or customer numbers, and on the **Home** tab choose **Data Type**, then **Text**. Click **Replace current**, then **Close & Load**.

  4. Have Claude pull the numbers from the report

    This is the prompt you'll reuse most. It pulls the numbers you ask for, as the report prints them, and says where each one sits so you can find it.

    1. Click the + button in the lower-left corner of the message box, then Add files or photos, and pick Report for Claude. You can also drag the file into the chat.
    2. Check the name ends in for Claude before you click Open.
    3. Copy the prompt below.
    I've attached a report: [what it is, like last month's sales report]. Pull these numbers from it: [the numbers you want]. For each one, give the number exactly as the report shows it, what the report calls it, and where it is: the page, or the column and row. If a number isn't in the report, write "not in the report". Don't work out anything the report doesn't show unless I ask, and then show the sum. Mark each one REPORT.
    1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the parts in square brackets with what the report is and the numbers you want, like total sales, number of orders and refunds.
    2. Send it.
    3. Find each number in the report yourself, and check it off.

    You should see:

    Each number you asked for, marked REPORT, with the report's name for it and where it sits, or "not in the report".

    That's not what I see
    Claude gave a number I can't find in the report.
    Reply: Where is that in the report? If it can't point to the page or row, ask it to take the number out.

  5. Ask for a summary that needs both

    A summary is where notes tend to sneak in looking like facts. This prompt tests the rule: Claude writes from the report, and asks before it uses anything from the note.

    1. Copy the prompt below.
    Write a three-line summary of [the week or month] for my own notes. Use the REPORT numbers. If a line would need a NOTE number, stop before you write it, quote the note, and ask me whether I want it used.
    1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the part in square brackets with the week or month.
    2. Send it, and answer yes or no to each question Claude asks.
    3. Check that every number in the summary is one you checked off in Step 4, or one you said yes to.

    You should see:

    Claude writes the lines it can from the report, and stops to quote the note and ask before any line that needs it.

    That's not what I see
    Claude used the note without asking.
    Reply: You used a note without asking. Take it out, and ask me first. Then check the rest of the summary line by line.

  6. Put the rule card and the prompt on one page

    This prompt saves the rule card and the report prompt together. Paste the card at the start of any chat where Claude works with your numbers.

    1. Copy the prompt below.
    Put this on one page I can save, called Reports vs notes. At the top, put the rule card in five short lines: a report number can be used, with where it came from; a note never becomes a number without my OK; amount words like busy stay words; anything missing is "not in the report"; if I'm not sure which it is, it's a note. Then add the pull-the-numbers prompt from this chat, with blanks in square brackets.
    1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
    2. Copy the page into a note or a document called Reports vs notes.

    You should see:

    One page with the five-line rule card at the top and the pull-the-numbers prompt underneath.

    That's not what I see
    The page looks messy when I paste it.
    Ask Claude for it as plain text, with a blank line between sections. Then copy it again.
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Your challenge

This week, before a number goes into a quote, a message or your scoreboard, ask where it came from. If it came from a note, find the report that backs it up, or leave it out.

Last checked 2026-10-20

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