The weekly scoreboard

⏱ 35 min8 steps

A busy week can feel fine right up until the bills arrive. A is three to five numbers you check every week, each next to where you decided it should be by now. The healthy ones stay quiet, so your eye goes to what needs you. You'll pick the numbers, set your own lines, and build a sheet Claude checks with you. Choosing only a few is the hard part. Expect to swap one or two after the first two weeks.

scoreboard A short list of the few numbers you check every week, each next to where you've decided it should be. All words

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Start a new chat and set the rules
Every business watches different numbers. A roofer might watch quotes sent and jobs booked. A gift shop might watch sales and the number of orders. An accounting office might watch hours billed and new inquiries, and a personal trainer sessions booked and no-shows. This has Claude list the usual ones for your line of work, with no figures.

drafts and sorts; a person approves anything with a price, a date or your name on it. Where a number should be is your call. Claude does the sums from your figures.

This part of the section is words, sheets and exports only. In this lesson you type your figures in. Don't connect Claude to your bank, card reader, or accounting or invoicing software, and never paste account numbers, card numbers, tax ID numbers or passwords.
1. Open the or claude.ai and start a new chat.
2. Copy the prompt below.
```
I own a small business, and I want a weekly scoreboard: three to five numbers I check every week, each against where I've decided it should be. You'll help me in this chat. The rules: you never suggest a target, a goal or where a number should be. I set those. Use only numbers I give you, and say which one you used. If a number is missing, write FILL IN. Never ask me for bank, card or account details. First, list ten kinds of number that owners in my line of work often keep an eye on, with where each one usually comes from, like a sales report or a booking calendar. No figures. My business: [what you do]
```
1. Paste it into the chat. Replace the part in square brackets with what you do, like roofing, a gift shop or personal training.
2. 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:
Ten kinds of number owners in your line of work watch, with where each comes from, and no figures.
That's not what I see
Claude gave me targets anyway.
Reply: Take out every target and every figure. I'll set my own.
Pick three to five numbers
Pick from Claude's list, or use your own. A good scoreboard number is one you can find in five minutes and would act on if it went wrong.
1. Pick three to five numbers.
2. Next to each one, write where you'll read it each week, like the register's weekly report or the booking calendar.
3. Cross off any number you'd have to guess. If it's not in a report or a count you trust, it doesn't go on the scoreboard yet.
That's not what I see
I want more than five.
Pick the five you'd act on this week. Ten numbers turns the scoreboard into a report nobody reads. Keep the rest on a list for later.
Write where each number should be today
The line for each number is yours. Base it on the same weeks last year, on what your costs need, or on what you need to pay yourself. Claude doesn't pick it, because it doesn't know your business. For numbers that build up over the week, like sales, Claude works out where they should be by each day from your weekly line.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Here are my scoreboard numbers: [your three to five numbers]. Ask me about one number at a time. For each, ask whether it builds up over the week, like sales, or is a level at any moment, like what customers owe me. Then ask where I want it: for a building number, where by the end of a normal week; for a level, the line it shouldn't fall below or go over, and which. If I don't know a line yet, write FILL IN. Don't suggest one. When we're done, ask which days I'm open and whether my week is even. If it's even, split each weekly line equally across my open days. If it isn't, ask me what share of the week each day brings, from my own records, and use those shares. Show each day's line and the sum behind it, and say which split you used.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the part in square brackets with the numbers you picked.
2. Send it, and answer Claude's questions one at a time.
3. Check the day-by-day sums on a calculator.
You should see:
Claude asks about one number at a time, then shows each building number's line for each day you're open, with the sums and the split it used.
That's not what I see
I have no idea where a number should be.
Write FILL IN for now. Fill the scoreboard in for two or three weeks to see where that number usually sits, then set the line yourself.
Have Claude make the scoreboard sheet
This prompt turns your numbers and lines into one table, with a column that stays empty when a number is healthy.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Make my scoreboard as a table I can copy, with these columns: the number, where it comes from, where it should be today, this week's figure, and a last column called Look. Put FILL IN under this week's figure. Under the table, write this rule: Healthy numbers stay quiet. Only a number that's off its line gets a word in the Look column.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
2. Read each row, and fix any line that isn't the one you gave.
You should see:
A table with one row for each of your numbers, FILL IN under this week's figure, and the rule underneath.
That's not what I see
The table falls apart when I paste it into NotesNotepad.
Reply: Give it to me as plain text, one number per line. Or paste the table into a new Numbers spreadsheetExcel workbook instead. No Excel on Windows? Google Sheets is free, in your web at sheets.google.com: start a blank spreadsheet and paste it into the top-left cell.browser The app you use to visit websites, like Safari or Chrome. All words
Find this week's figures
1. Open each report or system on your list.
2. Write down each figure, with the day and where you read it.
3. Keep the figures to type in. You don't attach exports or statements in this lesson.
That's not what I see
One number isn't ready until the end of the month.
Use the latest figure you have and write its date next to it. If it's never ready in time, move it off the weekly scoreboard.
Have Claude check this week
This prompt compares each figure with its line for today, keeps quiet about the healthy ones, and asks you about the rest.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Today is [day]. Here are this week's figures so far: [each number, its figure, and where you read it]. Compare each one with its line. A building number is OK if it's at or past where it should be by today. A level is OK if it's on the right side of its line: above a line it shouldn't fall below, or under a line it shouldn't go over. If it's OK, write OK and nothing else. If it's not, write the gap and show the sum. Don't guess why. For each one that's off, ask me one question that would help me find out why.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the parts in square brackets with today and your figures.
2. Send it.
3. Check each gap on a calculator.
4. Answer Claude's questions in your own words.
You should see:
Your scoreboard with OK next to the healthy numbers, and a gap, its sum and one question next to each of the rest.
That's not what I see
Claude wrote a paragraph about every number.
Reply: Healthy numbers stay quiet. Write OK for those and nothing else.
Claude guessed why a number is down.
Reply: Don't guess. Ask me the question instead. You know what happened that week, and Claude doesn't.
Save the scoreboard sheet
This prompt puts the sheet and the check on one page, ready for next week.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Put my scoreboard on one page I can save, called Weekly scoreboard. Put the table first, so I can paste the whole page into a new chat. Include the table with this week's figures cleared back to FILL IN, the rule Healthy numbers stay quiet, and the check prompt from this chat with blanks in square brackets, so I can paste it into a new chat each week.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
2. Copy the page into a note or a document called Weekly scoreboard.
3. Each week, paste the whole page into a new chat, then fill in the check prompt.
You should see:
One page with your table, the rule, and the check prompt with blanks in square brackets.
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.
Set a weekly reminder
A scoreboard only helps if you look at it on the same day every week.
1. Open the calendar app on your phone or computer.
2. Add a 15-minute reminder that repeats every week, on the same day.
3. Call it Scoreboard: fill in and check.
That's not what I see
Nobody has reported a snag on this step yet. Getting stuck is normal. Read the step again one line at a time, and compare your screen with the video.

Your challenge

Fill in your scoreboard with real figures this week and run the check. For any number that's off its line, answer Claude's question yourself, then decide on one thing you'll do about it before next week.

Last checked 2026-10-20

Money and paperwork › 2. Your numbers