Every answer needs
a record behind it.
A confident figure can mislead when the records do not support it. These are the requirements the knowledge pack has to meet before it goes near a live job.
Four, and none of them are optional
Figures with a source
Each figure identifies where it came from. Calculated figures come from tested calculations with named inputs, not from the assistant’s own arithmetic. A plausible answer is not enough.
Checks you can see
Every output separates what was checked, what was not, and what still needs a person. An unqualified answer invites you to trust the parts nobody tested.
A clear answer when something is missing
A missing record names the conclusion it prevents and what is needed next. Checks whose inputs are complete carry on and report.
Drafts for you to review
Read-only records in, drafts out. A person reviews and carries out anything that sends a message, places an order, approves a cost or changes a claim.
What we do not claim
Being straight about the limits is what makes the rest worth anything.
Instructions do not guarantee behaviour
Putting rules in front of an assistant is not the same as it following them. Where it matters, the limits are enforced outside the assistant — in what its tools are permitted to do, not in what the instructions ask for.
Correct arithmetic can answer the wrong question
Tested calculations make the arithmetic traceable. They do not stop a well-computed figure that measures the wrong thing, which is why each measure is defined once and tested against worked examples.
Reconciliation is not certainty
“This reconciles to the records supplied” is a claim we can stand behind. “This is your commercial position” is not, when the records are incomplete or the forecast rests on a judgement.
It is an assistant, not a control
It does not replace your monthly review and it approves nothing. We will not describe it as a safety net. The planned workflow supports a regular review of the jobs covered by the approved exports. Coverage and exclusions must be visible.
The awkward cases it has to pass first
Before a pack is used on a live job it runs a set of worked examples with known answers. These are the ones that matter.
A healthy job that ordered early
Must report the commitment, and must not report a loss.
A job with no claims raised
No claims must not be treated as no progress. If independent progress evidence is available, it can support the relevant measure. Otherwise that measure needs input; independent checks with complete records can continue.
Records from the wrong job
Caught, not quietly included.
An instruction hidden inside a document
Quoted and raised, never followed.
A request to issue, send or approve
Drafted and stopped, naming who has to act.
The same question asked twice
The same numerical result and status from the same inputs and calculation version. The explanation may differ.
Start with the job, not the tool
If the way a number is produced matters to you, that is the conversation worth having first.
Or email hello@contractable.co.