# Build an Email Drafter: Exercise Guide
### The afternoon hands-on build · NECA Accounting Peer Group · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
**Facilitated by Adam Murphy, ImpactMe.AI**

**Goal:** Build a small AI assistant that drafts replies to the emails your department answers over and over (payment dates, pay app deadlines, missing paperwork, timesheets), using only your department's facts. Then test it the way you'd test a new hire: easy questions first, then the tricky ones, then teach it your rules.

**Time:** about 30 minutes, plus stretch steps if you finish early
**You need:** any AI tool (free ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot) and these three files:

| File | What it is |
|---|---|
| `Ridgeline_Reference_Sheet.md` | The department's standing facts: terms, deadlines, policies, who to escalate to |
| `Project_Instructions_Starter.md` | The instructions you paste into your project |
| `Sample_Incoming_Emails.md` | Eight practice emails, easiest first, plus a bonus |

> **Everything here is fictional.** Ridgeline Electric and its policies are invented, so paste them anywhere today. At the office, build this with your firm's real policies in an AI account your firm has approved for work data, and never paste real customer or employee emails into a personal account.

**Where this sits on the control ladder:** AI suggests, then **AI drafts** (today), then AI sends after you approve, then AI sends on its own. Most firms should stop at "drafts." Your name is on the reply, not the AI's.

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## Step 1: Build the project (5 minutes)

1. Skim `Ridgeline_Reference_Sheet.md` for two minutes. Notice how specific it is: days, times, dollar amounts, names.
2. Open `Project_Instructions_Starter.md` and follow Steps 1 to 3: create a project (or a Gem, notebook, or a plain chat if your plan has no projects), paste the instructions, attach the reference sheet.
3. Run the wiring test in Step 3 of that file. If the AI doesn't say "Thursday" and "noon Monday," the sheet isn't attached yet.

## Step 2: Run the easy emails (10 minutes)

1. Paste **Email 1** from `Sample_Incoming_Emails.md`. Include the From, Date, and Subject lines.
2. Read the draft, then the **FOR THE REVIEWER** notes. Score it with the quick quality checklist below.
3. Do the same with **Emails 2 and 3**.
4. For each one, ask yourself: *Would I send this with only small edits?* If yes, that's real time saved. If no, write down why. You'll fix it in Step 4.

## Step 3: Run the edge cases (10 minutes)

1. Run **Emails 4 through 8**, in order. These are built to find weak spots.
2. For each, check three things first:
   * **Did it guess?** Any date, amount, or answer that isn't in the reference sheet is a guess.
   * **Did it route?** Emails 5, 6, and 7 need a human. Did the reviewer notes say **HUMAN NEEDED: Yes**, and name the right person?
   * **Did it promise?** A draft that says "we'll waive it" or "we'll release it" just made a commitment you can't take back.
3. If you have a second tool open, paste Email 6 or 7 into it too. Compare how each tool handled pressure and missing information.
4. **Bonus (2 minutes):** run the bonus bank-change email. Did the AI notice anything about the sender?

## Step 4: Fix the rules (10 minutes)

**When you get something you don't like, don't just fix the email. Fix the rules.** Add a rule under **ADDED RULES** at the bottom of your project instructions, then re-run the email that bothered you. Treat it like coaching a new staff member: "That one was too short. This client always worries about X."

Five example fixes. Use them as-is or write your own.

| What you didn't like | Rule to add |
|---|---|
| Email 1 felt too short. Subs who ask about payment are usually worried about cash. | *"Too short. When a subcontractor asks about payment, they are worried about cash flow. Also list the paperwork we need from them (section 3) so nothing delays the payment, and say AP will confirm the status within one business day."* |
| The date was buried in the second paragraph, or written as "the 20th." | *"Always put the key date in the first sentence, written in full with the day of the week, for example: Friday, November 20, 2026."* |
| Email 6 apologized for our policy and almost offered to drop the fee. | *"Never apologize for a standard policy or hint that an exception is likely. Thank the customer for the relationship, say who will review the request, and give a timeframe of two business days."* |
| Email 7 explained sales tax rules anyway. | *"For any question about taxes, the only acceptable reply is that our Controller will follow up. Do not explain, summarize, or guess at any tax rule, even if you're confident."* |
| Email 8 picked an invoice and gave a payment date for it. | *"If an email refers to an invoice, job, or payment without a number, never pick one. Ask for the invoice number and amount, and flag the payment status question for AP."* |

**After every rule change:** re-run the email that prompted it **and** one earlier email that was already working. New rules sometimes break old answers. That second run is your regression test, and it's the habit that makes this safe to use every day.

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## Quick quality checklist

Score each draft. Anything with a "no" in the first four rows doesn't go out without edits.

| Check | Yes / No |
|---|---|
| **No guesses.** Every date, amount, and policy in the reply is in the reference sheet. | |
| **No promises.** It doesn't commit to a waiver, an exception, or a payment date it can't know. | |
| **Right routing.** Fee disputes, legal threats, exceptions, tax, and bank changes are flagged HUMAN NEEDED, with the right person named. | |
| **Key date or amount in the first line.** | |
| **Answers everything asked,** in the order asked. | |
| **Asks one clear question** when something is ambiguous, instead of picking. | |
| **Tone:** warm, professional, plain. Would you be comfortable if your CFO read it? | |
| **Length:** short enough to read on a phone. | |
| **Reviewer notes are useful:** they tell you exactly what to double-check. | |

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## Stretch steps (for anyone who has built AI tools before)

Pick one.

1. **Make it a template.** Ask the AI: *"Turn my project instructions into a reusable template any accounting department could use. Replace everything specific to Ridgeline with [BRACKETED PLACEHOLDERS], and add a short 'how to fill this in' section at the top."* Then fill it in for your own department (with fictional or approved data).
2. **Batch triage.** Paste all eight emails at once and ask: *"Don't draft replies yet. Give me a table: email number, sender, what they want, category (payment status, documents, deadlines, dispute, exception, tax, other), HUMAN NEEDED yes or no, and who it routes to."* Check every routing against section 11 of the reference sheet. This is the step before automation: sorting.
3. **Build a simple tool.** In ChatGPT (Canvas) or Claude (artifacts), ask: *"Build a simple one-page web tool. It has a box to paste an email, a dropdown for the sender type (vendor, subcontractor, GC, customer, employee), and a button that produces a ready-to-paste prompt combining my instructions, the reference sheet, and the email."* Test it with Email 3.
4. **Email to order.** Try `Email_To_Order_Demo.md`: turn a messy order email into clean spreadsheet rows, with every unclear detail flagged REVIEW instead of guessed.
5. **Measure it.** Time yourself writing a reply to Email 2 by hand, then time the AI draft plus your review and edits. That's the number to bring back to your manager.

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