Imagine you need 60 headsets. Alder quotes SEK 1,200 per headset and SEK 2,400 for delivery. Birch quotes SEK 1,150 per headset but says nothing about delivery. Both quotes exclude tax.
Birch looks cheaper. But we do not yet know its delivered cost.
This is a fictional worked example, not a customer case study or a measured agent result.
The missing number changes the answer
| Supplier | 60 headsets | Delivery | Delivered total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alder | SEK 72,000 | SEK 2,400 | SEK 74,400 |
| Birch | SEK 69,000 | Not quoted | Unconfirmed |
If an agent treats missing delivery as zero, it can produce a perfectly formatted spreadsheet with a misleading recommendation. The problem is the assumption behind one cell.
Birch’s item subtotal is SEK 3,000 lower. Its delivered cost would be lower than Alder’s if delivery cost less than SEK 5,400, assuming other terms are comparable. We need that quote before confirming the comparison.
Give the task explicit rules
Use a quantity of 60 for both suppliers. Keep amounts in SEK excluding tax. Show delivery separately. Leave missing costs unknown. Keep the original source available beside the comparison.
Those rules make several checks possible. Does 60 multiplied by 1,200 produce 72,000? Does Alder’s total include delivery? Does Birch’s row preserve the unknown? Does the summary avoid presenting an incomplete total as a confirmed price?
The arithmetic is objective. Whether the headsets suit the team requires other evidence. These checks do not establish product quality, stock availability or contractual suitability.
The next message is part of the job
Suppose Birch confirms delivery at SEK 6,000. Its delivered total becomes SEK 75,000, or SEK 600 more than Alder.
The agent should update the number and the explanation. If it changes only the table but leaves an earlier recommendation, the work is still inconsistent. Revision quality belongs in the evaluation, too.
Try the example yourself
Download the fictional source quotes and the authored comparison CSV. The CSV is a static example that preserves missing information. It is not a formula model or evidence of an agent’s performance.
Ask an agent for its own comparison. Inspect the arithmetic and unknown fields. Introduce the revised delivery quote and check whether both the file and its explanation change correctly.
We do not need to pretend the whole job has one right answer to identify errors that should never survive the handoff.