> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resources.athenaintel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Write the exception memo
> A decision memo with cited figures, open questions, and unconfirmed causes clearly marked.
Turn the week's exceptions into a one-page memo your lead can act on. Here's what you'll learn.
Lena doesn't need a summary of the sheet. She needs to know what moved, why, and what to decide. So ask for exactly that. Point Athena at the week's sheet and the carrier's email thread. Ask for the causes with their evidence, the open exceptions, and the decisions. And ask it to cite every figure, and mark anything a source doesn't confirm. Athena reads the sheet and the email, then writes the memo.
Every figure in the memo points to the cell it came from. Hover a chip to see the source. Click it, and the sheet opens beside the memo, right at that cell. Check the numbers Lena will act on. If a figure has no chip, ask where it came from before the memo goes anywhere.
Now make sure a guess can't pass for a fact. Read the reasons as carefully as the numbers. This cause has no chip, and nothing in the email or the sheet says it. It might be true, but it isn't confirmed. Select it, and click Add to chat. Ask Athena to mark it as a hypothesis, and say what would confirm it. Only that sentence changes. Now Lena can see what's known, and what's still a guess.
One decision depends on something only Sam can check. Ask him right on that sentence. Select it, click Comment, and mention him. The question stays attached to the line it's about. Sam answers once he's looked at the dock log. Here, later that morning. Resolve the thread once it's settled. Then download the memo for Lena as a PDF, or share the document so her questions land in the same place.
Quick check. A cause in the memo has no citation. What do you do? Ask where it came from, or mark it as a hypothesis until a source confirms it.
Here's how a finance team uses this. They write a variance memo every month end. Each figure links to its cell. Explanations no source confirms are labelled as hypotheses, and questions go to the right person on the line itself. The CFO reads what's known, and what isn't.
Now try it with your own sheet and an email you've uploaded. When it works, every figure has a chip, and anything unconfirmed says Hypothesis.
## Before you start
Upload these files from the [Northwind starter kit](/docs/athena-101/starter-kit): **Checkpoints/Lesson 07/Northwind exceptions wk 41.xlsx** and **Lesson 07/RE wk 41 detention charges.eml**. The memo in **Checkpoints/Lesson 07** is an optional starting point.
Upload the email file; no mailbox is needed. Comments and handoff need a teammate with access to the memo. If that is unavailable, review and download it yourself.
## Steps
Type @ and select the uploaded sheet and **RE wk 41 detention charges.eml** email file. Ask what changed, the evidence for each cause, open items, and decisions needed, with every figure cited.
Click a citation to open the source cell beside the memo. Confirm the figures someone will act on.
Select an unsupported explanation and click **Add to chat**. Ask Athena to mark it as a hypothesis and say what evidence would confirm it.
Select the decision, click **Comment**, and mention a teammate who can check it. After they answer, use **Resolve thread**, then share or download the memo.
## Try it
> Using @\[sheet] and @\[RE wk 41 detention charges.eml], write a one-page memo: what changed, the evidence for each cause, open items, and decisions needed. Cite every figure. Mark unconfirmed causes as hypotheses.
Look for citations on figures and a hypothesis label on unconfirmed causes.
## Next
[Make the deck in your template](/docs/athena-101/08-deck-template)
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