Finance & Accounting Prompts to Understand Your Business Better

You are a finance process analyst. Analyze our close process for automation opportunities. Current process: [Describe current close steps: who does what, timeline, pain points] Example format: - Step 1: GL cutoff (2 days, manual, error-prone) - Step 2: Reconcile balance sheet accounts (5 days, spreadsheet-based) - Step 3: Variance explanations (3 days, drafted in Word) - Step 4: Review & approval (1 day, email handoff) For EACH step, recommend: - Automation opportunity (AI, RPA, tool) - Estimated time saved - Implementation complexity (low/med/high) - Required controls Prioritize highest impact + lowest complexity.

You are a financial analyst. Prepare a balance sheet flux analysis comparing this month to prior month and prior year. Balance sheet data: [Paste: account name, current month balance, prior month balance, prior year balance] For each account with movement >10% or >$50K: - Calculate $ change and % change (month-over-month and year-over-year) - Provide a likely explanation based on account type and business context - Flag any movements that seem unusual or warrant investigation - Suggest supporting documentation to request Format: Table with narrative explanations. Group by: Current Assets, Non-Current Assets, Liabilities, Equity.

You are a fixed asset accountant. Prepare a fixed asset roll-forward for the period. Asset data: [Paste: asset description, category, acquisition date, cost, accumulated depreciation, net book value, useful life, method] Produce: 1) Opening balance reconciliation (beginning NBV by category) 2) Additions this period (new assets placed in service) 3) Disposals / retirements (assets removed, gain/loss calculation) 4) Depreciation expense (current period, by category) 5) Ending balance (closing NBV by category) 6) Reconciliation check (opening + additions - disposals - depreciation = ending) Also flag: - Fully depreciated assets still in service (confirm they still exist) - Assets with unusual useful life assumptions - Any assets with $0 salvage value and high original cost - Impairment indicators (significant decline in use or market value) Format: Roll-forward table with narrative notes.

You are an AP auditor. Review this payment data for potential duplicate payments. Payment data: [Paste: vendor name, invoice #, amount, date paid, PO #] Check for: 1) Same invoice number paid twice (exact match) 2) Same amount to same vendor within 30 days (possible duplicate) 3) Similar invoice numbers (transposition: INV-1023 vs INV-1032) 4) Same amount, different vendor names that look similar (DBA variations) 5) Round-number payments without matching invoices For each potential duplicate: - Confidence level (high/medium/low) - Evidence supporting the flag - Recommended action (investigate, recover, or dismiss) Format: Ranked by $ amount. Highest recovery opportunity first.

You are a procurement analyst. Analyze our vendor spend data and identify optimization opportunities. Spend data: [Paste: vendor name, category, annual spend, contract status, payment terms] Analyze: - Top 20 vendors by spend (Pareto analysis) - Categories with 3+ vendors (consolidation opportunity?) - Vendors with no contract on file (risk) - Payment term distribution (how much is net 30 vs net 60 vs other) - Year-over-year spend changes by vendor (>20% increase = flag) Recommend: - Top 5 negotiation priorities (highest spend, worst terms) - Consolidation candidates - Contract renewal priorities Tone: Business-focused. Quantify savings opportunities where possible.

You are a data quality analyst. Review this vendor master file and identify cleanup opportunities. Vendor master data: [Paste: vendor ID, vendor name, address, tax ID, payment method, status, last activity date] Check for: 1) Duplicate vendors (same company, different names — Inc vs LLC, abbreviations) 2) Inactive vendors (no activity in 12+ months — candidate for deactivation) 3) Missing tax IDs (1099 compliance risk) 4) Missing or incomplete addresses 5) Vendors with PO Box only (potential fraud risk for service vendors) 6) Inconsistent naming conventions 7) Vendors with same bank account as another vendor or an employee Produce: - Cleanup action list: merge candidates, deactivation candidates, data completion needs - Risk flags: fraud indicators, compliance gaps - Recommended naming convention for standardization Format: Priority-ranked table. Highest risk items first.

You are a procurement analyst. Analyze purchase order variances for this period. PO data: [Paste: PO number, vendor, original PO amount, final invoiced amount, variance, category] Analyze: 1) Total PO variance (% of total PO spend that came in over/under) 2) Top 10 variances by $ amount — what happened? 3) Variance by category (which spend categories have the most overruns?) 4) Variance by vendor (which vendors consistently exceed PO amounts?) 5) Change order analysis (how many POs required modifications?) 6) Maverick spend (invoices received without a PO) Recommendations: - Vendors that need better SOWs or fixed-price contracts - Categories that need tighter PO controls - Process improvements to reduce variance frequency Format: Executive summary (1 paragraph) + detailed analysis table.

You are a collections analyst. Analyze payment patterns for our top customers to optimize collection strategy. Payment history: [Paste: customer, invoice date, due date, payment date, amount, days to pay] For each customer, calculate: - Average days to pay (last 12 months) - Payment trend (getting faster, slower, or stable?) - On-time payment rate (% of invoices paid by due date) - Typical payment day of month (do they run payment batches on specific dates?) - Average invoice size and frequency Segment customers into: 1) Reliable payers (consistently on time — low touch needed) 2) Slow but predictable (always late but eventually pay — standard follow-up) 3) Deteriorating (getting slower — increase attention) 4) At risk (significant delays or broken promises — escalate) Format: Customer segmentation table with recommended collection approach for each segment.

You are a FP&A analyst. Prepare a Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) analysis and commentary. Data needed: - Monthly revenue (last 12 months): [Paste] - Monthly ending AR balance (last 12 months): [Paste] - AR aging breakdown (current month): [Paste buckets] Calculate and present: 1) Monthly DSO (AR / Revenue x 30) — trailing 12 months 2) Quarterly DSO trend (is it improving or deteriorating?) 3) Best possible DSO (current AR only / daily revenue — theoretical minimum) 4) DSO by customer segment (if data available) 5) Comparison to industry benchmark: [industry average DSO if known] Commentary: - What's driving DSO changes? (customer mix, payment terms, collection effort) - Impact on cash flow (each day of DSO = $X in working capital) - Recommendations to improve DSO (specific, actionable) Format: Chart-ready data table + 2-3 paragraph executive commentary.

You are a Treasury analyst. Build a revenue-to-cash bridge showing why revenue and cash collections differ this month. Data: - Revenue recognized this month: [Amount] - Cash collected this month: [Amount] - Gap: [Amount] Reconcile the gap by identifying: 1) Timing: Revenue recognized but not yet billed (unbilled AR) 2) Timing: Revenue recognized, billed, but not yet collected (AR increase) 3) Collections from prior period revenue (AR decrease) 4) Deferred revenue changes (cash collected before revenue recognition) 5) Write-offs and credit memos 6) Discounts taken by customers 7) FX impact (if applicable) Format: Waterfall bridge showing: Revenue → +/- Unbilled AR → +/- Billed AR change → +/- Deferred Rev → +/- Other → Cash Collected Include narrative explanation of the 3 largest reconciling items.

You are a Treasury analyst. Write commentary on this month's cash flow statement. Cash flow data: [Paste: operating, investing, financing cash flows with line items] Beginning cash: [Amount] Ending cash: [Amount] Analyze: 1) Operating cash flow — is it positive? How does it compare to net income? What's driving the difference? 2) Working capital changes — which items had the biggest impact (AR, AP, inventory)? 3) Investing activities — capex vs. budget, any acquisitions or disposals? 4) Financing activities — debt payments, borrowings, dividends? 5) Free cash flow calculation (operating - capex) 6) Cash runway (at current burn rate, how many months of cash on hand?) Include: - Month-over-month and year-over-year comparison - Key drivers of cash flow change - Outlook for next month (expected large inflows or outflows) Format: 3-4 paragraph narrative + summary table.

You are a financial reporting analyst. Prepare segment reporting commentary for our multi-segment business. Segment data: [Paste: segment name, revenue, operating income, assets, headcount — current and prior period] For each segment: - Revenue performance (growth rate, % of total company) - Operating margin (current vs. prior, trend direction) - Key drivers of performance (new customers, pricing, cost changes) - Capital allocation (investment relative to returns) Cross-segment analysis: - Which segments are growing and which are declining? - Margin comparison (best performing vs. worst) - Resource allocation alignment (are we investing in the right segments?) - Intercompany eliminations summary Format: Segment-by-segment narrative + comparison table + overall company roll-up.

You are a budget analyst. Perform a deep-dive analysis on this department's budget variance. Department: [Name] Budget vs. actual data: [Paste: line item, budget, actual, variance $, variance %] For the top 5 variances by dollar amount: 1) Root cause — why did this happen? (2-3 possible drivers) 2) Controllable vs. uncontrollable — could the department have prevented this? 3) Timing vs. permanent — will this variance reverse or persist? 4) Impact on full-year forecast — does the budget need revision? 5) Recommended action — what should the department manager do? Also note: - Favorable variances that might mask problems (underspending on critical initiatives) - Pattern analysis: is this variance new or recurring? Format: Memo style. Written for a non-finance department manager.

You are an FP&A analyst. Design a cost allocation methodology for shared services costs. Shared costs to allocate: [Paste: cost category, total amount, current allocation method if any] Business units / departments receiving allocation: [Paste: unit name, revenue, headcount, square footage, transaction volume] For each shared cost, recommend: 1) Allocation driver (what best represents usage — headcount, revenue, square footage, transactions?) 2) Rationale for the driver (why is this the fairest allocation basis?) 3) Allocation calculation (show the math) 4) Impact analysis (how much does each unit receive?) 5) Year-over-year comparison (did anyone's allocation change significantly and why?) Also address: - Dual-rate allocation option (fixed costs on capacity, variable on usage) - Practical capacity vs. actual usage as denominator - How to handle new business units (phase-in approach?) Format: Allocation methodology memo + calculation tables.

You are a state tax analyst. Assess our sales tax nexus exposure based on business activity. Company activity by state: [Paste: state, revenue from customers in that state, employees in state, property/inventory in state, trade shows attended] Economic nexus thresholds (general): - Most states: $100K revenue or 200 transactions For each state, determine: 1) Physical nexus? (employees, property, inventory, contractors) 2) Economic nexus? (revenue or transaction threshold exceeded?) 3) Click-through or affiliate nexus? (referral agreements in that state?) 4) Marketplace nexus? (selling through marketplaces that collect?) 5) Current registration status: [Registered / Not registered / Unknown] 6) Risk assessment: High (clearly nexus), Medium (approaching threshold), Low (minimal activity) Recommend: - States requiring immediate registration - States to monitor (approaching thresholds) - Voluntary disclosure agreement candidates (past exposure) Format: State-by-state assessment table + action plan.

You are an ERP consultant. Review this chart of accounts and recommend cleanup. Chart of accounts: [Paste: account number, account name, account type, status, last activity date] Analyze: 1) Inactive accounts with no activity in 12+ months (deactivation candidates) 2) Duplicate or near-duplicate accounts (same purpose, different numbers) 3) Naming inconsistencies (abbreviations, capitalization, unclear descriptions) 4) Missing accounts (gaps in standard account structure) 5) Accounts with names that don't match their type (revenue coded as expense) 6) Numbering gaps or inconsistencies Recommend: - Accounts to inactivate (with rationale) - Accounts to merge (map old to new) - Names to standardize - Naming convention going forward Format: Table with action items. Group by priority.

You are a finance analyst. Build an ROI model for implementing AI in a specific accounting workflow. Workflow: [e.g., AP invoice processing, close variance explanations, bank reconciliation] Current state: - Hours per cycle: [Current manual hours] - Frequency: [Monthly, weekly, daily] - Error rate: [If known, % of items requiring rework] - People involved: [Number and fully loaded cost] Proposed AI tool: - Tool name: [Name] - Annual cost: [License + implementation amortized] - Expected time reduction: [% or hours saved] - Expected error reduction: [%] - Implementation time: [Months to full deployment] Calculate: 1) Annual labor cost of current process 2) Annual labor cost after AI (reduced hours x loaded rate) 3) Annual savings (labor cost reduction + error cost reduction) 4) Net annual benefit (savings minus tool cost) 5) Payback period (months to recover implementation cost) 6) 3-year ROI (cumulative savings vs. cumulative costs) 7) Non-financial benefits (speed, accuracy, employee satisfaction, scalability) Format: ROI summary table + narrative for CFO approval.

You are a financial reporting manager preparing the monthly balance sheet review. Balance sheet data: [PASTE: Account | Current balance | Prior month balance] Known events this period: [DESCRIBE: New contracts, debt draws, acquisitions, large purchases — or write "none"] Materiality threshold: $[AMOUNT] For each line above materiality: - Calculate $ change and % change - Write a 2-sentence plain-English explanation of what drove the change - Flag any movement that cannot be explained by known events — needs investigation before finalizing Output: Flux table with narrative notes grouped by Current Assets / Non-Current Assets / Liabilities / Equity. End with: movements consistent with business activity OR list items requiring additional review.