AI Prompts for Finance

You are a Senior Compliance Officer at a financial institution subject to SEC Regulation S-P. Review the attached Security Incident Response Plan from [[AI Vendor Name]]. Cross-reference it against the 2026 amended Reg S-P requirements. Identify any gaps, specifically focusing on: 1. The definition of "sensitive customer information." 2. The exact timeline and method for notifying us (the client) of a breach. 3. The process for assessing the nature and scope of an incident. 4. Their procedures for containment, eradication, and recovery. 5. How they support our obligation to notify affected individuals within 30 days. Provide a summary of deficiencies and a list of specific questions to send back to the vendor.

You are an FP&A analyst preparing a monthly financial review. Based on the following data comparing budget vs. actuals for the last quarter, write a concise summary (under 150 words) for the CFO. Identify the top three largest variances (absolute value), state whether they are favorable or unfavorable, and provide a likely business driver for each. **Data:** - Revenue: Budget $5.2M, Actual $5.0M - COGS: Budget $2.1M, Actual $2.3M - Marketing Spend: Budget $800K, Actual $650K - R&D Spend: Budget $1.1M, Actual $1.15M - G&A Spend: Budget $500K, Actual $525K

You are an FP&A analyst building a driver-based revenue forecast for the next 4 quarters. Using the connected data from our ERP (financials) and CRM (sales pipeline), create a time-series forecast for 'Total Revenue'. Use 'New Bookings', 'Renewal Rate', and 'Sales Pipeline Value' as the primary drivers. Decompose the forecast to show the predicted contribution from each driver. Identify any significant seasonality or trends in the historical data.

You are the Head of FP&A presenting the final AOP to the executive leadership team. Using the approved budget model data, write a 300-word executive summary. Start with the headline revenue and EBITDA projections. Then, summarize the top 3 strategic initiatives funded in this plan and their expected ROI. Conclude by identifying the 2 most significant risks to achieving the plan, based on the sensitivity analysis we performed, and the mitigation strategies we have in place.

**Forecast length:** 12 Months **Confidence interval:** 95% **Seasonality:** 365 Days (if you have daily data with annual patterns) or 12 Months (for monthly data)

Summarize the forecast for Net Revenue. What are the key trends and seasonal patterns this model has identified in the historical data? Create a narrative that explains the projected growth for the next 12 months.

You are a senior FP&A analyst for a SaaS company, writing the monthly financial review for executive leadership. Your tone should be concise and direct. Based on the following data for the month of August 2026, generate a 3-bullet summary explaining the key drivers of the variance between our actual and budgeted Net Income. For each driver, quantify the impact and state whether it was favorable (F) or unfavorable (U). **Data:** * Revenue: $5.5M Actual vs. $5.2M Budget * Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): $1.1M Actual vs. $1.0M Budget * Sales & Marketing (S&M): $2.2M Actual vs. $2.3M Budget * Research & Development (R&D): $1.5M Actual vs. $1.5M Budget * General & Administrative (G&A): $0.5M Actual vs. $0.4M Budget

You are a senior FP&A analyst for a mid-sized SaaS company, preparing a monthly financial review for the executive team. Your tone is concise, data-driven, and focused on actionable insights. Below is the P&L data for the last month, showing Actual vs. Budget. [[Paste your data here, e.g., from Excel]] Based on this data, perform the following tasks: 1. Identify the top 3 largest variances (both favorable and unfavorable) in absolute dollar terms. 2. For each variance, write a 2-3 sentence commentary explaining the likely business driver. 3. For each variance, suggest one specific follow-up question to ask the relevant department head (e.g., Head of Sales, Head of Marketing). 4. Conclude with a 1-paragraph summary of the company's overall performance against budget.

You are a senior FP&A analyst at a B2B SaaS company. Your task is to write a draft executive summary for the upcoming quarterly revenue forecast. Use the historical and projected data provided below to build a narrative. Start with the top-line number, then break it down by the key drivers: New Business, Expansion, and Churn. For each driver, explain the trend and reference the specific data points. Conclude with the primary risk and the primary opportunity to the forecast. The tone should be objective and data-driven for a CFO audience. The output should be a 3-paragraph summary. **Historical Data (Q3 Actuals):** - Total Revenue: $12.5M - New Business ARR: $1.2M - Expansion ARR: $0.8M - Churn ARR: -$0.5M **Forecast Data (Q4 Projections):** - Total Revenue: $13.8M - New Business ARR: $1.5M (driven by new marketing campaign launched in August) - Expansion ARR: $0.7M (slight dip due to product-tier saturation in enterprise segment) - Churn ARR: -$0.4M (improvement due to new customer success initiatives) **Primary Risk:** [Specify a risk, e.g., "Potential for a competitor's new product launch to impact New Business pipeline in December."] **Primary Opportunity:** [Specify an opportunity, e.g., "Early positive signals from the new marketing campaign could lead to upside on the $1.5M New Business target."] Do not include any information not present in the data provided.

| Account | Actual YTD | Budget YTD | Variance | vs. Prior Year | |----------------------|------------|------------|----------|----------------| | Revenue | 1,500,000 | 1,450,000 | 50,000 | 15% | | COGS | 600,000 | 610,000 | 10,000 | 12% | | Gross Profit | 900,000 | 840,000 | 60,000 | 17% | | Sales & Marketing | 350,000 | 300,000 | (50,000) | 25% | | R&D | 200,000 | 210,000 | 10,000 | 10% | | G&A | 150,000 | 160,000 | 10,000 | 8% | | Operating Income | 200,000 | 170,000 | 30,000 | 11% | | Interest Expense | 20,000 | 25,000 | 5,000 | -5% | | Net Income | 180,000 | 145,000 | 35,000 | 13% |

You are a Power BI expert specializing in DAX measures. I need a formula to calculate the Year-over-Year (YoY) revenue growth percentage. My data model has a 'Sales' table with a 'Revenue' column and a 'Date' table with a 'Date' column. The tables have a relationship on the date field. Provide the complete, ready-to-use DAX measure. Include brief comments in the code explaining what each part of the formula does.

You are an FP&A analyst building a 12-month rolling forecast. I have provided the last 3 months of actuals and the next 9 months of the original budget. Your task is to create a new "Rolling Forecast" line item. For the first 3 months, use the actuals. For the subsequent 9 months, use the original budget figures. Present the output as a markdown table with columns for "Month", "Actuals", "Budget", and "Rolling Forecast". **Data:** - **Actuals:** Jan: $100K, Feb: $105K, Mar: $110K - **Budget:** Apr: $112K, May: $115K, Jun: $118K, Jul: $120K, Aug: $122K, Sep: $125K, Oct: $128K, Nov: $130K, Dec: $135K

You are a financial modeling expert. I am building a DCF model and want to perform a sensitivity analysis on the valuation. The key drivers I want to sensitize are: 1. WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital): Base case is 8.0%. I want to test a range from 7.0% to 9.0% in 0.5% increments. 2. Terminal Growth Rate: Base case is 2.5%. I want to test a range from 2.0% to 3.0% in 0.25% increments. Generate a markdown table that I can use in Excel for the sensitivity analysis. The WACC should be on the y-axis (rows) and the Terminal Growth Rate on the x-axis (columns). The cells should be left empty for the valuation outputs.

You are a senior investment banking analyst building a 5-year financial model for a publicly traded coffee company like Starbucks. My task is to create a list of key drivers and assumptions needed to build the revenue forecast and the cost structure. For each assumption, provide a brief rationale and a potential data source to verify it. Organize the output into two sections: "Revenue Drivers" and "Cost Drivers". The output should be a bulleted list.

You are a strategic finance analyst. I need to create three scenarios for our 2027 financial plan: a Base Case, an Upside Case, and a Downside Case. The company is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce business selling apparel. The key drivers are: - Website Traffic Growth - Conversion Rate - Average Order Value (AOV) - Gross Margin % For each of the three scenarios (Upside, Base, Downside), define a plausible set of assumptions for these four drivers. Present the output as a markdown table.

You are an expert in Excel formulas. I need to translate a business rule into a formula for calculating sales commissions. The rule is: - If a sale is less than $5,000, the commission rate is 5%. - If a sale is between $5,000 and $10,000 (inclusive), the commission rate is 7.5%. - If a sale is greater than $10,000, the commission rate is 10%. The sale amount is in cell `A2`. Provide an Excel formula that calculates the total commission amount (Sale Amount * Commission Rate).

You are a private equity associate writing an investment committee memo. I need to justify our proposed entry multiple for an LBO of a target company. **Target:** A mature industrial manufacturing company. **Proposed Entry Multiple:** 8.0x LTM EBITDA. Draft a short paragraph justifying this multiple. Reference the following points: - The median multiple for comparable public companies is 9.5x. - The median multiple for precedent M&A transactions is 9.0x. - Our proposed multiple represents a discount to public and private comps. - The discount is justified due to [insert justification, e.g., "the target's lower growth profile and customer concentration risk"].

You are a financial analyst building a 3-statement model from scratch for a public company. Create a checklist of all the specific financial statements, schedules, and data points I need to gather from a company's most recent 10-K report to build a historical 3-statement model. Organize the list by financial statement (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement) and include a section for "Notes and Schedules".

You are an FP&A analyst writing commentary for the monthly financial review. The "Consulting Fees" line item has a significant unfavorable variance. **Data:** - **Line Item:** Consulting Fees - **Actual:** $150,000 - **Budget:** $50,000 - **Variance:** ($100,000) - Unfavorable **Known Reasons:** - $80,000 was for Project Titan, an unplanned strategic project approved by the CEO. - $20,000 was due to higher-than-expected legal fees for a contract review. Draft a concise, 2-sentence explanation for the variance. Follow the format: "The variance was driven by X and Y. Specifically, [[provide detail and amounts]].

You are a senior accountant designing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the month-end close. Create a generic checklist for reconciling a balance sheet account (e.g., Accrued Liabilities) from the sub-ledger to the general ledger (GL). The checklist should be a series of steps a junior accountant can follow.

You are a credit analyst reviewing the quarterly Accounts Receivable aging report. Based on the data below, identify the top three insights or concerns. For each insight, state the observation and the potential business implication. **A/R Aging Data:** | Aging Bucket | Current Quarter | Prior Quarter | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Current | $5.0M (65%) | $4.8M (75%) | | 1-30 Days Past Due | $1.5M (20%) | $1.0M (15%) | | 31-60 Days Past Due | $0.8M (10%) | $0.5M (7%) | | 61-90 Days Past Due | $0.3M (4%) | $0.1M (2%) | | >90 Days Past Due | $0.1M (1%) | $0.1M (1%) | | **Total A/R** | **$7.7M** | **$6.5M** |

You are an accounting manager. I need to record the monthly depreciation expense. **Data:** - **Monthly Depreciation Expense:** $25,000 - **GL Accounts:** - Depreciation Expense (Account #65100) - Accumulated Depreciation - Equipment (Account #18110) Create the journal entry in a standard two-column format (Debit/Credit) and provide a one-sentence description for the entry.

You are an FP&A analyst preparing for budget vs. actual review meetings. My department, Marketing, has a significant variance. **Data:** - **Line Item:** Digital Advertising - **Budget:** $200,000 - **Actual:** $280,000 - **Variance:** ($80,000) - Unfavorable Generate a list of 3-4 non-confrontational but specific questions to ask the budget owner (VP of Marketing) to understand the drivers of this overspend.

You are a treasury analyst. Based on the provided data, calculate the three components of the cash conversion cycle (CCC): Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO), and Days Payables Outstanding (DPO). Then, calculate the final CCC. Show the formula and the calculation for each step. **Data (Annual):** - Revenue: $20,000,000 - COGS: $12,000,000 - Average Accounts Receivable: $2,500,000 - Average Inventory: $2,000,000 - Average Accounts Payable: $1,500,000

You are a finance manager writing a brief memo to the CFO. Based on our company's high Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) of 60 days, while the industry average is 45 days, I want to propose a new initiative. **Initiative:** Offer a "2/10, net 30" discount to customers. This means they get a 2% discount if they pay within 10 days; otherwise, the full amount is due in 30 days. Draft a short paragraph explaining the initiative, its primary benefit (accelerating cash flow), and its primary cost (a 2% reduction in revenue for participating customers).

You are a financial analyst. Based on the working capital data below, describe the trend in the company's liquidity and operational efficiency. **Data:** | Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Current Ratio | 2.5x | 2.1x | 1.8x | | Quick Ratio | 1.5x | 1.1x | 0.9x | | Cash Conversion Cycle | 45 Days | 55 Days | 65 Days | Write a 2-3 sentence summary of your findings.

You are a restructuring advisor. I need to create a standard 13-week cash flow forecast model. Provide a template structure for this model. It should include the main sections: Cash Receipts (Inflows), Cash Disbursements (Outflows), and the Net Cash Flow calculation. Include 5-7 typical line items under each section.

You are an audit manager preparing for the year-end audit of a manufacturing company. Create a "Provided by Client" (PBC) request list for the "Inventory" audit area. List 5-7 key documents and schedules you would request from the client to audit their inventory balance.

You are an accounting expert. Explain the core principle of ASC 606: Revenue from Contracts with Customers in simple terms, as if to a non-accountant sales manager. Focus on the 5-step model. Use a simple analogy if possible.

You are a risk management professional. Our company is launching a new "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) feature within our e-commerce app. Brainstorm a list of potential risks associated with this new product. Categorize the risks into three groups: "Credit Risk", "Regulatory & Compliance Risk", and "Operational Risk".

You are a communications expert. I have a sentence for a board presentation that is full of financial jargon. Rewrite it to be clear and direct. **Original Sentence:** "We will deleverage the balance sheet by optimizing our working capital through DSO reduction and DPO extension, thereby enhancing our liquidity position." **Rewritten Sentence:** [[Your output here]]

You are the Head of Investor Relations. Our company just announced we are missing our quarterly earnings guidance due to supply chain issues. **Question:** "You missed your revenue guidance by 5%. What happened, and how can we be sure it won't happen again?" Draft a concise, professional answer. Acknowledge the miss, explain the root cause clearly (supply chain), state the actions you are taking, and reaffirm long-term confidence.

You are a CEO writing a company-wide email. I need to summarize our Q3 financial results in an upbeat but honest way. **Key Results:** - Revenue: Met our target of $12.5M. - Profitability: Missed our target due to unplanned investment in "Project Titan". - Customer Growth: Exceeded our target, adding 100 new logos vs. a goal of 75. Draft a short, 3-bullet point summary for the email. Frame the profitability miss as a strategic investment.

You are a senior FP&A analyst writing the executive summary for the monthly financial review. Your audience is the CFO and Head of Sales. Be concise, professional, and focus on actionable insights. Use the data below to write a 3-paragraph summary of our company's performance in August 2026. **Paragraph 1:** Start with the headline revenue and operating income performance vs. budget. **Paragraph 2:** Explain the top 3 drivers of the variance in detail. For each driver, state the financial impact and the likely business reason. **Paragraph 3:** Conclude with one key question for the business team and state the expected impact on the Q3 forecast. **Data:** - **Revenue:** Actual $5.2M vs. Budget $5.0M (+$200k / +4% Favorable) - **Operating Income:** Actual $1.1M vs. Budget $1.3M (-$200k / -15% Unfavorable) - **Variance Drivers:** 1. New Product "X-Launch": Revenue was +$350k vs. budget. 2. Marketing Spend: Actual was $400k vs. budget of $150k (-$250k Unfavorable) due to accelerated X-Launch campaign. 3. Freight Costs: Actual was $200k vs. budget of $100k (-$100k Unfavorable) due to expedited shipping for X-Launch inventory.

You are a senior FP&A analyst providing commentary on monthly financial results for a business unit leader. Your tone should be analytical, direct, and forward-looking. Based on the following data, write a 3-paragraph summary explaining the key drivers of the variance between Actuals and Budget for the month of August 2026. **Data:** - Revenue: Actual $5.5M vs Budget $5.0M - COGS: Actual $2.2M vs Budget $2.0M - Opex: Actual $2.5M vs Budget $2.6M - Headcount: Actual 105 vs Budget 102 For each major variance (Revenue, COGS, Opex), identify it as favorable or unfavorable, state the dollar amount of the variance, and propose one likely business reason for the difference. Conclude with the most important question the business leader should be prepared to answer.