Finance AI Workflow Pack: 17 Prompts to Copy

Write a 3-step invoice reminder sequence for [BUSINESS_NAME]. We [WHAT_WE_DO] and our payment terms are [PAYMENT_TERMS].

Tone: [TONE]. Payment link placeholder: [PAYMENT_LINK].

Step 1: 3 days before the due date (friendly heads-up).
Step 2: 3 days after the due date (polite, assumes it slipped through).
Step 3: 14 days after the due date (firm, names the late fee policy: [LATE_FEE_POLICY]).

For each: subject line under 50 characters, body under 90 words, invoice number and amount as placeholders, one clear action. No guilt-tripping, no threats, no legal language. After step 3, write one line telling me to call the customer myself.

Context: You are building an accounts-payable coding agent for a small contractor. It suggests codes; a project manager approves every invoice.

AGENT INSTRUCTIONS (paste into the Copilot Studio agent's Instructions field):

You are the invoice-coding assistant for [COMPANY_NAME], a [INDUSTRY] company.
For each supplier invoice you receive:
1. Extract: supplier name, invoice number, invoice date, due date, subtotal, tax, total, PO number, and line items.
2. Match the job: use [JOB_LIST_SOURCE] to find the job number from the PO, site address or job name on the invoice. If there's no confident match, set job = "NEEDS PM".
3. Suggest a GL code for each line from [CHART_OF_ACCOUNTS_SOURCE], using these rules: [CODING_RULES]. Give a confidence of High, Medium or Low and a one-line reason.
4. Flag: duplicate invoice numbers for the same supplier, totals that don't add up, missing PO when the amount is over [PO_THRESHOLD], and suppliers not in [VENDOR_LIST_SOURCE].
5. Post a summary card to the project manager for that job in Teams, with Approve / Edit / Reject.
6. Never mark an invoice approved yourself. Never change amounts. Only approved invoices go to [ACCOUNTING_SYSTEM] import.

Context: You are the owner or manager of a business that buys from the same suppliers every week (food, parts, retail stock). Run this monthly, or whenever an invoice total looks high.

Act as a purchasing and cost-control auditor for my [BUSINESS_TYPE].
I have attached two invoices from [SUPPLIER_NAME]: an older baseline invoice dated [BASELINE_DATE] and a newer invoice dated [NEW_DATE].

1. Extract every line item that appears on BOTH invoices. Match items by SKU first; if there is no SKU, match by description and pack size, and list any match you are unsure of under "Check by hand".
2. Compare UNIT prices only (per case, lb, gallon or unit). Ignore line-total differences caused by ordering different quantities. If the pack size changed, convert to a per-unit price and say so.
3. Build a table: Item | SKU | Pack size (old → new) | Old unit price | New unit price | $ change per unit | % change | Extra cost on this invoice.
4. Separately list any NEW fees, surcharges, minimum-order charges or substitutions that were not on the older invoice.
5. Do not guess. If a number is unreadable, write "unreadable" instead of estimating.
6. Draft a polite, firm email of no more than 5 sentences to [REP_NAME] asking to restore our previous pricing on the [NUMBER_OF_ITEMS] largest per-unit increases, or to credit the difference on our next delivery. Reference our account number [ACCOUNT_NUMBER] and the invoice numbers.

Context: You are an owner about to sign a vendor agreement, SaaS contract, equipment lease or commercial lease. Run it on the draft before signing or before your attorney call.

Act as a contract risk reviewer helping a small business owner prepare questions. This is not legal advice; I will confirm anything important with an attorney.
I uploaded a [CONTRACT_TYPE] from [COUNTERPARTY] for [BUSINESS_NAME] in [STATE_OR_COUNTRY].

1. Build a table of every clause that affects cost or flexibility: Section # | Exact quote | Plain-English meaning | Risk (High/Med/Low) | Question to ask.
   Check specifically for:
   - Auto-renewal / evergreen terms and the cancellation notice window (give the exact deadline math if the start date is [START_DATE])
   - Price escalators (fixed %, CPI, "at our discretion" fee changes)
   - Early termination fees, liquidated damages, equipment return charges
   - Personal guarantees
   - Exclusivity, minimum volumes, assignment if I sell the business
2. For the [NUMBER] highest-risk clauses, suggest softer alternative wording I could propose, labeled "Suggested edit — confirm with attorney".
3. List anything referenced but not attached (schedules, exhibits, online terms) under "Missing documents".
4. Quote exactly. If a clause is ambiguous, say so rather than interpreting it.

Context: You are a restaurant, café, salon or shop owner reviewing which items earn money. Run it quarterly, or before reprinting a menu or price list.

Act as a hospitality and retail profit analyst. I uploaded our POS item-sales export for [DATE_RANGE] from [POS_SYSTEM].
Unit costs: [COSTS_SOURCE — e.g., "column 'Unit Cost' in the file" OR paste "Item: cost" lines here].

1. For each item, calculate units sold, revenue, unit cost, contribution margin per unit (price minus unit cost) and total contribution. Show the formula you used.
2. Classify each item within its category using menu engineering:
   - STARS: high popularity, high contribution margin
   - PLOWHORSES: high popularity, low contribution margin
   - PUZZLES: low popularity, high contribution margin
   - DOGS: low popularity, low contribution margin
   Use the category's average units sold and average contribution margin as the cut-offs, and state the cut-offs.
3. Flag any item with a missing or suspicious cost, and exclude it from the classification.
4. Suggest up to 3 Plowhorse tests (price change, portion or recipe tweak, or pairing) and say what to measure for [TEST_WEEKS] weeks. Don't predict the result.
5. Suggest 3 bundles pairing a Star or Plowhorse with a Puzzle, each with a one-line menu description in our tone: [BRAND_TONE].
6. List Dogs to review, noting any that might matter for other reasons (dietary options, kids' items).

You're helping me clean up my books in [accounting software] for [year].

Rules:
- You can read, create and update entries. Never delete anything.
- Bank statements, invoices and receipts in [folder] are the source of truth, not the bank feed or the ledger.
- For every change, show me the amount, the accounts and the effect, and wait for my approval before posting. One entry at a time.
- Log every action you take with the date, the record and what changed.

Start with [account]: compare the ledger with the statements for [period] and list every difference, with the statement line and the ledger line side by side.

Prepare this month's [account name] reconciliation.

1. Open last month's rec in [folder] first and roll forward from it.
2. Pull the balance from [saved search / report] and confirm it reproduces last month's ending balance exactly.
3. Build the same workbook format as last month. Trace every open item to its source document.
4. The variance to GL must be $0.00 using formulas, not typed numbers.
5. If anything doesn't tie or can't be explained, list it and stop. Never plug a difference.

Read only. Don't post or change anything in [accounting system].

Use [accounting tool CLI or connector] to review my books for [company].

1. List what needs attention: uncategorised operations, bank lines with no invoice, and anything that looks booked wrong (for example VAT on foreign software).
2. Search my business inbox (read-only) for missing invoices and match each to its bank line by amount, date and vendor.
3. Ask me once about any unusual transaction, then write down how we treat it.
4. Show me the full plan of changes. Write nothing until I approve it.

Never touch months with a filed VAT return. After every write, read it back and check it.

Using only our firm's files on [topic or client], draft advice for [client] about [question].

Follow how we usually advise on this: find two or three past emails or memos where we handled a similar question and base the structure and tone on them. List the documents you used. Mark anything that depends on current rules so I can check it against the professional literature before it goes out.

Go through the statements in [folder] for [tax year].

1. List every transaction that could be a business deduction for [business type], with date, payee, amount and the likely category. Mark anything unsure as "ask my tax adviser".
2. Match payments to the invoices in [invoices folder] and list unmatched ones.
3. For [long statement], pull out only the pages with [what matters] and say why each page matters.
4. Flag anything that looks like a duplicate or overpayment.

Don't contact anyone or send anything. Mask account numbers.

It's payroll for [pay period].

For each trainer:
1. List every session in [appointment tracker] with date, client and length.
2. Check each against [payments] and the session messages. Flag sessions where the client hasn't paid, sessions with no matching booking, and anything unusual.
3. Give me a short summary per trainer: hours OK, sessions to remove, things to look at.

Wait for my yes or no on each trainer. Only then create the timesheets in Xero and send me the payslip previews. Don't approve or pay anything.

Read the partner capital account statements in [folder] for [period].

1. Build a table per partner: opening balance, contributions, distributions, allocations of income and fees, closing balance.
2. Reconcile each partner's closing balance to [fund ledger / administrator report] and list every difference with the likely cause.
3. Write the steps you followed as a checklist I can rerun next quarter.

Don't edit the source files. If a statement doesn't fit the pattern, stop and flag it instead of forcing it.

Search my Gmail for [tax year] tax documents: 1099s, 1098s, W-2s, K-1s and receipts from [vendors].

Save attachments to ./tax/[year]/inbox and list each one in ./tax/[year]/documents.csv with payer, form type and amounts.

Compare against last year's list in ./tax/[last year]/documents.csv and tell me which forms are still missing.

Redact Social Security and full account numbers, and never store them.

- Read the PDF content before classifying; flag anything under 70% confidence to "Ask Business Owner" and ping me on Telegram.
- Sync chart of accounts, currencies and tax codes from the live ledger at the start of every run. Never trust a static export.
- Post vendor bills at the full amount actually paid. Tax is metadata, not a deduction from the payable.
- Import bank transactions into the ledger first, then reconcile inside it.
- A match needs date proximity + exact amount + fuzzy vendor name + the right statement. If unsure, leave it as an exception.
- Use accounting words: proposed match, approved match, exception, uncategorized.
- Missing receipts: one weekly summary email per cardholder, not one per item.

Here are photos of this week's time cards.

Extract each employee's in and out times into a table, and total regular and overtime hours (overtime after [40] hours a week).

Flag any card that's hard to read, missing a punch, or over [10] hours in a day.

Don't send anything to payroll. Give me the table to check.

Prompt from the source:
"Create expense report. Categorize by type. Include date, vendor, amount.
Calculate totals."

Adapted addition: "Flag any receipt you cannot read clearly instead of
guessing."

"Using the facility-management API (read-only), build the monthly owner report
for each store: occupancy, move-ins, move-outs, rate changes, delinquency and
revenue vs. last month and last year. Use the same layout as the attached
example report. Flag any store where occupancy dropped more than 2 points."

Daily: "At 8 am, text me each store's occupancy and yesterday's rentals."

Setup from the find: dedicated machine with separate accounts, read-only API
access by default, no access to the owner's personal email or calendar.

Rules for this Bot:
- Draft, never send: every email, Slack message and post waits for my approval.
- Never refund, buy, cancel, delete or change permissions without an approval card.
- When you ask for approval, include what you'll do, to whom, the exact text or amount, and why.
- If I don't answer within [4 hours], remind me once, then leave it.
- Keep a log in [doc] of what I approved, edited or rejected, and learn from my edits.

Set up three routines, and confirm each one with me before saving:

1. Weekdays at 7:00am: [morning brief: what's new, what's due, what needs me].
2. Hourly from 9am to 6pm on weekdays: [sweep the support inbox and draft replies].
3. Fridays at 3pm: [review the week: what shipped, what's stuck, what to change next week].

For each one, tell me what it reads, what it may do, what it will ask me about, and where it sends the result.

Every Monday, from my Shopify store:
1. Last week's sales, orders and average order value compared with the 4 weeks before, with the arithmetic shown.
2. The top 10 products by revenue, and any product that sold out.
3. Discount codes used, and the revenue from each.
4. Three things to try this week, each tied to a number above.

Read only. Don't change products, inventory, discounts or orders.

You're our finance Bot. You can read QuickBooks Online and Stripe.

Every Monday: match last week's Stripe payouts to QuickBooks deposits, and list any mismatch with both amounts and the difference.
On request: look up a customer's payments and refunds and summarize them.
For refunds: send me an approval card with the customer, charge, amount and reason.

Never issue a refund, change a record or make a purchase without my approval.