Best AI prompts for financial analysis and investment, 24 to copy (2026)

A good financial analysis prompt turns a vague request into a verifiable assignment: data, period, ratios, format and limits. This library gathers 24 AI prompts to copy into ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini, from financial statements to investment and personal finance. If you work in finance, the AI program at Founderz takes this further.

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What you’ll take from this

Every prompt follows the same pattern: role, context, task, rules and format, with brackets for what you swap. Here is what you will find.

• Prompts for financial statement analysis, ratios, cash flow, investment, valuation and company comparison, ready to copy.
• Prompts for each tool: Claude for long reports, Copilot inside Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams, and Gemini in Google Sheets and Docs.
• Prompts for personal finance, a financial advisor conversation and expense tracking, with the limits worth setting.
• The seven-field method for writing your own prompts, with a before and after example.

ChatGPT prompts for financial analysis

ChatGPT, with its GPT models, is the most versatile place to start: it accepts Excel and PDF files, calculates with them and lets you ask for changes in the same conversation. The text in brackets is my example: replace it with your case and keep the rest. Library reviewed in October 2026.

Financial statements, ratios and reports

This is the everyday analyst job: reading the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, and explaining what changed. The key is that the prompt separates facts, calculations and hypotheses.

Check the data before analyzing

Act as a senior financial analyst, rigorous and decision oriented.
Context: I will attach [the income statement and balance sheet for 2024 and 2025 of a services company with 40 employees]. Figures are in US dollars.
Task: before analyzing, check the data. Confirm that periods, units and signs are consistent, that the balance sheet balances and that there are no duplicate items.
Then calculate revenue, expenses, EBITDA, cash flow, debt and liquidity, and their year over year changes. If the information is not enough, ask for it before going on.
Rules: use only the attached information. Separate data, calculations, hypotheses and conclusions. If a figure is missing, say so instead of estimating it.
Format: indicator table with formula and period, three key risks, three questions for management and a list of open checks.

Eight-quarter financial statement analysis

Act as a senior financial analyst.
Context: I attach the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement for the last eight quarters of [a manufacturing company with sales in US dollars].
Task: identify and explain the trend in revenue growth, EBITDA, gross margin, operating cash flow, free cash flow, net debt and working capital.
Rules: do not invent data. Mark as "no data" any figure that is not in the files. Say which factors may be affecting efficiency and liquidity, and which are facts and which are hypotheses.
Format: five-line executive summary, a quarterly table with the changes and a list of five questions a bank would ask.

Monthly report for management

Act as the financial controller preparing the monthly report for [the management committee].
Context: I attach the validated table for [March 2026] with actual, budget and prior year.
Task: write the report with an executive summary, revenue and expense variances, liquidity, profitability, risks and open decisions.
Rules: clear language, no unnecessary jargon. Do not add outside data. Separate facts from interpretation and mark each conclusion the finance lead must validate.
Format: two pages at most, with a table of five KPIs and three follow-up questions.

Investment prompts: valuation, stocks and portfolio

An investment prompt prepares the research, it does not make the decision. These three ask for explicit assumptions, look at risk and the financial market with data you provide, and leave out any recommendation to buy or sell. Investing always carries risk, and decision making stays with you.

Draft investment thesis with a DCF

Act as an analyst preparing research, not as a personal advisor.
Context: I will provide [the latest annual report and earnings presentation of a listed energy company].
Task: build a draft thesis with business model, segments, competitive advantage, management team, growth expectations and key risks. Propose a valuation range using a DCF with every assumption explicit (growth, margin, discount rate).
Rules: use only the sources provided. Do not recommend buying or selling. Say which data must be checked against official sources.
Format: numbered sections, an assumptions table and a table with a base, a conservative and an optimistic case.

Compare companies in the same sector

Act as an equity analyst.
Context: I will paste data for [three retail companies with sales, net debt, EBITDA and capex for the last three years].
Task: compare profitability, debt, liquidity, growth, capital allocation and risks for each, as if they were positions in a securities portfolio, using only the data I give you.
Before comparing, ask me about my time horizon, risk tolerance, costs and diversification.
Rules: do not turn the comparison into a personal recommendation.
Format: comparison table with eight metrics, one paragraph per company and the three factors that would change the conclusion most.

Checklist to analyze a stock

Act as a fundamental analyst teaching a private investor how to review a company.
Context: I want to understand [a listed S&P 500 company] before deciding anything. I know little accounting.
Task: give me a checklist in the order I should review it: business model, revenue, margins, debt, cash, dividends, risks and valuation.
For each point, say which figure to look at, where to find it (annual report, SEC filings, earnings presentation) and which warning sign to look for. Include how it compares with the market and with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the sector.
Rules: do not recommend buying or selling and do not invent company figures. Explain each technical term in one sentence.
Format: three-column table (what to review, where, warning sign).

Claude prompts for financial analysis

Claude stands out with long documents and careful drafting, two common finance tasks: reading a hundred-page annual report and writing a management commentary you can defend. Upload the full PDF and ask it to cite the section for each figure.

Extract risks from a long annual report

Act as a credit analyst reviewing the [150-page] annual report I attach.
Task: extract the risks the company itself acknowledges, off-balance-sheet items, litigation, debt covenants and changes in accounting policy compared with the prior year.
Rules: cite the section and page for each figure. If something does not appear in the document, write "not stated". Do not use outside knowledge about the company.
Format: table with risk, where it appears, related figure and why it matters for granting credit. Finish with three questions you would ask management.

Compare two reports from different periods

Act as a financial analyst. I attach two documents: [the first-half 2025 results report and the first-half 2026 one].
Task: compare what changed in the figures, in management's tone and in the declared risks.
Rules: separate changes in figures from changes in tone. Cite the section for each claim. Do not interpret management's intentions without evidence in the text.
Format: table of changes (topic, before, now, source) and a five-line summary.

Write the quarterly management commentary

Act as the finance director writing the management commentary for [the second quarter] for [the board of directors].
Context: I attach the results table, the controlling team's notes and last quarter's commentary as a style model.
Task: write the commentary explaining the three most relevant variances, their confirmed causes and the risks for next quarter.
Rules: sober, precise tone, no marketing adjectives. Use only causes that appear in the notes; if a cause is your hypothesis, mark it in brackets for validation.
Format: 350 words in three paragraphs and a closing sentence with the decision requested from the board.

Board memo about an investment

Act as an advisor to the finance director. I will attach [the business case for buying a logistics warehouse for 2.6 million dollars].
Task: write a one-page memo for the board with the proposed decision, expected return, the assumptions that weigh most and the conditions under which we would say no.
Rules: review the business case critically: point out optimistic assumptions, calculations that do not add up and missing data before drafting.
Format: memo with title, recommendation, a table of three scenarios and a list of risks.

Copilot prompts for financial analysis

Copilot works inside Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams, with the files and messages you already have access to. That makes it useful for the finance team’s day to day: depending on your license, it can analyze an Excel table, draft in Word from it or summarize a closing meeting.

Copilot in Excel: budget versus actual variances

Analyze the table [Results_2026] in this sheet, which has columns for month, line item, budget and actual.
Calculate the absolute and percentage variance between actual and budget by line item and by month.
Highlight the five line items with the largest deviation and flag those above [10%].
Do not modify the original data: add the calculations in new columns and explain each formula in one sentence.
Finish with a three-line summary for the management committee.

Copilot in Excel: liquidity and debt ratios

Using the balance sheet data in the sheet [Balance], build a table with current ratio, quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and net debt to EBITDA for the last [four] closings.
Write the Excel formulas, adapted to my regional settings, and explain in one sentence what each ratio measures.
If a figure needed for any of them is missing, tell me instead of assuming it.
Add a line chart showing the trend in the current ratio.

Copilot in Word: monthly report from an Excel file

Draft the [April] financial report for [general management] using the file [April_close.xlsx] and last month's report as the format model.
Include an executive summary, revenue and expense variances, cash, risks and open decisions.
Use only figures from the file and cite the source sheet for each one. Mark in brackets anything the finance lead must confirm.
Clear, sober tone, two pages at most.

Copilot in Outlook: chase a payment with follow-up

Summarize the email thread with [the client Northside Distribution] about invoice [INV-2026-0148], overdue for [45 days].
Identify what was promised, by whom and when, and what is missing.
Write a firm and courteous reply proposing a specific payment date and a two-installment plan as an alternative.
Do not threaten legal action or invent terms that are not in the thread.

Copilot in Teams: actions from the closing meeting

From the transcript of the [March] closing meeting, summarize the variances discussed and the decisions made.
Make an action table with owner, date and the data still missing to close each one.
Separate what was agreed from what was only mentioned as a possibility. Do not assign any action to a person who did not accept it in the meeting.

Gemini prompts for financial analysis

Gemini fits if your team works in Google Workspace: depending on your plan, it can help in Sheets and Docs, and it explains concepts well to audiences outside finance. These three cover those uses.

Gemini in Sheets: organize an expense log

This sheet has an expense log for [a nonprofit with 12 months of transactions]. The columns are date, description, amount and category, and some categories are empty.
Suggest a consistent list of categories, assign each transaction and flag those you cannot classify with confidence.
Then create a summary table by category and month, with each category's share of the total.
Do not change the original data: work in a new tab.

Gemini in Docs: report from a sheet

Write in this document a [13-week cash flow] report for [management] from the data in the sheet [Cash_13w].
Structure: summary, trend in collections and payments, weeks at risk of a cash squeeze, three possible actions and open questions.
Use only the data in the sheet and label assumptions as assumptions. Direct tone, a page and a half at most.

Explain a ratio to someone outside finance

Explain [the net debt to EBITDA ratio] to [the manager of a family business who is not a finance person].
Include what it measures, an example with simple numbers in dollars, which values are usually considered comfortable or worrying and why they depend on the sector.
Avoid jargon and define each term in one sentence. Do not give any recommendation about their company.
Format: 200 words at most and one numeric example.

More prompts: cash flow, alerts, personal finance and accounting

These prompts work in any of the four tools. They cover the most frequent searches: cash flow, warning signs, personal finance and accounting work.

Cash flow and warning signs

13-week cash flow scenarios

Act as the treasury lead.
Context: I attach expected collections and payments for [the next 13 weeks] for [a services company], with its debt and available credit lines.
Task: build three scenarios, base, conservative and stressed. Analyze collections, payments, cash conversion cycle, debt, interest rate and liquidity.
Identify the most sensitive variables, the assumptions owners must confirm and concrete actions the finance team could evaluate.
Rules: do not invent figures. Label each assumption.
Format: weekly table by scenario and a list of five prioritized actions.

Prioritize unusual transactions for review

Act as an internal control analyst. I attach [the list of vendor payments for the last quarter, anonymized].
Task: flag patterns that deserve human review: repeated round amounts, payments just under an approval threshold, vendors with duplicated details and payments outside the schedule.
Rules: do not claim anything is fraud. Present only warning signs and explain why each one deserves review.
Format: table with transaction, signal, risk (high, medium, low) and suggested check.

Personal finance and financial advisor prompts

Here the prompts are educational: they organize your numbers, help you plan savings and prepare questions about investing, debt or interest rates, but they do not replace a licensed financial advisor.

Monthly personal budget

Help me build a monthly budget with the income and expenses I paste: [net income of 2,400 dollars; rent 850; utilities 140; groceries 360; transport 70; leisure 170; loan 200].
Group them, calculate the available balance and propose three savings scenarios: [50, 150 and 250 dollars a month].
Include a section on debt, liquidity and an emergency fund, and the questions I should answer before adjusting my plan.
Do not recommend investment products or assume data I have not given you.

Financial coach to decide with more information

Act as a financial educator, not as a licensed advisor.
Context: I am [34 years old], with stable income, [9,000 dollars saved], a mortgage and the goal of [buying a car in three years].
Task: ask me the ten questions an advisor would ask before giving an opinion (horizon, risk tolerance, liquidity, debts, insurance) and explain why each matters.
Then summarize the general options that exist for my goal, with the advantages, risks and costs of each.
Rules: do not recommend specific products or promise returns. Say when it is worth talking to a licensed professional.

Nonprofit finances on a limited budget

Act as a financial advisor for nonprofit organizations.
Context: I manage the accounts of [an association with a 120,000 dollar annual budget], funded by grants, membership fees and donations, with no accounting staff.
Task: propose a simple, low-cost system to track income, expenses and grant reporting, with the spreadsheets or free tools that would work, the minimum monthly reports and the basic controls.
Rules: say which legal and accounting requirements I should confirm with an accountant. Do not invent regulations.
Format: four-step plan and a monthly report template as a table.

Accounting and closing

Closing questions for an accountant

Act as the head of accounting close.
Context: I am preparing the [December] close for [a services company with recurring monthly billing] and I attach the trial balance.
Task: build a checklist before closing: bank reconciliations, accruals, provisions, customer and supplier accounts, and items with an unusual balance.
For each point, say which account or group of accounts to review and the typical error.
Rules: do not draft journal entries and do not invent balances. Say what the responsible accountant must confirm.
Format: checklist table with check, accounts, typical error and status.

How I built these financial analysis prompts

I have been writing prompts since 2020 and 2021, before ChatGPT existed: first for ads, web content and guides, then for the processes of entire teams. In finance I learned a simple rule: AI does not guess what you do not give it, and a calculation that sounds right is not a correct calculation.

That is why I built the free financial analysis prompt generator: I wanted something that forced a split between facts, calculations and assumptions, and that taught you how to think the assignment through as you used it. Writing prompts is part of what is called prompt engineering, and in finance other people’s money is at stake, so precision matters. Every prompt on this page follows the same seven fields, in this order:

Five tips for writing your own investment and finance prompts

• Ask for the data check first and the analysis second: you catch mixed periods, different units or totals that do not add up before they contaminate the conclusions.
• Force a split between facts, calculations, assumptions and inferences. It is the rule that most reduces answers that sound right but are wrong.
• Define units and currency: dollars or thousands of dollars, before or after one-off items, same scope across periods.
• Tell it what to do when a figure is missing. Without that instruction, the model fills the gap with an invented number.
• Check every important figure against the original document. AI prepares the analysis; checking it is your responsibility.

A weak prompt turned into a strong one

This is the typical starting point, and what changes when you apply the seven fields.

How the prompt changes by tool

• ChatGPT: accepts files and calculates with them. It works well with the prompts as they are; ask for one thing per message and for the formulas to be shown.
• Gemini: fits Sheets and Docs. Give the sheet or range name and ask it to work in a new tab.
• Copilot: works with your Microsoft 365 files. Name the file, sheet or table and ask it to cite the source of each figure.
• Claude: the most comfortable with long documents. Upload the full PDF and ask it to cite the section and page of each figure.

Frequently asked questions about financial analysis prompts

These are the questions that come up most often when people start using AI with numbers, from the investment prompt to company data and personal finance.

What is a good prompt for financial statement analysis?

One that states the role, files and period, asks for revenue, EBITDA, margin, liquidity and debt with their changes, and demands a split between data and hypotheses. You have full versions in the ChatGPT section and, for long reports, in the Claude section.

What prompt can I use for my personal finances?

Paste your income and expenses for the month and ask it to group them, calculate the balance and propose savings scenarios, without recommending products. There is a full personal budget prompt in the more prompts section.

How do I write a prompt for a financial advisor with AI?

Ask it to act as a financial educator, describe your situation and have it ask the questions an advisor would ask before giving an opinion. That organizes your case and gets you better prepared to talk to a licensed professional.

Can ChatGPT analyze stocks or tell me where to invest?

It can help you review a company with a checklist and compare data you provide, but it does not know your situation and cannot guarantee results. Use it to prepare research and check everything against official sources and a professional.

Is Claude good for analyzing long financial reports?

Yes, it is one of its strengths: you can upload a full annual report or results report and ask for risks, accounting policy changes and section citations. Always check the key figures in the original document.

Can Copilot in Excel do financial analysis?

It can analyze tables, calculate variances and suggest formulas on your data, depending on your license. Give it the table name, ask it not to modify the original data and review the formulas it adds.

Is Gemini good for finance?

Yes, especially if you work in Google Sheets and Docs: it organizes expense logs, summarizes data and explains ratios to people outside finance. For important calculations, review the formulas.

Can I upload real company data to an AI tool?

Only if your company policy and the tool’s privacy settings allow it. Anonymize names, tax IDs and accounts, and use the business version when one exists, because the terms on data use vary.

Are there useful prompts for accountants?

Yes: closing checklists, questions about unusual balances and explanations of variances for clients. AI does not post journal entries or replace the responsible accountant; it helps organize the work and avoid missed checks.

Your next step with AI in finance

Pick one prompt from the library, replace what is in brackets with your anonymized data and run a first test. Then change a single field and compare. If you need help getting started, the prompt templates for business teams explain the structure.

If you want to apply AI to reporting, management control and financial planning with professional judgment, explore the AI program at Founderz.

Applicable framework and official sources: the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the General Data Protection Regulation for the data you upload to a tool, and the ESMA investor corner before any investment decision.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial advice, investment advice, tax advice, legal advice or credit advice. Check AI results against the original documents and a qualified professional before you decide.