A vague brief gets vague work. A sharp brief gets a first draft you can sharpen. You always review — the owner signs off, the intern drafts.
2Four prompts you can use Monday
A · Month-close commentaryYou are a senior FP&A analyst at CTI. Below is this month's actuals-vs-budget for [project]. Write the MBR executive commentary: 3–4 short paragraphs for a board audience. For each material variance give the likely driver, the forward-looking implication, and flag any risk. Be specific, no filler, no jargon. Flag anything you're unsure of rather than guessing. Then give me 3 headline bullets to open the review.
B · Reconciliation exceptionsYou are a meticulous staff accountant. Here are two sets of records: [GL] and [bank/subledger]. Match them and return ONLY the exceptions — unmatched items, amount mismatches, and likely duplicates. For each, show both sides, the difference, and your best hypothesis for the cause. Table sorted by dollar impact. Don't guess a match you're unsure of — list it as "needs review."
C · Audience-tailored rewriteHere's my core message: [paste]. Rewrite it three ways — (1) board: concise, strategic; (2) operations: direct, action-oriented; (3) lender: precise, risk-aware. Keep the facts identical; change only tone, emphasis, and length.
D · Document intake(Upload an invoice or W-9.) Extract these fields into a table I can paste into our system: vendor, address, tax ID, invoice #, date, line items, amounts, total, terms. Flag any field you can't read clearly instead of guessing.
3Set up your first Project in Claude
New Project — name it for the job ("Month-close commentary").
Add knowledge — upload your close checklist, chart of accounts, last month's write-up.
Set instructions — your house style ("board tone, never open with revenue").
Work inside it — every chat starts already knowing your business.
Don't delete chats — the memory is the whole point.
4Your one action this week
Pick one challenge from today. Open Claude. Run the matching template above on your own real (non-sensitive) work. One intern, one job — that's the whole start.
Want AI applied to your specific workflow? That's what the 1:1 follow-ups are for.