24 AI prompts for small business finance and admin: cash flow, month-end, costs and getting paid

Finance work in a small business tends to happen at 10pm, after the real work is done.

The prompts below are built for that. Each one asks for your real numbers (a bank export, last quarter's figures, three supplier quotes) and gives back a forecast, a checklist or an email you can use tomorrow.

They're grouped by the job in front of you, so you can jump straight to it.

How to choose the right prompt

• Bank balance keeps surprising you? Start with cash flow.
• Month-end takes a week? Go to reporting and month-end.
• Margins shrinking? Use the costs and pricing prompts.
• Clients paying late? Jump to getting paid.
• You run a bookkeeping practice? The last section is for you.

Paste your real details into the [square brackets]. Swap out names and account numbers first if you're sharing bank data.

Cash flow

• 13-week cash flow forecast: Use this when you want to see a shortfall coming weeks ahead, week by week, with the gap and its cause named.
• 90-day forecast from last quarter: Use this when you only have last quarter's figures and need a quick three-month view of where cash lands.
• Profitable but short on cash: Use this when the P&L says you made money and the bank balance says otherwise.
• Who gets paid first this month: Use this when you can't pay every bill on time and need a calm order based on real consequences.
• Talking points for your lender: Use this before you call the bank to renegotiate terms or explain a missed payment.
• Cash flow statement in plain English: Use this when your co-founder runs operations and needs to understand the cash picture in five minutes.

Reporting and month-end

• Plain-English P&L summary: Use this when you're sending numbers to a board, partner or manager with no finance background.
• Month-end reconciliation checklist: Use this when errors keep turning up after the books are closed.
• Budget variance explainer: Use this when actuals came in off budget and you need the why and the next step on one page.
• Categorise a messy transaction list: Use this when a raw export needs sorting into a standard chart of accounts before anything else can happen.

Costs and spending

• Expense audit: what to cut: Use this when you need to trim spend and want to keep the costs that bring in revenue.
• Subscription and vendor cost audit: Use this when software and supplier bills have crept up and you can't say what's still in use.
• Compare three supplier quotes: Use this when the lowest headline price might hide delivery fees, minimums or worse terms.
• Split your ad budget across channels: Use this when the ad budget is fixed and you want to move it toward what's paying back.

Pricing and margins

• Raise prices, cut costs or grow volume: Use this when margins are thin and you need to pick one lever with the trade-offs laid out.
• Announce a price increase: Use this when you've decided to raise prices and want existing clients to stay.
• Pricing strategy analysis: Use this when you're setting prices for a new product or segment and want competitor and value checks first.
• Pricing page objection audit: Use this when visitors reach your pricing page and leave without buying.

Getting paid

• 3-email invoice reminder sequence: Use this when invoices sit past due and you want firm reminders that keep the client onside.
• Trade credit application review: Use this when a new B2B customer asks for payment terms and you need a sensible credit limit.

For bookkeepers and accountants

• Monthly bookkeeping fee from real volumes: Use this when you're quoting a fixed fee and want it based on transaction counts and hours.
• Bookkeeping client onboarding: Use this when a new client signs and you want every document and login in before the first close.
• Bank feed to client questions: Use this when unreconciled lines pile up and you need questions a client will answer in one go.
• Bookkeeping cleanup memo: Use this after catch-up work, to explain what you found and fixed in words the client follows.

Where to start

If cash is the worry, run the 13-week cash flow forecast first. It turns every other decision on this page into a sum you can check.

Looking for more? See the customer success and operations prompts, the B2B sales prompts, or browse the full Prompt King library.