How to effectively learn AI Prompting, with the 'AI for Directors of Finances (Prompt Course)'?

Start here: Build a high-confidence AI finance office in four weeks

This prompt course gives Directors of Finance and senior finance leaders a practical, end-to-end approach for using AI and ChatGPT across forecasting, budgeting, expenses, investments, reporting, currency planning, debt and asset oversight, tax, M&A, visualization, risk, audit preparation, capital spending, and stakeholder communication. It focuses on repeatable workflows, control, transparency, and measurable outcomes-so your team can move faster while maintaining rigor and auditability.

What you will learn

• How to structure clear, reliable prompts for finance tasks, including context setting, objectives, constraints, data boundaries, formatting rules, and quality checks.
• Ways to transform raw financial data into consistent, structured outputs that connect directly to spreadsheets, BI dashboards, and reporting packs.
• A framework for iterative analysis that supports scenario tests, sensitivity checks, and variance explanations while maintaining traceability.
• Methods to encode policies, approval rules, and materiality thresholds so AI-assisted work matches team standards.
• Strategies for strengthening controls: audit trails, versioning, reproducible steps, and documentation suitable for internal or external review.
• Guidelines for data security, privacy, and compliance in finance use cases, including practical approaches to limit exposure of sensitive information.
• Collaboration patterns that let FP&A, accounting, treasury, tax, and strategy teams share a common AI workspace without losing ownership of their domains.

How the course is organized

The course is built as a connected system of prompt-driven modules. Each module covers the goals, inputs, outputs, guardrails, and review steps for a key finance function. You'll see how the modules interlock so one output feeds the next, enabling a dependable flow from data to decisions.

• Financial Forecasting
• Budget Analysis
• Expense Tracking
• Investment Analysis
• Financial Reporting Automation
• Currency Exchange Forecasting
• Debt Management
• Asset Management
• Tax Strategy Formulation
• Mergers and Acquisitions Analysis
• Financial Visualization
• Risk Management
• Audit Preparation
• Capital Expenditure Analysis
• Stakeholder Communication Templates

Together, these modules form a closed loop: transaction-level detail supports expense and budget accuracy; those feed forecasting and cash planning; FX and debt considerations refine capital structure; asset and investment work inform returns; tax and M&A shape long-range outcomes; visualization and communication convert analysis into action; audit preparation and risk checks keep everything defensible.

How to use the prompts effectively

• Define the target outcome first: Specify the decision, metric, or document you need. Clarify the audience and the level of precision required.
• Provide context with limits: State what data the AI should use, what it must ignore, and any policy or accounting rules that apply.
• Standardize the format: Ask for structured outputs (headings, tables, or CSV-like blocks) so you can paste results into spreadsheets or BI tools without clean-up.
• Enforce controls: Build in checks, such as reasonableness tests, variance thresholds, and reconciliation steps. Require footnotes that explain assumptions and sources.
• Iterate with purpose: Use short follow-ups to tighten assumptions, adjust time horizons, or change scenarios while keeping the audit trail intact.
• Separate data from instructions: Keep your prompts reusable by clearly segmenting reusable instructions from the data you swap in and out.
• Validate before adoption: Compare AI outputs to historical results or trusted benchmarks. Record exceptions and decisions.

Where each module adds value

• Forecasting and Budget Analysis: Move from manual consolidation to repeatable, explainable projections. Produce scenario-ready views that connect to cost drivers and revenue levers.
• Expense Tracking: Improve categorization and anomaly spotting. Generate monthly narratives that explain spend shifts by vendor, department, or project.
• Investment and Asset Management: Create consistent scorecards for opportunities and holdings. Compare strategies with clear metrics, assumptions, and risks.
• Reporting Automation and Visualization: Convert analysis into management reports, board packs, and dashboards with consistent structure and language.
• Currency and Debt Management: Reflect FX and interest-rate assumptions in cash flow plans. Stress test covenants, maturities, and liquidity buffers.
• Tax Strategy and M&A Analysis: Frame scenarios with constraints, thresholds, and documentation suitable for senior review and outside advisors.
• Risk Management and Audit Preparation: Embed controls into every step, track changes, and produce evidence that supports audits and internal reviews.
• Capital Expenditure and Stakeholder Communication: Standardize business cases and produce concise memos, summaries, and talking points for leadership and partners.

Data, integrations, and workflow

The course shows how to move data safely and efficiently through your workflow without relying on manual rework. You'll learn practical tactics for:

• Exporting structured data from ERP, accounting, and billing systems and referencing it in prompts without exposing sensitive details.
• Using spreadsheet-friendly outputs that drop directly into Excel or Google Sheets for further analysis and presentation.
• Connecting summary outputs to BI tools so recurring reports and dashboards refresh with minimal friction.
• Creating a versioned library of prompts and templates so your team works from the same playbook and updates are controlled.

Controls, compliance, and security

Finance data is sensitive. The course addresses safety and compliance at each step, including:

• Data minimization, redaction, and anonymization practices.
• Scope limits, role-based access patterns, and separation of duties in AI-assisted workflows.
• Record-keeping that supports SOX-like controls, internal policies, and audit requirements.
• Bias checks and error handling, including escalation procedures for exceptions.

Who this course is for

• Directors of Finance and FP&A leaders seeking faster, consistent analysis with clear controls.
• Controllers and accounting managers who want clean handoffs from close to forecasting and reporting.
• Treasury, tax, and corporate development teams that need standardized, documented analysis.
• Finance-business partners who translate numbers into insights for functional leaders.

How all modules work together

Think of the course as a single workflow with checkpoints:

• Input hygiene: Reconcile and prepare baseline data.
• Operational analysis: Track expenses, analyze budgets, and spot variances.
• Planning and strategy: Forecast outcomes, run FX and interest scenarios, assess debt and assets, and evaluate investments and M&A options.
• Governance and assurance: Apply risk checks, documentation standards, and audit preparation practices.
• Communication and action: Convert insights into reports, dashboards, and stakeholder-ready messages.

This creates a dependable cycle: data in, analysis through, decision out-documented at each point for reliability and reuse.

Learning outcomes you can apply immediately

• Reusable prompt frameworks that formalize how your finance team works with AI.
• A consistent methodology for multi-scenario planning and variance explanation.
• Templates for reports, memos, and dashboards that reduce rework and improve clarity.
• Governance practices that make AI-assisted outputs audit-ready and manager-approved.
• Operational time savings during month-end, forecast updates, and board preparation.

Course experience

• Clear structure: Each module sets objectives, required inputs, expected outputs, safeguards, and review steps.
• Actionable methods: You will learn how to implement, test, and maintain prompt-driven workflows without changing your entire tech stack.
• Confidence checks: Built-in review techniques to validate assumptions, quantify uncertainty, and record decisions.
• Scalability: Guidance on standardizing prompts so they remain dependable as your team, data, and reporting needs grow.

Limitations and good practice

AI can make mistakes. This course emphasizes human oversight, reconciliation with source systems, and documented assumptions. You will learn how to set boundaries for AI usage, route exceptions to subject-matter experts, and keep your policies front-and-center in every prompt-driven workflow.

Results you can expect

• Faster turnarounds for forecasts, budget analysis, and monthly reporting-without sacrificing control.
• Better visibility into cost drivers, capital needs, liquidity, and risk.
• Consistent narratives for executives, boards, lenders, auditors, and cross-functional partners.
• A shared library of prompts and outputs that shortens onboarding and preserves institutional knowledge.

Why this course stands out

• Finance-first approach: Every module is grounded in practical finance work, not generic AI theory.
• End-to-end cohesion: Forecasting, reporting, risk, and communication are treated as one connected process.
• Controls built in: Audit preparation, documentation, and compliance are integrated rather than added at the end.
• Team-friendly: The methods support collaboration across FP&A, accounting, treasury, tax, and corporate development.

Get ready to start

By the end of this course, you will have a clear, repeatable way to apply AI and ChatGPT across core finance activities. You will know how to set goals, supply context, request structured outputs, validate results, and communicate insights-with governance practices that make your work dependable and review-ready. Begin with the overview module, follow the sequence, and finish with a connected set of workflows your team can adopt immediately.