8 Claude Prompts for Your Numbers: P&L, Cash Flow and Pricing

Most owners look hard at their numbers twice a year: at tax time and when something is on fire. Claude turns a P&L you’d rather avoid into a conversation you can have in ten minutes.

Three ground rules. Remove account numbers before you paste or upload anything. Spot-check the math on anything you’ll act on. And treat Claude like a sharp analyst, not your CPA: it does the digging and asks the right questions, and your accountant signs off on taxes, financing and anything legal.

One setup tip: turn on file creation under Settings > Capabilities, and you can upload a spreadsheet export and get a finished Excel file back. It’s on every plan, free included. (Anthropic) New to prompting? Start with the 5-part formula in post one.

1. Read your P&L like a CFO

You don’t need a finance degree. You need someone to point at the three numbers that matter.

Here's my profit and loss statement for [period]: [paste or upload, with account numbers removed].
Explain it like a CFO talking to an owner. What are the 3 numbers that matter most? Where is money leaking? Which expenses grew faster than revenue? If I've included last year, compare the two. Finish with 3 questions I should ask my accountant.

2. Build a 13-week cash flow forecast

Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact. Thirteen weeks is far enough out to see trouble coming and close enough to be accurate.

Help me build a 13-week cash flow forecast. Starting cash: [amount]. Expected weekly revenue: [amount or pattern]. Recurring expenses and due dates: [payroll, rent, loans, software and so on]. Known one-time costs: [list].
Lay it out week by week with cash in, cash out and ending balance. Flag any week where cash drops below [your safety number]. Then build it as an Excel file I can update every Monday.

3. Stress-test your cash

Hope is not a plan. Find out what breaks before it breaks.

Using this cash forecast: [paste it or upload the file], run three scenarios: revenue down 20%, our biggest customer leaves, and a surprise $[amount] expense hits in week 6. For each, show me the lowest cash point, the week it happens, and the first 3 moves I should make, ranked by how fast they free up cash.

4. Pressure-test your pricing

Most small businesses are underpriced on something. Find out what.

Here's what we charge: [price list]. Here's what each service costs us to deliver, including labor time: [costs]. Competitors charge roughly: [list, if known].
Calculate my gross margin on each service. Tell me which services are underpriced and which are carrying the business. Then build a table showing what a 5%, 10% and 15% price increase would do to profit if we lost 0%, 5% or 10% of customers.

5. Find the subscriptions and expenses to cut

Software you forgot about is still billing you. Every month.

Here are the last 3 months of transactions from my business card and bank account: [paste or upload, with account numbers removed].
Find every recurring charge and group them by category. Flag duplicates, tools we may not be using and anything that went up in price. Give me a cut list ranked by monthly savings, with a note on what we'd lose by cutting each one.

6. Know your break-even

The number every owner should know cold, and most don’t.

My fixed monthly costs are [amount], made up of [list]. My average sale is [amount] and the variable cost per sale is [amount].
Calculate my break-even in sales per month and per week. Then show how it changes if I add one employee at [salary], raise prices 10% or cut variable costs 10%. Explain it in plain English.

7. Prep for your banker or accountant

Walk in with answers instead of a shoebox.

I'm meeting my [banker / accountant] about [a loan / taxes / an equipment purchase]. Here's my situation: [paste financials and context].
Give me a one-page brief: where the business stands in 5 numbers, what I'm asking for and why, the 5 toughest questions they'll likely ask, and strong, honest answers to each. Flag anything in my numbers that could raise concerns.

8. Build next year’s budget

A budget is just your goals with price tags on them.

Here's what we earned and spent by month this year: [paste or upload]. Next year I want to [goals, e.g., hire 2 people, open a location, grow 20%].
Build a monthly budget for next year with revenue targets and spending by category. Show me where my goals don't fit the math yet and what I could trade off. List the assumptions I should double-check.

Put it on the calendar

Update the cash forecast every Monday. Run the P&L prompt every month. Owners who know their numbers make calmer, faster decisions, and they sleep better too.

Next in the series: 8 Claude Prompts for Hiring, Onboarding and Hard Conversations.

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“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” (Proverbs 27:23, KJV)