Financial · Review prompts
Financial Report Review Prompts
Ready-to-use AI prompts for reviewing financial reports. Covers revenue, profitability, cash flow, key metrics, risks, accounting policies, and comparisons.
12 prompts · Last reviewed
Financial reports contain the numbers a business wants you to see, arranged in a structure that can make the most important signals easy to overlook. Revenue growth means less if margins are shrinking. A strong profit figure reads differently next to a deteriorating cash position.
These prompts are designed to surface those signals. Each one targets a specific part of a financial report and produces a grounded answer based on what the document actually states, not general financial commentary.
AI is not financial advice
These prompts help you understand what a financial report states. They cannot assess the investment merit of a company, advise on financial decisions, or replace a qualified accountant or financial adviser for significant decisions.
Prompts
Get a plain-English summary
Summarise this financial report in plain English. What type of report is it, which company or entity does it cover, what period does it cover, and what are the headline financial results?
Review revenue and growth figures
What does this report state about revenue? List the total revenue figure, any breakdown by segment or product line, and the year-on-year or period-on-period change as reported. Quote the figures directly from the document.
Extract profitability and margin data
What profitability figures are reported in this document? List gross profit, operating profit, and net profit where stated, along with the corresponding margins. Note any significant changes from the previous period as described in the report.
Summarise cash flow position
What does this report say about cash flow? Summarise the operating cash flow, investing cash flow, and financing cash flow as reported. What is the closing cash position, and how does it compare to the opening position or prior period?
Find key financial metrics and KPIs
What key financial metrics or performance indicators does this report highlight? List each one with the figure stated, note any target or benchmark it is compared against in the document, and identify whether it is presented as positive, negative, or neutral.
Break down performance by segment
Does this report include a breakdown of performance by business segment, geography, or product line? If so, summarise the results for each segment, including revenue and any profitability figures reported, and note which segments the document identifies as the strongest or weakest performers.
Review the balance sheet position
What does this report state about assets, liabilities, and equity? Summarise the key balance sheet figures including total assets, total liabilities, net assets or equity, and any significant changes from the prior period as noted in the document.
Identify risks and risk factors disclosed
Based on what this report actually states, what risks, risk factors, or forward-looking warnings does it disclose? List each one as described in the document, identify which section it appears in, and note whether it is presented as a current issue or a potential future concern.
Find significant accounting policies
Does this report describe any significant accounting policies, estimates, or judgements that affect the figures reported? List each one, explain what the document states about it, and note any changes from previous periods.
Check for audit findings or qualifications
Does this report include an auditor's report or any audit findings? If so, summarise the auditor's conclusion, note whether the opinion is unqualified, qualified, or adverse, and list any matters of emphasis or going concern disclosures.
Compare current period to prior period
Based on the figures in this report, what are the most significant changes between the current reporting period and the prior period? List the figures that changed most materially, note the direction and size of each change, and identify how the document explains those movements.
Summarise the key financial concerns
Based only on what this financial report states, what are the most important financial concerns, risks, or trends I should be aware of? For each one, identify which part of the document it comes from and explain why it matters to someone assessing the financial health of this entity.
What these prompts cover
Twelve prompts covering a complete financial report review in four stages:
Stage 1: Understand the report Plain-English summary, revenue and growth figures, and profitability and margin data.
Stage 2: Review financial position Cash flow, key metrics and KPIs, segment performance, and balance sheet position.
Stage 3: Assess quality and risk Risk factors disclosed, significant accounting policies, and audit findings or qualifications.
Stage 4: Close your review Year-on-year comparison of material changes, and a summary of key financial concerns.
Work through one prompt at a time. Each answer gives you the context to make the next question more precise.
How to use these prompts
Upload your financial report to LearnByAi, then use these prompts one at a time.
Work through the prompts in order on your first pass. Starting with the summary and revenue figures gives you the headline context before you look at margins, cash flow, and risk. The risk summary and year-on-year comparison prompts are most useful once you have already reviewed the individual figures.
Read profitability and cash flow together. A company can report strong profit while consuming cash. Looking at both in sequence gives a more complete picture than either alone.
Use one focused prompt at a time where you can. A single, specific question tends to produce a more detailed answer that is easier to review and follow up on than a broad multi-part query.
Use the risk summary prompt last. It draws on the whole report and often surfaces patterns that the individual prompts did not make explicit.
Tips for better results
State your purpose. Adding "I am a potential investor reviewing this for the first time" or "I am reviewing this as a supplier assessing credit risk" helps the AI focus on the figures and disclosures most relevant to your situation.
Follow up on accounting terms. If a response mentions EBITDA, impairment, or deferred revenue without explanation, ask: "How does this report define or use that term, and how does it affect the figures reported?" Accounting terminology is precise and definitions affect comparability.
Check the section reference. A good AI response identifies the table or section it is drawing from. If it does not, ask: "Which section of the report does that figure come from?" Then verify the figure yourself, particularly for performance metrics and risk disclosures.
Ask about what is not said. If the report discusses revenue growth without mentioning margins, ask: "Does this report disclose gross or operating margins for this period?" Silence on a key metric is itself informative.
Check the quality of scanned documents. LearnByAi runs OCR automatically on scanned and image-based files, so most financial documents work without any extra steps. Poor-quality scans can occasionally produce recognition errors, so verify specific figures and percentages against the original document when accuracy matters.
When prompts are not enough
If the report references separate financial statements, notes to accounts, or supplementary schedules in a different file, the AI will not have access to that content. Ask: "Does this report reference any separate statements, notes, or schedules?" Upload those separately if needed.
For investment decisions, credit assessments, or tax-related analysis, use these prompts to understand what the report states and then take specific questions to a qualified financial adviser or accountant. See the How to Analyse Financial Statements with AI tutorial for a full walkthrough.
Related tutorials and pages
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