Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts for Finance — 10 prompts your AU finance team will actually use

Showing 10 of 10 prompts

• Variance commentary

  Excel

  Prompt

  Compare this month's actuals to budget for cost centre {CC}. For any variance over {Threshold} percent or AUD ${Amount}, draft commentary covering: what drove the variance, whether it's one-off or run-rate, and what action management is taking.

  Expected outcome

  Variance commentary lines for the management pack.

  Copy promptSubstitute {placeholders}

• Board pack — month-end commentary

  Word

  Prompt

  Draft the CFO commentary section for the {Month} board pack. Use the attached P&L, the prior-month commentary in /sites/finance, and any relevant Teams discussion threads from this month. Cover: revenue summary AUD, gross margin trend, opex highlights, cash position, key risks. Keep under 600 words.

  Expected outcome

  First-pass CFO commentary for review.

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• AP exception review

  Excel

  Prompt

  Review this accounts payable exception report. Group exceptions by type, identify any vendors with repeat exceptions, and suggest the next action per exception (approve, hold, escalate, request additional info).

  Expected outcome

  Triaged AP exception list with actions.

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• AR ageing follow-up

  Outlook

  Prompt

  Draft a follow-up email to {Customer Name} regarding invoice {Invoice Number}, overdue by {Days} days at AUD ${Amount}. Tone: professional, firm, not aggressive. Reference any prior commitment to pay. Australian English.

  Expected outcome

  AR follow-up email ready to send.

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• Cash flow forecast variance

  Excel

  Prompt

  Compare this week's cash flow actuals to the rolling 13-week forecast. Identify the three biggest variances by AUD value. For each, suggest a likely cause and whether the forecast should be adjusted.

  Expected outcome

  Variance triage with forecast-adjustment recommendations.

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• Audit prep — control sample selection

  M365 Chat

  Prompt

  We have an external audit of {Process} starting {Date}. Help me prepare the sample. Pull all transactions from the last quarter exceeding AUD ${Threshold}. Identify any with manual journal entries, any approved out-of-policy, and any with prior-period adjustments.

  Expected outcome

  Audit-ready transaction sample with flags.

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• Tax — BAS preparation

  Excel

  Prompt

  Prepare the BAS summary for {Period}. Pull GST collected, GST paid, PAYG instalments, FBT instalments. Flag any transactions with unusual GST treatment for human review. Format consistent with the standard BAS template.

  Expected outcome

  First-pass BAS summary with flagged items.

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• Expense policy compliance check

  M365 Chat

  Prompt

  Review this month's expense report. Flag any claims that may breach our expense policy (in /sites/finance/expense-policy). Specifically check: alcohol claims requiring approval, accommodation over the per-night cap, taxi claims for local trips, missing receipts above the no-receipt threshold.

  Expected outcome

  Flagged expense report with policy citations.

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• Vendor master cleanup

  Excel

  Prompt

  Analyse this vendor master file. Identify: duplicate vendors (same ABN or similar name), inactive vendors with no transactions in 24 months, vendors missing critical fields (ABN, bank details, payment terms). Suggest a cleanup priority list.

  Expected outcome

  Vendor master cleanup priority list.

  Copy promptSubstitute {placeholders}

• Contract review — financial terms

  Word

  Prompt

  Review this draft contract for financial terms. Surface: payment terms in days, currency, rebate or commission terms, escalation clauses, termination liability, late-payment interest, indemnity caps. Highlight anything outside our standard terms (in /sites/legal/contract-standards).

  Expected outcome

  Financial-terms summary with non-standard flags.

  Copy promptSubstitute {placeholders}