Reporting & MD&A

Turn a trial balance into a month-end reporting package

Use AI to map your chart of accounts to financial statement lines, then drop the trial balance into a formula-driven template that builds the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow and budget comparison, with automatic tie-out checks.

Time
45 min first month, then 10
Level
Beginner
Works with
Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini

What you need

  • The free CFO Resource month-end workbook
  • A trial balance export for three dates: current month end, prior month end and prior year end
  • Your chart of accounts (account number, name, type)

Steps

  1. Download the free workbook and open the TB tab.
  2. Run the prompt below to map each account to one of the template's financial statement lines. You only need account names and numbers for this step, not balances.
  3. Paste your trial balance into the TB tab and paste the AI's suggested lines into the FS Line column. Review every Low or Medium confidence mapping yourself.
  4. Paste your budget and latest forecast into their tabs, then change the period-end date on the Cover tab.
  5. Open the Checks tab. Don't issue the package until it shows ALL CHECKS PASS.
  6. Draft the commentary with the MD&A workflow in this library.

The prompt

Fill in the highlighted brackets
I'm mapping my trial balance to financial statement lines for a monthly reporting package.

Use only these financial statement lines, spelled exactly as written:
[paste the list from the template's FS Line column, e.g. Cash; Accounts Receivable, Net; Inventory; Prepaid Expenses; ...]

Here is my account list (account number, account name, account type):
[paste]

Return a table with these columns: Account, Account Name, Suggested FS Line, Confidence (High, Medium or Low), Reason.

Mark any account that could reasonably belong on two lines as Low confidence and explain your choice. Typical examples are customer deposits, credit card clearing, intercompany and suspense accounts. Do not invent new financial statement lines.

Review before you use it

  • The Checks tab shows ALL CHECKS PASS: the trial balance nets to zero, the balance sheet balances and cash flow ties to cash.
  • You personally reviewed every Low and Medium confidence mapping.
  • Contra accounts, such as accumulated depreciation and the allowance for doubtful accounts, land on the right lines with the right sign.
  • Each statement is reasonable next to last month's package.

Never paste into an AI tool

  • Balances aren't needed for the mapping step, so leave them out
  • Use a business or enterprise AI plan that does not train on your data, and follow your company's AI policy.

Tips

  • Save the finished mapping. Next month, only new accounts need mapping.

Educational content, not professional advice. AI output can be wrong; review it before relying on it. Disclaimer