Explain what changed between two versions of my forecast
A forecast-to-forecast walk that shows what changed, why, and whether the change is real or just timing.
The prompt
Help me explain what changed between two versions of our forecast.
Versions compared: [e.g. "Q2 reforecast vs. original budget" or "this month's forecast vs. last month's"]
Numbers for both versions: [PASTE: by line, by month or quarter]
Changes I know about: [new deals, lost customers, hiring delays, price changes, FX, accounting reclasses]
Audience: [CFO / CEO / board / budget owners]
Steps:
1. Calculate the change by line and period.
2. Group changes into categories: actuals replacing forecast (already happened), volume, price, timing shifts between periods, cost savings or overruns, FX, reclassifications, and new or removed items.
3. Separate full-year changes from timing moves that net to zero across the year.
4. Identify changes that lack an explanation.
Return:
- A walk table: Prior version total | Each category of change | New version total, with the sum reconciling exactly.
- A table of the 10 largest changes: Line | Change | Category | Explanation | Owner.
- Risks and opportunities not yet in the new forecast.
- A 5-bullet summary written for [AUDIENCE].
- Questions to put to budget owners for unexplained changes.
Use only my data; do not invent explanations. Mark unexplained movements [ASK OWNER].
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Finance & Accounting prompts
What to fill in
- PASTE: by line, by month or quarter
- CFO / CEO / board / budget owners
- AUDIENCE
- ASK OWNER
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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