# Plan a forensic review of a small business's financial records

A structured plan to review several years of records for errors or misconduct: scope, documents, red flags, and how to raise findings.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Finance, Analyze, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/plan-a-forensic-review-of-a-small-business-s-financial-records

## Prompt

```text
Help me plan a forensic review of my small business's financial records.

**Business type and size:** [e.g. "restaurant, $2M revenue, 15 staff"]
**Why I'm concerned:** [e.g. "cash seems short", "partner dispute", "margins dropped without explanation", "selling the business"]
**Period to review:** [e.g. "the last 8 years"]
**Records available:** [bank statements, general ledger, tax returns, payroll, POS data, invoices, credit card statements]
**Who controls the books:** [me / my business partner / a bookkeeper / an outside accountant]

Give me:
1. **Scope and approach:** where to start (usually the most recent 2-3 years and the highest-risk areas), when to expand, and sampling vs. full review.
2. **Document request list** and how to preserve originals and keep a chain of custody so findings remain usable.
3. **Tests to run,** with what each catches: bank-to-ledger reconciliation, revenue vs. deposits, vendor master review (unknown vendors, vendor addresses matching employees), duplicate or round-number payments, payroll ghost employees, personal expenses, journal entries posted at unusual times or by unusual users, unexplained cash withdrawals, and trend and ratio analysis year over year.
4. **Red flags table:** Red flag | Where it shows up | Innocent explanations to rule out | Next step.
5. **Tools:** spreadsheet techniques and the kinds of software that help.
6. **Raising concerns with my partner or staff:** how to stay factual, what not to say before the facts are clear, and how to document conversations.

This is general information. If I suspect fraud, recommend I involve a certified fraud examiner or forensic accountant and a lawyer before confronting anyone, because how evidence is handled matters.
```

## What to fill in

- e.g. "restaurant, $2M revenue, 15 staff"
- e.g. "the last 8 years"

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