# Prepare a board financial pack and talking points

A board-ready financial summary with key messages and anticipated questions.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RCTFVV
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Finance, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/prepare-a-board-financial-pack-and-talking-points

## Prompt

```text
Role: Act as a CFO preparing the finance section of the board pack.

Context: Reporting period and prior guidance: [PERIOD_GUIDANCE]. Performance summary vs plan and prior year: [PERFORMANCE]. Cash, liquidity and covenant position: [CASH_COVENANTS]. Forecast / outlook and key assumptions: [OUTLOOK]. Capital allocation matters for decision: [CAPITAL]. Top financial risks: [RISKS]. Board's known concerns: [BOARD_CONCERNS].

Goal: Give the board a clear, honest read on financial performance, outlook and risk, and equip the CFO for the discussion.

Task: Produce: (1) a one-page performance summary (vs plan, vs prior year, vs guidance) with the drivers; (2) outlook and the assumptions it depends on, including range; (3) cash, liquidity and covenant headroom; (4) the financial risks with mitigation and any decision the board is asked to make; (5) 5-7 talking points; (6) the 6 hardest questions the board will ask and a crisp answer to each.

Constraints: No number without a comparison point. Present guidance variance and any covenant pressure plainly - do not soften. Assumptions behind the outlook must be explicit. Keep the written section under ~700 words plus the Q&A.

Examples: Talking point: 'Revenue is [X]% below plan; two-thirds is timing on [deals] expected to close in Q[n], one-third is [permanent cause].' Q&A: 'Q: Is the covenant at risk? A: Headroom is [X] at period end; under the downside it narrows to [Y] in [month]; mitigations are [Z].'

Format: Sections: Performance summary | Outlook & assumptions | Cash & covenants | Risks & decisions | Talking points | Anticipated Q&A.

Verification: Reconcile the performance summary to the detailed results and the outlook to the assumptions list; flag anything that does not tie.

Validation: Rehearse as a challenging non-executive director: which answer sounds evasive or over-optimistic? Rewrite it to be straight.
```

## What to fill in

- PERIOD_GUIDANCE
- PERFORMANCE
- CASH_COVENANTS
- OUTLOOK
- CAPITAL
- RISKS
- BOARD_CONCERNS
- deals
- permanent cause
- month

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