HomeSkillsSkills for FinanceAndrew PershJune 21, 202612 min read

The CFO Guide to Claude

The complete guide to running finance with Claude. 24 standalone skills for the office of the CFO, across research, planning, budgeting, the balance sheet, performance, cash flow, automation, and modeling.

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The CFO guide to Claude

24 standalone Claude skills for the office of the CFO. Each skill teaches Claude to perform one finance task and produce a concrete deliverable, a forecast, a variance bridge, a 13-week cash flow, a covenant check, a board pack, with the real method and formulas a finance professional would use.

They span the eight domains of the modern finance function: research and intelligence, strategy and planning, budgeting and forecasting, balance sheet analysis, performance and ROI, cash flow planning, automation and workflows, and financial modeling. The skills are built for running and reporting the business, FP&A, treasury, and controllership, and are kept distinct from deal-valuation modeling.

Mechanically, each skill is one folder with a SKILL.md file. Install just the ones you need, or load the full set. Building models in spreadsheets? See our Claude skills for Excel. New to working this way? Start with the consultant's guide to Claude.

Download all 24 skills

One zip, one folder per skill. Free, no signup.

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The 24 CFO skills you get

The collection is grouped into eight finance domains. They run in the order a real engagement does, diagnose first, communicate last, but every skill is also useful on its own.

1

Domain 1 · 3 skills

Financial Research & Intelligence

Use these when a decision needs outside truth: how you compare to peers, what a filing or transcript really says, and how big the market is. Every figure traces to a source.

1.1

Peer Benchmarking Analyzer

Use when: You need to benchmark against peers

Output: Benchmarking table vs peer medians and quartiles

1.2

Earnings and Filings Teardown

Use when: You need the signal from a filing or transcript

Output: Sourced brief: KPIs, guidance, segments, risks

1.3

Market Intelligence Brief

Use when: You need a sized market and competitive read

Output: Market brief: TAM, SAM, SOM, and the landscape

2

Domain 2 · 3 skills

Strategy & Planning

Use these when targets must become a plan: the annual operating plan, where capital should go, and how the plan holds up across scenarios.

2.1

Annual Operating Plan Builder

Use when: You are building the annual operating plan

Output: AOP with a top-down vs bottom-up reconciliation

2.2

Capital Allocation Advisor

Use when: You must rank competing uses of capital

Output: Ranked allocation by ROIC versus WACC

2.3

Scenario Planning Engine

Use when: You need base, bull, and bear scenarios

Output: Scenario table, sensitivities, downside playbook

3

Domain 3 · 3 skills

Budgeting & Forecasting

Use these to build and maintain the numbers: a driver-based budget, a rolling re-forecast, and a zero-based reset when spend needs justifying.

3.1

Driver-Based Budget Builder

Use when: You are building the annual budget

Output: Driver-based budget by department, phased monthly

3.2

Rolling Forecast Builder

Use when: You need a continuous re-forecast

Output: 12 to 18 month rolling forecast and budget bridge

3.3

Zero-Based Budget Planner

Use when: You need to justify spend from zero

Output: Decision packages, ranked funding, savings

4

Domain 4 · 3 skills

Balance Sheet Analysis

Use these to read the balance sheet: free up working capital, judge liquidity and leverage, and keep covenant headroom in view.

4.1

Working Capital Optimizer

Use when: You need to free up working capital

Output: Cash conversion cycle and ranked cash levers

4.2

Liquidity and Solvency Analyzer

Use when: You need a balance-sheet health read

Output: Ratio dashboard, trends, red flags, verdict

4.3

Covenant Monitor

Use when: You need covenant headroom and warnings

Output: Covenant table, headroom, pass, watch, or fail

5

Domain 5 · 3 skills

Performance & ROI Analysis

Use these to explain performance and prove returns: variance bridges that reconcile, margin and profitability decomposition, and capex ROI against the hurdle.

5.1

Variance Bridge Analyzer

Use when: You need budget versus actual explained

Output: Price, volume, and mix bridge that reconciles

5.2

Margin and Profitability Analyzer

Use when: You need to decompose margin and profit

Output: Margin bridge and segment profitability ranking

5.3

Investment ROI Evaluator

Use when: You are evaluating a capex project or initiative

Output: Business case: NPV, IRR, payback, ROIC vs hurdle

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6

Domain 6 · 3 skills

Cash Flow Planning

Use these to manage cash: a 13-week direct-method forecast, runway and breakeven, and a liquidity stress test with mitigations.

6.1

Thirteen-Week Cash Forecast

Use when: You need short-term cash visibility

Output: 13-week direct-method cash forecast vs minimum

6.2

Cash Runway and Burn Analyzer

Use when: You need runway and breakeven

Output: Runway model to the zero-cash date, breakeven

6.3

Liquidity Stress Tester

Use when: You need to stress short-term liquidity

Output: Stress trough by scenario, ranked mitigations

7

Domain 7 · 3 skills

Automation & Workflows

Use these for the recurring grind: reconciliations, the month-end close, and scheduled reporting packs. Outputs are review-ready and never posted without a human.

7.1

Account Reconciliation Runner

Use when: You need a reconciliation done

Output: Reconciliation that ties to zero and exceptions

7.2

Month-End Close Accelerator

Use when: You are running the month-end close

Output: Close checklist, proposed entries, flux analysis

7.3

Recurring Report Automator

Use when: You need a recurring reporting pack

Output: Reusable template plus this period's report

8

Domain 8 · 3 skills

Financial Modeling

Use these to build the models and the pack: an integrated operating model that balances, a treasury debt schedule, and the board reporting pack.

8.1

Three-Statement Operating Model Builder

Use when: You need an integrated planning model

Output: IS, BS, and CF operating model that balances

8.2

Debt Schedule Modeler

Use when: You need a treasury debt schedule

Output: Debt schedule, revolver mechanics, leverage and coverage

8.3

Board Reporting Pack Builder

Use when: You are assembling the board pack

Output: Board pack: KPIs, financials, variance, outlook

Domains 1 to 3 set the direction: research, plan, and budget. Domains 4 to 6 control the balance sheet, performance, and cash. Domains 7 to 8 automate the work and build the board pack.

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Setup Guide

  1. Step 1

    Download the pack and open Settings

    Download all 24 skills (.zip)

    Download the pack and unzip it so each skill remains in its own folder with its SKILL.md file. In Claude, open your profile menu and select Settings.

    Claude profile menu with Settings highlighted for the CFO guide to Claude skills pack
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  2. Step 2

    Open Skills and start an upload

    In Settings, select Skills under Customize. Open Add and choose Upload a skill.

    Claude Skills settings with Add and Upload a skill highlighted
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  3. Step 3

    Upload one skill file

    Open one extracted skill folder and drag its SKILL.md file into the upload window, or click the upload area to choose it. Repeat this step for each CFO skill you want to add.

    A SKILL.md file being dragged into Claude's skill upload window
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  4. Step 4

    Confirm the skill was added

    Return to the Skills list and check that the skill appears. Select its name to open it.

    Claude Skills list with the uploaded CIM Drafting skill highlighted
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  5. Step 5

    Review and turn on the skill

    Review the skill's name, description, and instructions, then make sure the switch beside Share is on. A blue switch means the skill is turned on; sharing it is optional.

    CIM Drafting skill details with the enabled toggle highlighted
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Try a skill

Tell Claude which skill to use and provide the relevant files or context. Review every output before sharing it.

  • "Use the thirteen-week-cash-forecast skill to build a 13-week cash forecast from this AR and AP."
  • "Use the variance-bridge-analyzer skill to bridge budget to actual for Q2 by price, volume, and mix."
  • "Use the covenant-monitor skill to test our leverage and coverage covenants this quarter."
  • "Use the board-reporting-pack-builder skill to assemble this month's board pack."

How to choose a CFO Claude skill

Skip the directory hunt. Each of these CFO Claude skills maps to a specific finance task, so pick the row that matches what you need and use that skill. For a wider walkthrough of working this way, see our consultant's guide to Claude.

Your need
Skill to use
Benchmark against peers
Peer Benchmarking Analyzer
Read a filing or transcript
Earnings and Filings Teardown
Size a market
Market Intelligence Brief
Build the annual plan
Annual Operating Plan Builder
Rank uses of capital
Capital Allocation Advisor
Plan across scenarios
Scenario Planning Engine
Build the budget
Driver-Based Budget Builder
Keep a rolling forecast
Rolling Forecast Builder
Justify spend from zero
Zero-Based Budget Planner
Free up working capital
Working Capital Optimizer
Read balance-sheet health
Liquidity and Solvency Analyzer
Watch covenant headroom
Covenant Monitor
Explain budget vs actual
Variance Bridge Analyzer
Decompose margin and profit
Margin and Profitability Analyzer
Evaluate a capex project
Investment ROI Evaluator
See short-term cash
Thirteen-Week Cash Forecast
Know the runway
Cash Runway and Burn Analyzer
Stress liquidity
Liquidity Stress Tester
Run a reconciliation
Account Reconciliation Runner
Accelerate month-end close
Month-End Close Accelerator
Automate a reporting pack
Recurring Report Automator
Build an operating model
Three-Statement Operating Model Builder
Model the debt
Debt Schedule Modeler
Assemble the board pack
Board Reporting Pack Builder

The quality bar

Every skill is designed to push Claude toward outputs that meet the same partner-grade quality bar, the standard a senior associate would hold each deliverable to before it leaves the room.

Driver-based, not last-year-plus-x
Ties to totals, no plugs
Sign conventions correct
Bridges reconcile to the variance
Sources cited, assumptions stated
Asks for inputs, never fabricates
Board-readable, answer-first
Caveats and materiality noted
Reconciled to actuals where relevant
Review-ready, never auto-posted
Covenant and liquidity aware
Specific enough to act on