HomeResourcesFinanceAndrew PershJune 29, 202610 min read

18 Institutional-Grade Claude Skills for Finance Professionals

18 institutional-grade Claude skills covering the six-phase finance analysis backbone: problem framing, market intelligence, valuation, modelling, risk and credit, and board-ready reporting. Each skill is a copy-paste prompt engineered for how a disciplined finance desk runs the work.

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18 institutional-grade Claude skills for finance professionals covering valuation, modelling, risk, and reporting

What these 18 institutional-grade Claude skills cover

These 18 institutional-grade Claude skills turn Claude into a full finance analyst engine. Each skill maps to a phase in the standard finance engagement sequence: frame the question, map the sector, build the valuation, run the model, test the thesis, and write the output. Together they form a reusable analysis backbone.

The skills are copy-paste prompts. You add them to Claude Projects as project knowledge documents and reference them by name. Claude reads the skill from project knowledge and applies its analytical framework, step sequence, and output standard automatically. No platform. No dashboard. The same rigorous output every time.

Frame

Skills 1-3

Lock the work to the right investment question before any analysis begins.

Map

Skills 4-6

Build the sector context, competitive position, and margin pool the valuation must rest on.

Value

Skills 7-9

Produce a defensible range across DCF, comparable companies, and precedent transactions.

Model

Skills 10-12

Build the three-statement model, working capital mechanics, and returns schedule.

Test

Skills 13-15

Pressure-test covenants, run stress scenarios, and map risk exposures before going to market.

Report

Skills 16-18

Turn analysis into the investment memo, board paper, or IC narrative that earns the decision.

For a broader look at how finance professionals use Claude across FP&A, treasury, and reporting, the CFO guide to Claude covers 24 skills across eight finance domains with the system prompt architecture behind each one.

Phase: Frame

Problem Framing skills

Before analysis begins, the work must be locked to the right question. These three skills prevent the most expensive analytical error in finance: answering the wrong question with great precision.

Investment Question Framer

Use when

Use at the start of any engagement, before any data is pulled.

Output

A single investment question, the three load-bearing assumptions, and the five facts needed to form a view.

Prompt

Frame the investment question for [company/situation]. Define the decision in one sentence. Identify the three assumptions the investment thesis stands or falls on. List the five facts we need to test before forming a view. Flag the noise we should ignore.

Assumption Auditor

Use when

Use when reviewing a thesis or model before presenting to a senior audience.

Output

An evidence-rated audit of each assumption with the two that most threaten the conclusion flagged.

Prompt

Audit the assumptions in this investment thesis: [paste thesis]. For each assumption, rate its evidence quality as strong, weak, or assumed. Identify the counterfactual for each. Flag the two assumptions whose failure would reverse the investment conclusion.

Signal Separator

Use when

Use when reviewing market commentary or data to separate evidence from noise.

Output

A classified list of signal versus noise items with one-sentence reasoning for each classification.

Prompt

Review this market commentary and financial data: [paste data]. Separate signal from noise. Signal means quantifiable, recurring, and causally linked to value. Noise means anecdotal, cyclical, or causally ambiguous. List each item, classify it, and explain your reasoning in one sentence.

Phase: Map

Market and Sector Intelligence skills

Sector context is not background colour. It determines how much of a business's performance is skill and how much is tide. These three skills build the sector map that the valuation and model must rest on.

Sector Mapper

Use when

Use at the start of coverage initiation or sector entry.

Output

A structured sector brief covering size, sub-segments, major players, demand drivers, and supply constraints.

Prompt

Map the sector structure for [sector]. Cover: market size and growth, the major sub-segments, the five largest players and their approximate shares, the primary demand drivers, and the key supply-side constraints. Structure this as a briefing a generalist could read in three minutes.

Competitive Position Analyst

Use when

Use when assessing a company's durability and defensibility before building a long-term model.

Output

A one-paragraph competitive position view with supporting evidence on share, margins, pricing power, and switching costs.

Prompt

Assess [company]'s competitive position in [market]. Cover: relative market share, margin differential versus peers, pricing power evidence, switching cost indicators, and the one structural advantage or disadvantage that most determines the trajectory. End with a one-paragraph view.

Demand and Margin Pool Scanner

Use when

Use when identifying which segment to focus on within a complex sector.

Output

A ranked view of segments by demand growth and margin capture, with two segments to prioritise and one to avoid.

Prompt

Map the demand growth and margin pool distribution for [sector]. Where is demand growing fastest and why? Which segment or customer type captures the most margin? Where is structural margin pressure building? Identify the two segments worth prioritising and the one to avoid.

Phase: Value

Valuation skills

Valuation is not a number. It is a range with a view on where in that range the answer sits, and why. These three skills produce defensible ranges rather than false precision.

DCF Builder

Use when

Use when building or reviewing a DCF before sharing with a senior audience.

Output

A full DCF with explicit forecast, terminal value, WACC build, sensitivity table, and a plain-language key driver paragraph.

Prompt

Build a DCF for [company]. Use a five-year explicit forecast, terminal value based on stable growth, and a WACC consistent with the capital structure. Show the full bridge from EBITDA to free cash flow. Run a sensitivity table varying WACC by 100 basis points and terminal growth by 50 basis points. Explain the key value driver in one paragraph.

Comparable Company Analyst

Use when

Use when building a trading comps table for a valuation or coverage note.

Output

A screened peer table with calendarised multiples, quartile ranges, and documented exclusion rationale.

Prompt

Build a comparable company analysis for [company/sector]. Identify eight to twelve true peers, exclude clear outliers, calendarize to the same fiscal year end, and calculate EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue, and P/E. Show median and quartile ranges. Flag which peers you excluded and why.

Precedent Transaction Screener

Use when

Use when building the precedent set for a sell-side process or fairness opinion.

Output

A cycle-adjusted precedent table with deal-type commentary and two deals flagged as misleading comparables.

Prompt

Screen precedent transactions for [company/sector]. Identify ten to fifteen relevant deals from the last seven years. Adjust for deal cycle, deal structure (cash versus stock), and synergy expectations. Show the adjusted multiple range and flag two deals that look comparable but whose pricing does not translate to this situation.

Phase: Model

Financial Modelling skills

A model that does not tie out is not a model. These three skills build the core financial mechanics and check the outputs before they reach a senior audience.

Three-Statement Model Builder

Use when

Use when initialising or reviewing a fully integrated financial model.

Output

A five-year three-statement model with full integrity checks across P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow.

Prompt

Build a three-statement model for [company] over five years. Use these assumptions: [paste assumptions]. Show P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in full. Check that retained earnings ties out, that cash on the balance sheet equals the cash flow closing balance, and that the balance sheet balances each year. Flag any year where the assumptions produce an implausible result.

Working Capital Analyst

Use when

Use when assessing cash conversion quality or building a cash flow bridge.

Output

DSO, DPO, and DIO versus sector benchmarks, with a quantified downside scenario for a 15-day DSO extension.

Prompt

Analyse the working capital dynamics for [company]. Calculate days sales outstanding, days payable outstanding, and days inventory outstanding from this financial data: [paste data]. Compare to sector benchmarks. Identify the most significant working capital risk and model what happens to cash flow if DSO extends by 15 days.

Returns and Debt Schedule Builder

Use when

Use when sizing the capital structure for a leveraged transaction.

Output

A full debt amortisation schedule with IRR and MOIC at multiple exit scenarios.

Prompt

Build a debt and returns schedule for this investment: entry at [x] EV, [y] leverage, [z] hold period. Show the debt amortisation schedule, interest expense, and free cash flow after debt service. Calculate IRR and MOIC at exit multiples of [a] to [b]. Show the equity story at each exit scenario.

Phase: Test

Risk and Credit skills

The thesis is only credible if it has been challenged. These three skills pressure-test the model and the credit structure before the market does it for you.

Covenant Tester

Use when

Use when reviewing credit documentation or modelling a leveraged acquisition.

Output

A quarterly covenant headroom schedule with a downside case flagging the first breach quarter.

Prompt

Test the covenants in this credit agreement against the financial model: [paste covenants and model]. Calculate headroom on each covenant quarterly over the forecast period. Flag any quarter where headroom drops below 15% of the threshold. Run a downside case with EBITDA 20% below base and show when covenant breach occurs.

Stress Scenario Builder

Use when

Use before finalising a valuation range or presenting to an investment committee.

Output

Three fully defined scenarios with probability-weighted equity value and a one-paragraph narrative for each.

Prompt

Run three scenarios for [company]: base, upside, and downside. For each scenario, define the macro and business assumptions, recalculate the key financial metrics including revenue, EBITDA, free cash flow, and net debt, and show the implied equity value range. Write one paragraph per scenario explaining the narrative and the key risk. End with the probability-weighted view.

Exposure Mapper

Use when

Use when assessing risk concentration before an IC or credit committee.

Output

A severity-ranked exposure map covering customer, supplier, geographic, market, and regulatory risk with the two most terminal-value-sensitive risks identified.

Prompt

Map the risk exposures for [investment/company]. Cover: customer concentration by top three customers as a percentage of revenue, supplier concentration, geographic concentration, market risk including commodity, currency, and interest rate, and regulatory risk. Rank each exposure by severity and reversibility. Identify the two exposures that most affect the terminal value assumption.

Phase: Report

Reporting skills

Analysis that cannot be communicated has no value. These three skills turn structured work into documents that earn a decision from a sceptical room.

Investment Memo Writer

Use when

Use when drafting the investment memo for a deal or portfolio company review.

Output

A five-section investment memo structured with the recommendation on the first line and answer-first framing throughout.

Prompt

Write an investment memo for [company/deal]. Structure it: situation and recommendation on the first page, investment thesis with three supporting arguments, financial analysis with valuation range and methodology, risks and mitigants covering the three most material risks, and conclusion. Lead with the recommendation. Use answer-first structure throughout. Each section should hold up to a question from a sceptical senior reviewer.

Board Paper Drafter

Use when

Use when writing a board paper for a strategic decision, acquisition, or capital allocation proposal.

Output

A board paper structured for a fifteen-minute read with executive summary, options assessment, recommendation, and implementation plan.

Prompt

Draft a board paper for [decision/proposal]. Structure: executive summary with the recommendation on the first line, situation analysis covering what has changed and why it matters, options assessment with two to four options and their financial implications, recommendation with rationale, and implementation plan. Write for a board that will read this in fifteen minutes and ask two hard questions. Formal register, no jargon.

IC Narrative Builder

Use when

Use when preparing the investment committee presentation for a new deal or follow-on.

Output

A structured IC narrative that addresses what is being bought, why now, the valuation rationale, the key risks, and the exit, with the three most likely challenges pre-addressed.

Prompt

Build the investment committee narrative for [deal/company]. The committee wants to know: what we are buying, why now, what we are paying and why it is fair, what can go wrong and why we are comfortable, and what the exit looks like. Build the argument section by section. Anticipate the three most likely challenges and address them directly. End with the ask.

The six-phase analysis backbone

The 18 skills are structured around a six-phase sequence that mirrors how a disciplined finance desk runs an engagement from start to finish. The sequence is not linear in practice: valuation and modelling often run in parallel, and the problem-framing phase may repeat after new information arrives. But the phases define the logical dependencies in the work.

Frame

Lock the work to a single investment question before anything else. Skills 1 to 3 define the decision, audit the assumptions, and separate evidence from noise. The output is a clean brief that every subsequent phase works against. Skipping this phase is the source of most analytical waste.

Map

Build the sector context the valuation must rest on. Skills 4 to 6 map the structure of the market, assess the subject's competitive position, and identify where demand growth and margin pools sit. A valuation built without this foundation is a number without a story.

Value

Build the range, not the number. Skills 7 to 9 produce a DCF, a comparable company table, and a precedent transaction set. The three methods triangulate to a defensible range with a documented view on which method should carry the most weight in this specific situation.

Model

Build the mechanics that prove the value. Skills 10 to 12 build the three-statement model, analyse working capital quality, and construct the debt and returns schedule. A model that does not tie out is not evidence. These skills check the outputs before they reach a senior audience.

Test

Challenge the thesis before the market does. Skills 13 to 15 test covenants in downside cases, run scenario analysis across the key value drivers, and map risk exposures by severity and reversibility. The output is not a list of risks. It is a documented view of which risks are material and which are manageable.

Report

Turn analysis into a decision. Skills 16 to 18 write the investment memo, the board paper, and the IC narrative. Each follows answer-first structure: the recommendation or conclusion on the first line, the supporting argument in the body, the risks addressed before they are raised. Output that earns the vote rather than prompting another round of questions.

The complete kit of 500+ finance prompts, 150+ skills, 100+ agents, and 25+ workflows that extends this backbone across FP&A, treasury, and investor reporting is covered in the complete Claude Finance Kit.

Setting up in Claude Projects

Each skill is a markdown document. Add it to a Claude Project as project knowledge and Claude will reference it automatically in every conversation inside that project. The recommended setup is a single finance project with all 18 skills loaded.

Step 1

Create a Claude Project

Go to claude.ai, open the left sidebar, click Projects, then Create Project. Name it something descriptive such as "Finance Analysis" or "Deal Desk." This project becomes your persistent finance analytical environment.

Step 2

Add the skills as Project Knowledge

Inside your project, open Project Knowledge and click Add Content. Paste each skill prompt as a separate document with a descriptive name matching the skill. You can add all 18 at once. Claude reads the relevant skill automatically from project knowledge in each conversation.

Step 3

Call skills by name in your prompts

Reference the skill name in your prompt to direct Claude to the right analytical framework. You can chain skills in a single session.

Example prompt

"Run an Investment Question Framer on this situation: [paste situation]. Then run a Sector Mapper on the relevant market. Once we have the sector map, run the Competitive Position Analyst on the target. End with a brief on the three assumptions the investment thesis will depend on."

Tip

The Frame phase (skills 1 to 3) is worth running on every engagement before the modelling phase begins. It costs almost no time and prevents the most common source of analytical rework: answering the wrong question precisely.

Step 4

Turn output into board-ready slides with Oria

Claude handles the analysis. Oria handles the presentation layer. Paste the investment memo, valuation summary, or board paper output into Oria inside PowerPoint. Oria converts it into a fully editable slide in your firm's corporate template in two to three minutes per slide. No manual formatting. No re-typing numbers into boxes.

The analytical frameworks under the hood

Each skill names the methodology it applies. The prompts do not ask Claude to "analyse this." They specify the framework, the sequence, the output format, and the failure modes to watch for.

Investment thesis framing with load-bearing assumption audit

Signal vs. noise classification with causal reasoning

Sector structure mapping (size, sub-segments, share, demand, supply)

Competitive position assessment (share, margins, switching costs)

Margin pool and demand growth distribution

DCF with explicit forecast, terminal value, WACC, and sensitivity

Comparable company analysis with calendarisation and outlier treatment

Precedent transaction screening with cycle and structure adjustments

Three-statement integrated model with integrity checks

Working capital analysis (DSO, DPO, DIO versus sector)

Debt amortisation and levered returns (IRR and MOIC)

Covenant testing with quarterly headroom and downside breach timing

Scenario analysis (base, upside, downside) with probability weighting

Risk exposure mapping by severity and reversibility

Investment memo in answer-first five-section structure

Board paper in fifteen-minute-read format

IC narrative with pre-addressed challenges and a clear ask

Frequently asked questions

What makes these Claude skills institutional-grade?

Each skill is built around a specific analytical workflow a senior finance professional would follow, not a generic instruction to summarise or rewrite. The skills name the methodology, the steps, and the failure modes. They produce structured output with a consistent standard, not a starting point for rewriting.

How do I add these skills to Claude?

Create a Claude Project for your finance work. Open Project Knowledge, click Add Content, and paste in the skill prompt as a document. Claude reads the relevant skill from project knowledge automatically in every conversation inside that project. You do not need to paste the skill each time.

Can I run multiple skills in a single Claude session?

Yes. If you add all 18 skills to a single project as separate project knowledge documents, you can call any of them in a conversation by naming the skill. For example: run a Sector Mapper on this industry first, then use the Competitive Position Analyst on the target.

What is the six-phase analysis backbone?

The six phases are Frame, Map, Value, Model, Test, and Report. They map to the six skill categories: problem framing locks the question, market intelligence maps the sector, valuation builds the range, modelling builds the mechanics, risk and credit tests the thesis, and reporting communicates the answer. Running the phases in order produces consistent, thorough analytical output.

How does Oria work with these skills?

The Claude skills handle the analysis and narrative. Oria handles the presentation layer. Once Claude produces an investment memo, a valuation summary, or a board paper, Oria converts it into a board-ready PowerPoint slide inside Microsoft PowerPoint, fully editable and on-brand, in two to three minutes per slide.