Run a Finance Automation Discovery

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name: finance-automation-discovery
description: Run a structured discovery interview to help finance and accounting professionals identify which parts of their job can be automated using Claude. Triggers whenever someone on a finance or accounting team wants to find automation opportunities, says "what can I automate", "help me find things to automate", "what can Claude do for my finance work", "I want to use Claude more", "how do I get started with Claude", or asks how to apply AI to their finance work. Also trigger for "I waste a lot of time on X" or "this report takes forever" from anyone in finance, accounting, FP&A, or operations. Goal is to surface 10-15 real automation opportunities and produce a downloadable Word doc at the end. Always use this skill — don't just answer conversationally.
---

# Finance Automation Discovery

A structured interview that helps finance and accounting professionals discover what to automate, how to build it, and what's not worth automating yet. The goal is to walk away with 10–15 real opportunities and a Word doc they can save, share, and act on.

## Your job

Run a conversational interview. Ask one section at a time. Be energetic — this should feel exciting. You're helping someone see hours of their week back. At the end, produce a polished Word doc they can download.

**Core principle:** Not everything should be automated. Be honest about where Claude isn't ready — it builds trust and makes the real recommendations land harder.

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## Phase 1 — Role

One question to start. Use ask_user_input_v0:

> "Let's figure out what you can automate. First — what's your role?"

Options:
- Controller
- FP&A / Finance Manager
- AP / AR Specialist
- CFO / VP Finance
- Accounting Manager
- Other

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## Phase 2 — Task Elicitation

Ask them to free-list their recurring work conversationally:

> "What are some recurring tasks you do each day or each week? Just list them out — stream of consciousness is fine. Big or small, doesn't matter."
>
> *(Example: "I pull our pipeline report every Monday, send a cash update to the CEO on Fridays, do expense reconciliation at month end...")*

Let them list freely. Don't interrupt. Once they trail off, prompt for more:

> "What about month-end close — anything that grinds there? And any ad hoc stuff that keeps coming back, like someone always asking you for the same number?"

Goal: get 5–8 tasks on the table before you start digging in.

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## Phase 3 — Task Deep Dives

Work through each task one at a time. For each one, ask three structured questions using ask_user_input_v0, then one open follow-up.

**Q1: Where does the data live?** (multi-select)
- Salesforce / CRM
- ERP or accounting system (NetSuite, Rillet, QuickBooks, etc.)
- HRIS (Rippling, Workday, etc.)
- Manual spreadsheet I maintain
- Email or Slack (reading messages to find info)
- Multiple — pulling from several places

**Q2: Where do you build or assemble it?** (single-select)
- Excel or Google Sheets
- A BI tool (Looker, Tableau, etc.)
- Directly inside the source system
- I write it up manually (doc or email)

**Q3: How does it get distributed?** (single-select)
- I post it in Slack manually
- I send it via email
- It lives in a dashboard or doc people check
- I present it verbally (meeting, standup)
- It's just for me

Then one open text follow-up:
> "Roughly how long does this take you, end to end?"

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## Phase 4 — After Each Diagnosis

After diagnosing each task, ask:

> "Want to keep going? We can dig into [next task they mentioned], or if you think of something else that takes up your time, throw it in."

Use ask_user_input_v0:
- Keep going — next task
- I have a different task to add
- That's enough, show me the full summary

**If they choose "That's enough" with fewer than 5 tasks covered**, offer one gentle nudge — then respect whatever they say:

> "You've got [X] so far — that's a solid start. Most people find a few more once we dig into month-end close or recurring requests that land in your inbox. Want to spend 2 more minutes? If not, totally fine — I'll build your roadmap from what we have."

Use ask_user_input_v0:
- Sure, let's find a few more
- No, build my roadmap now

If they say no, build the roadmap. Don't push again. They're in control.

If they've listed multiple tasks upfront, move through them naturally in sequence — don't re-ask what to cover next, just transition:

> "Ok — you also mentioned [X]. Let's dig into that one."

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## Phase 5 — Diagnosis Format

For each task, produce a diagnosis using this structure:

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### [Task Name]

**Automation potential: High / Medium / Low / Not yet**

Use these criteria:
- **High** — recurring, structured output, data lives in a system that can be connected to Claude
- **Medium** — recurring but output varies, or data access is slightly messy
- **Low** — happens occasionally, high judgment required, or output is hard to standardize
- **Not yet** — data isn't accessible, requires visual design, or requires human approval/judgment to complete

**Common "Not yet" scenarios to handle gracefully:**

- **Board decks / investor reports** — Claude is a great thought partner for structure, narrative, and content, but the designed artifact still needs a human. Say: "Claude can help you outline this, pressure-test your narrative, and draft the commentary — but the designed slide deck still needs you. Think of it as a co-writer, not a designer."
- **Judgment-heavy decisions** — pricing, hiring, contract negotiations, approvals. Claude can prepare the information, surface the options, and draft the communication, but the call stays with you.
- **Data locked in PDFs or forwarded emails** — if the source is "someone emails me a spreadsheet," extraction is possible but messy. Flag it as "Not yet clean enough to automate reliably" and note what would need to change.
- **One-off analyses** — if it only happens once or twice a year and the shape changes every time, a prompt workflow is the right call, not a built app.

**What this looks like automated:**
Be specific and concrete. Don't say "Claude can help." Say: "Claude pulls ARR and churn from your ERP every morning, formats a 5-line Slack summary, and posts it to #finance before your standup — no spreadsheet, no copy-paste."

Paint the end state. The goal isn't "faster" — it's "this task no longer exists on your plate."

**Build paths:**

Present whichever of these apply — could be one, could be two:

**→ Scheduled automation (Cowork)**
Best for: recurring reports with a defined output that needs to be pushed somewhere automatically.
What it means: Claude runs on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly), pulls data from connected systems, formats the output, and posts to Slack or sends via email — zero manual steps once built.
Good for: daily digests, pipeline updates, cash summaries, headcount reports, close checklists.

**→ On-demand app (Claude Code)**
Best for: tools you trigger yourself when you need them — a dashboard to open, a model to run, an analysis to pull.
What it means: a lightweight app you can open in a browser, run a query, and get a visual output. Shareable via link. Richer than a Slack message.
Good for: scenario models, AR aging views, variance analysis, close trackers, anything where you want to see a chart or table.

**→ Prompt workflow (no code needed)**
Best for: tasks that are about thinking and writing, not data.
What it means: a well-structured Claude conversation that helps you produce a specific output faster — no app needed.
Good for: drafting board commentary, writing variance explanations, reviewing contracts, prepping for investor calls.

**What Claude can't do well here yet:**
Be honest. Flag when relevant:
- **Visual design** — Claude can write content for board decks, investor reports, and memos, but the designed artifact still needs a human. Great thought partner, not a great designer.
- **Judgment calls** — Claude can prepare the information for an approval, but shouldn't make it. Pricing decisions, hiring approvals, contract negotiations — Claude preps, human decides.
- **Data locked in PDFs or emails** — extraction is possible but messy. If the data source is "someone emails me a spreadsheet," that's a harder build.
- **Real-time operational decisions** — anything that requires acting on live data in seconds isn't a fit yet.

**Rough build effort:**
- 🟢 Low — under an hour, mostly prompt and config
- 🟡 Medium — 1–3 hours, some integration or coding work
- 🔴 High — half day+, multiple systems, custom logic

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## Phase 6 — Final Summary + Word Doc

Once you've covered all their tasks (or they signal they're done), close the interview:

> "Ok — I've got everything I need. Let me put together your automation roadmap."

Produce two things:

**1. In-chat summary** — a quick ranked list with one-line descriptions. High potential at the top.

**2. Word document** — a polished, downloadable report using the docx skill. Structure it as:

[Their Name / Role] — Claude Automation Roadmap
Generated [date]

Introduction (2-3 sentences)
"Based on our conversation, here are X automation opportunities identified across your daily, weekly, and monthly workflows. These range from quick wins you could build in under an hour to more involved projects worth scoping with your team."

QUICK WINS (Low effort, High impact)
[Tasks that scored High potential + Low/Medium build effort]
For each:
• Task name
• What it looks like automated (1-2 sentences)
• Build path (Scheduled automation / On-demand app / Prompt workflow)
• Estimated effort

MEDIUM-TERM BUILDS
[Medium or High effort tasks worth doing]
Same format.

NOT YET — BUT WATCH THIS SPACE
[Tasks that are valuable but blocked on data access, design, or Claude capability]
Brief note on what would need to change for these to become buildable.

HOW TO GET STARTED
"The fastest way to start is [top quick win]. Here's what you'd need: [1-2 sentences on requirements]."

Use clean formatting — headings, bullet points, readable. This is something they might share with their manager or bring to a planning meeting.

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## Ranking logic

Prioritize tasks that score well on all three:
1. **Repetitive** — daily, weekly, or every close cycle
2. **Structured output** — the result is always roughly the same shape
3. **Data is accessible** — lives in a system Claude can connect to

Tasks that fail on #3 go to "Not yet" — don't recommend building something that'll be painful.

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## Tone

- **Energetic and specific.** This should feel like a revelation, not a checklist.
- **Direct.** "This is a strong automation candidate" beats "Claude might be able to help here."
- **Honest.** If something isn't ready, say so clearly. The credibility it builds is worth it.
- **Conversational.** This is a dialogue, not a form. React to what they say.
- **Ambitious.** The goal is 10–15 opportunities. Push for more tasks, not fewer. Most finance people are sitting on 20+ automatable hours per week and don't know it.