ChatGPT Work Streamlines Board Reporting

In a demonstration of how artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming corporate finance, a recent video showcases the power of ChatGPT Work in delivering board-ready financial reporting. The session highlights the practical application of AI tools in streamlining complex audit processes, identifying financial discrepancies, and improving team collaboration for accurate reporting.

Streamlining Financial Audits with AI

The video walks through a scenario where an auditor uses ChatGPT Work to conduct a quarter-end audit. The process begins by navigating to the 'Work' tab within ChatGPT, preparing to engage with quarter-end materials. These materials include a revenue memo for executives, a board package, and a financial model. The key to this workflow is the use of plugins, which allow ChatGPT Work to access and process data directly from external sources.

The full discussion can be found on OpenAI Youtube's YouTube channel.

The prompt used is direct and task-oriented: "We just closed the quarter. Please review the latest financial materials housed in my Google Drive." This command instructs ChatGPT Work to pull the relevant context from the specified cloud storage. Following this, the AI is tasked with comparing this data against what has been posted in NetSuite, the company's underlying financial system.

Identifying Critical Discrepancies

The sheer volume of financial data, often involving thousands of rules and multiple tabs, can make manual auditing a time-consuming and error-prone process. ChatGPT Work, however, quickly identifies two critical issues, leading to a "no-go" decision for the current report. This immediate flagging of problems allows for proactive problem-solving.

The first issue identified by the AI is that NetSuite posted an update to actuals in June, but the current reporting still reflects an outdated forecast. This discrepancy is shown to be flowing through the revenue memo, creating a conflict with the data in the financial model. The AI's ability to cross-reference these disparate data points is crucial for ensuring financial integrity.

Guided Error Correction and Collaboration

What stands out in this demonstration is how ChatGPT Work not only identifies errors but also guides the user through the process of fixing them. The AI can help edit issues one by one, and its integrated browser functionality allows for immediate action. For instance, the user can open a document within ChatGPT, send a note or comment to their team asking for a fix, and then tab through impacted sections to ensure all areas are addressed.

The video shows how dense documents, such as a 20-page executive memo, can be overwhelming for human review. ChatGPT Work simplifies this by highlighting problematic areas in red, making it easy to pinpoint where updates are needed. Once corrections are made and communicated to the team, the audit can be rerun. The AI can then provide a quick answer within minutes, indicating whether the reporting is ready to be sent.

Extending the Application Beyond Audits

The utility of ChatGPT Work extends beyond simple audits. The video suggests that this workflow can be applied to much larger and more complex reporting tasks, such as a 34-page board deck that might be part of a broader document containing hundreds of pages. The same AI capability can be used to cross-check numbers across these extensive documents and surface themes that might conflict.

This application of AI provides users with the confidence that the numbers being presented are accurate and well-vetted. It's presented as a valuable skill for anyone involved in financial reporting, ensuring a higher degree of accuracy and reliability in the data shared internally and externally.