Claude & Excel - Practical AI Skills for CPAs & Finance Teams

Overview:

Option 1 - CPA and Finance AI Productivity Focus: This 90-minute masterclass gives CPAs and finance professionals a structured, practical introduction to using Claude in a professional accounting environment - covering what Claude genuinely can and cannot do, how to use it safely with financial and client data, and how to write prompts that produce consistent, reliable outputs.

Ray demonstrates how Claude supports Excel automation, budget and variance analysis, data quality checking and the drafting of client emails, reports and memos, giving attendees a realistic view of where AI saves time and where professional judgment must remain in control.

The session addresses audit, compliance and documentation support directly, so you understand how Claude fits within the structured, regulated environment that CPAs and finance professionals operate in every day.

A dedicated section on preventing errors and hallucinations ensures you leave with the review discipline and prompt practices needed to keep AI outputs trustworthy and audit-ready.

The session closes with a prompt toolkit-building exercise so you leave with a documented, finance-specific set of prompts ready to apply across your recurring accounting tasks.

Key Benefits:

• Understand what Claude can genuinely do in accounting and finance and where its limits lie
• Apply Claude safely to Excel, analysis, reporting and client communication tasks
• Leave with a reusable CPA-specific prompt toolkit and error prevention practices built in

Option 2 - Practical AI for Finance and Accounting Workflows Focus: This session is designed for CPAs, accountants and finance professionals who want a clear, grounded introduction to using Claude in their day-to-day accounting and finance workflows.

You cover Claude’s real capability and limitations in professional financial contexts, how to protect client data and meet professional responsibility obligations, and how to structure prompts for finance-specific tasks including Excel automation, budget analysis, variance commentary and data quality review.

Practical demonstrations show how Claude can draft client emails, produce report summaries and support audit and compliance documentation, with each example grounded in the kind of work CPAs and finance teams handle on a regular basis.

Ray addresses the risk of hallucinations and output errors directly, providing prompt discipline and review practices that keep Claude outputs reliable in a professional environment where accuracy and accountability matter.

You finish with a structured toolkit of reusable finance prompts that your team can maintain and expand over time.

Key Benefits:

• Use Claude safely with financial data while meeting professional responsibility obligations
• Apply Claude to Excel, analysis, client communications and audit documentation tasks
• Build a reusable prompt toolkit with accuracy controls for confident, ongoing finance AI use

Option 3 - Applied AI Confidence for CPAs and Finance Teams Focus: This masterclass gives CPAs and finance professionals the practical knowledge and skills to use Claude confidently, responsibly and effectively in a professional accounting environment.

You work through what Claude can and cannot do in accounting and finance, how to use it safely with sensitive client data, and how prompt engineering fundamentals apply specifically to the outputs CPAs and finance teams need most.

Applied examples cover Excel and spreadsheet automation, budget and forecast analysis, variance commentary, error and anomaly detection, client email and report drafting, audit support and compliance documentation, giving you a complete picture of where Claude adds genuine value in finance practice.

Ray provides a clear framework for preventing errors and hallucinations, so every Claude output you use in a professional context is reviewed, validated and audit-ready.

You leave with a documented prompt toolkit built for the accounting and finance tasks your team handles every day.

Key Benefits:

• Understand Claude’s real capability and limits across the full range of CPA and finance tasks
• Apply AI safely to client communications, audit support, Excel automation and data quality work
• Leave with error prevention practices and a reusable prompt library tailored to finance workflows

Why you should Attend:

• Understand what Claude can and cannot do in accounting and finance with a clear, realistic assessment
• Learn how to use Claude safely with financial and client data while meeting professional responsibility obligations
• Write prompts that produce consistent, accurate and professionally appropriate finance and accounting outputs
• Apply Claude to Excel automation, budget preparation, forecast modelling and variance commentary tasks
• Use Claude to detect data errors, flag anomalies and improve data quality before reporting or review
• Draft client emails, financial report summaries and internal memos using structured, reliable Claude prompts
• Understand how Claude supports audit preparation, compliance documentation and process recording
• Apply review practices and prompt discipline to prevent hallucinations and errors in financial outputs
• Build and document a reusable prompt toolkit tailored to the recurring tasks CPAs and finance teams handle

Areas Covered in the Session:

• What Claude Can and Cannot Do in Accounting and Finance - establishing a clear, realistic picture of Claude’s actual capability and its limitations in professional financial contexts
• Using Claude Safely with Financial and Client Data - understanding the data privacy, confidentiality and professional responsibility considerations that apply when using Claude with sensitive financial information
• Prompt Engineering Basics for CPAs and Finance Teams - structuring prompts effectively so Claude produces consistent, accurate and professionally appropriate outputs for finance and accounting tasks
• Automating Excel and Spreadsheet Tasks with Claude - using Claude to generate formulas, build structures and automate repetitive Excel-based tasks across common finance and accounting workflows
• Budget, Forecast, and Variance Analysis Using Claude - applying Claude to support budget preparation, forecast modelling and variance commentary in a structured, reviewable way
• Detecting Errors, Anomalies, and Data Quality Issues with Claude - using Claude to identify inconsistencies, flag anomalies and improve the reliability of financial data before it reaches reporting or review stages
• Drafting Client Emails, Reports, and Memos with Claude - using Claude to produce clear, professional written communications including client emails, summary reports and internal memos tailored to a finance audience
• Claude in Audit, Compliance, and Documentation Support - understanding how Claude can assist with audit preparation, compliance documentation and the structured recording of financial processes and controls
• Preventing Errors and Hallucinations in Financial Outputs - applying review practices and prompt discipline to minimise the risk of inaccurate or fabricated Claude outputs in a professional finance environment
• Building a Reusable Prompt Toolkit for CPAs and Finance Professionals - creating and documenting a library of tested, finance-specific prompts that your team can maintain, refine and apply across recurring accounting tasks

NOTE: Topic sequence may be subject to slight variation

Who Will Benefit:

• This webinar is designed for CPAs, accountants and finance professionals who want a practical, structured introduction to using Claude in a professional accounting environment. It is suitable for attendees who want to understand both the capability and the professional responsibility dimensions of AI use in finance, without technical jargon or abstract theory
• Public practice accountants, corporate finance staff, financial analysts, audit and compliance professionals, tax practitioners, finance managers and anyone responsible for financial reporting, client communication or accounting team productivity will benefit directly from the demonstrations, frameworks and prompt toolkit built during this session