thinkhard.SI

Prompt repository Finance & accounting

Update the full-year forecast with actuals to date

Part of the year is done and you need to reforecast the remaining months from actual results, with every change from the budget explained.

Registry no.
FIN-033
Collection
Finance & accounting
Laid out for
Any chat model
Score
10 out of 10
Blanks to fill
8
Added

Finance & accountingAny chat

The prompt

Score 10 of 10, Excellent

Use it when Part of the year is done and you need to reforecast the remaining months from actual results, with every change from the budget explained.

  • {{fiscal_year}}
  • {{last_actual_month}}
  • {{audience}}
  • {{budget}}
  • {{actuals}}
  • {{previous_forecast}}
  • {{known_changes}}
  • {{method}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Update our full-year forecast for {{fiscal_year}} using actual results through {{last_actual_month}}, for {{audience}}, so they can see where the year is likely to land against the budget and what has changed since the last forecast.

Budget by month and line:
"""
{{budget}}
"""

Actuals to date by month and line:
"""
{{actuals}}
"""

Previous forecast, if there is one:
"""
{{previous_forecast}}
"""

What we know about the rest of the year (signed deals, price changes, hires, one-off costs, decisions the owners have made): {{known_changes}}

Method for the remaining months: {{method}}

Produce:
1. A full-year table by line with the columns Line, Budget, Actual to date, Remaining forecast, Full-year forecast, Change vs budget, Change vs previous forecast.
2. How each line's remaining months were forecast: the method, the base figure and any adjustment from the known changes, one line each. For example: "Rent: 8,000 a month x 5 months = 40,000, no change." This example shows the form only.
3. The five largest changes against budget, each with the amount and its reason, taken from the actuals or the known changes.
4. Assumptions and open questions, numbered, so the owners can confirm or correct them.

Apply only the method above to the actual figures; do not add growth rates, seasonality or trends the method does not call for. Where a known change has no amount or date, do not size it yourself: forecast the line on the method alone and list the change under open questions as [amount needed]. Do not change the actuals. If the method uses a run rate, keep one-off items in the actuals out of it and say which ones you excluded. Make sure every full-year figure equals actual to date plus remaining forecast and that the lines add up to the totals. Keep the commentary under 400 words.

Variables

{{fiscal_year}}
The year being forecast, for example "fiscal 2026".
{{last_actual_month}}
The last month with closed actuals, for example "July".
{{audience}}
Who will read it, for example "the owners and the board".
{{budget}}
The budget by month and line.
{{actuals}}
Actual results by month and line, in the same layout as the budget.
{{previous_forecast}}
The last forecast, by line. Write "none" if this is the first.
{{known_changes}}
What you know about the remaining months, with amounts and dates where you have them. Write "none" if there is nothing new.
{{method}}
How to forecast the remaining months, for example "average of the last 3 actual months" or "budget for revenue, last 3 months' average for costs".

Why it works

  • Background facts. The remaining months come only from your method and the known changes, so the forecast never carries a trend nobody chose.
  • If unsure. A known change without an amount is listed as [amount needed] rather than sized by the model.
  • What good looks like. Every full-year figure must equal actual to date plus remaining forecast, a check anyone can repeat.

How to use it

  1. Press Fill in variables and type your details into each blank. What you type stays in this browser.
  2. Copy the filled prompt into the AI tool you already use, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, or open it in the Grader or the Prompt Tester here.
  3. Before you rely on it, try it on three or four real examples. The Prompt Tester runs them all at once and shows which ones go wrong.
Use it from code

Get this prompt as JSON from the free REST API, with your own text in the blanks, or let an AI assistant fetch it through the MCP server. No key.

curl -s https://thinkhard.si/api/v1/prompts/full-year-reforecast

With the MCP server added to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code, call get_prompt with {"prompt": "full-year-reforecast"}, or just ask for it by name.