Quick Deploy AI Enabled Finance Tasks

Twenty nine practical finance tasks that can be run in the Claude ecosystem today across payables, receivables, close, FP&A, contracts and administration. Each includes the inputs, method and checks needed to make the output usable.

Claude nativeCowork, add ins and chat

CalculatedTotals and matching in code

Cited to sourceEvery figure traceable

First draftA person reviews and owns

Before you start Five checks before using the tasks Read first

These are person directed tasks rather than production workflows. A person reviews and owns every output.

The tools

The task grid has been compiled with the Claude ecosystem in mind, because of its depth and ease of access for finance work today. This ecosystem has three main surfaces that are relevant to the tasks outlined:

Claude chat for one off questions and file uploads in the browser or app.
Claude Cowork for working on files already on your computer and developing workflows.
Claude add ins that sit inside Excel, PowerPoint and Word, with Outlook in beta.

The grid is still useful for organisations that don't use Claude. ChatGPT with Codex and Microsoft Copilot do broadly the same, and indeed for a Microsoft organisation Copilot is a very sensible choice.

Cowork overview

Cowork is Anthropic's application that runs on your own computer, Mac or Windows and is the best surface for the majority of these tasks. Claude chat only sees a file when you upload it into the conversation whereas Cowork works directly with files already on your machine. Access is granted to specific folders or drives and Cowork reads and writes files inside those folders. Throughout the grid, the designated folder means an ordinary folder on your machine that has Cowork access.

Surfaces and automation

The tasks list in the grid outlines the main steps, rather than an exhaustive list, written to give enough guidance to easily implement with support from your AI tool. When seeking to implement it is useful to have the following points in mind:

Match the surface to the task. A task that recurs against a stable reference, such as a policy, a template, a mapping or a set of contracts, runs in Cowork.
A task that lives inside an open workbook or deck uses the Claude add in within that file.
Use Claude chat for one off tasks, unless working inside a project. Claude like other LLMs struggle with context but switching on memory within the tool settings is advisable to assist in this respect.

Finally, the steps in the grid are written with manual file handling in mind for clarity: put the files in the designated folder, ask, review. However, once a task runs consistently ask Claude to write a Skill that describes it. Once the skill is saved within Claude and the relevant connections are enabled in settings (for example Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint or Gmail) you can let Cowork automate future tasks. For example connecting Claude to a vendor or customer inbox it can then collect the documents itself, file them in the designated folder, and even run the saved review on a schedule (though this only works if the PC or Mac is on and logged into Claude) against the stored reference, such as the contract summary. The manual version is how you learn the task; the scheduled version is how you run it.

Plan, data and governance

Use a Team or Enterprise plan for finance work. This is a strong recommendation for two reasons. Anthropic's privacy documentation states that inputs on its commercial plans, which include Team and Enterprise, are not used to train its models by default. On the consumer plans they are, unless the setting is turned off. The commercial plans also give administrator control over who can access data and how long it is kept. Whatever the plan, keep personal data and client confidential material out of any task that does not need it, and ALWAYS out of the in app add ins in particular. Anthropic's documentation states the add ins currently sit outside Enterprise audit logging. Treat documents and emails arriving from outside the organisation as untrusted input. Anthropic's guidance is not to run the add ins on files from sources you do not trust, since a hostile document can carry instructions aimed at the model. Nothing in the grid sends an email, posts to the ledger, moves money or concludes an accounting judgement. Every output is a first draft that a person reviews and owns.

Writing the prompt

The risk with these tools is not the exception, which will always be reviewed, but the item that comes back matched or confirmed because of an AI hallucination. That happens when the model pairs things up from what looks right rather than working them out. Cut that risk by making the model calculate rather than recognise a pattern, and by deploying a prompt framework that makes its work checkable. Key elements of the prompt framework are as follows, a very effective approach is to feed these principles into Claude along with the task detail and ask it to provide a suitable prompt:

Ask Cowork to do the matching and totals in code, meaning it writes and runs a short script that compares the values and adds up the figures, rather than deciding the pairings and sums by inference. The script gives the same result every time and cannot invent a match. When the model works it out itself, it can return a confident but wrong pairing.
Require a control total that must cast. Ask Cowork for the totals it must reconcile to ensure completeness and to flag anything that does not tie rather than ignore it. A fabricated match breaks a total, and the broken total is what catches it.
Forbid the model from typing in any number itself. Every figure in the output must be pulled or calculated from a file you supplied. The model sorts, matches, runs calculations and formats; it never keys a value from memory, because that is where a wrong number enters unseen.
Make every line cite the exact source it came from: the invoice line, the ledger row, the contract clause. Where the source does not hold the answer, the model leaves the field blank and flags it as missing source data rather than writing something plausible to fill the gap.
Confine the model to the files supplied. Ask Cowork to use only what is in the designated folder, not its general knowledge, so it cannot fill a gap with an invention.

Built this way, the confirmed output is far easier to trust, because a calculation produced it and the totals prove it. That is what lets a person check a sample of the high value items in the matched set rather than read every line.

All AP AR Close FP&A Contracts Admin

Showing all 29 tasksExpand all steps

Accounts payable

Coding, reconciliation and spend5 tasks

Code a folder of supplier invoices to the chart of accounts

1
Put four things in the designated folder: the invoice PDFs, the chart of accounts export, last quarter's coded invoice listing, and a blank copy of your ERP's purchase import template. The coded listing shows how invoices have been coded before; Cowork follows it as the pattern. The import template is the layout for the finished sheet.
2
Ask Cowork to read each invoice, pull the fields you need, for example supplier, invoice number, date, net, VAT and gross, and propose a nominal code for each, following the coded listing and the account descriptions in the chart of accounts rather than inventing codes.
3
Ask Cowork to run four tests on every invoice: net plus VAT equals gross; the supplier appears in the coded listing; the invoice number and supplier combination does not already appear in the coded listing or elsewhere in the batch; and Cowork is confident in the code proposed. Anything failing a test goes to a review tab, the rest to the main sheet in your import template.
4
Clear the review tab, accepting, correcting or setting up each item, and spot check a sample of the high value lines on the main sheet too, since a wrong code can still pass the tests. Then import to the ERP yourself.

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Supplier statement reconciliation, statement against AP ledger

1
Put the supplier statement and the AP ledger export in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to normalise the invoice number and date formats, then match the two in code, on invoice number first, then amount, so a stray prefix or a different date style does not block a match.
3
Ask Cowork to return four groups: matched, on the statement only, on the ledger only, and near misses where the amounts are close but differ.
4
Ask Cowork to report two checks on that output: every line from each side appears once, and matched plus unmatched equals each side's total.
5
Review and query the two unmatched groups and the near misses, and spot check a sample of the high value matches.

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Check supplier invoices against contract terms and draft the push back

1
For all supplier contracts, ask Cowork to read each contract, with any price schedule or variation letter, and summarise the terms that govern invoicing, such as the invoice format, the supporting documents required, the billing timetable, the pricing and rate schedule, and any price review or indexation. A person validates each summary against the contract before it joins the reference set, which is saved in the designated folder and updated quarterly.
2
When an invoice arrives, put it in the designated folder and ask Cowork to check it against the reference set, listing only what does not comply and citing the contract term against each item: wrong format, missing support, outside the timetable, or off the agreed rate in the price schedule.
3
Ask Cowork to draft the query email covering those exceptions, unsent.
4
Check the exceptions against the invoice and the contract, then send from your own inbox.

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First pass review of expense claims against policy

1
Put the claims export and the expense policy in the designated folder, masking names and card numbers first, since the check does not need them. The check works from the claims system export, not from receipt images.
2
Ask Cowork to check each claim against the policy and list every breach, with the rule broken and the amount over, calculating the caps and thresholds in code so the numbers are exact.
3
Ask Cowork to quote the policy clause behind each breach, so you check the reasoning, not just the verdict.
4
Confirm each flagged breach, and spot check a sample of the high value claims that passed, before anyone is queried.

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Spend analysis: vendor concentration, tail spend, unusual trends

1
Put the AP extract and the vendor master in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to normalise the supplier names against the vendor master, then build three tables in code: the top vendors and each one's share of total spend, the size of the long tail of small vendors, and any month on month movement above a threshold you set.
3
Ask Cowork to report that the table totals cast back to the AP extract total, so nothing was dropped in the grouping.
4
Read the tables and confirm any movement against the source before you rely on it. Then ask Cowork to write a short memo for the spend review: where spend is concentrated, which tail vendors could be consolidated, and which movements need investigating.

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Accounts receivable and collections

Chasing, billing and cash allocation5 tasks

Prioritise the collections worklist

1
Put the aged debtors export in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to rank the accounts in code, using a rule you set over the fields in the export, such as the balance, the days overdue, any dispute flag, and the promised payment dates where the export carries them.
3
Ask Cowork to give the reason for each account's rank, so the order can be checked.
4
Work the list from the top; the ranking rule you set is what makes the order auditable.

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Draft collections chasers from an aged debtors report

1
Put the aged debtors export in the designated folder, with a few example chasers in your voice that show the range of tone, from a light nudge for a good payer to a firm notice for a persistent late payer or high balance risk customer.
2
Ask Cowork to draft chasers on a cadence you set, for example a reminder five days before the due date, another once the invoice is overdue, and sensible escalations after that. Cowork chooses which example to follow for each customer based on the amount, the customer profile and the days overdue, and lists that customer's overdue invoices, with the invoice numbers, dates and amounts taken from the export rather than any it generates itself. Nothing is sent.
3
Ask Cowork to put all drafts in one Word file with a cover summary.
4
Credit control reads each draft, amends any that would land badly, and sends them from their own inbox.

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Summarise client invoicing terms into a reference set

1
For all customer contracts, ask Cowork to read each contract, with any side letter or price schedule, and summarise the terms that govern how you must bill each client: the billing cadence, for example monthly, on milestones or on usage; the fee basis, whether a fixed fee, a rate card or usage rates; any purchase order or reference the client requires on the invoice; the currency; the payment terms; and any other specific contractual billing requirement.
2
Ask Cowork to cite the contract clause behind each term, and to leave a field blank where the contract is silent, rather than fill the gap.
3
A person validates every entry against the contract, working from the largest clients first; the checked summaries are saved as a reference set in the designated folder, updated quarterly.
4
From that reference set, ask Cowork to produce an easy to digest aide memoire for the billing team, listing each client's billing cadence, fee basis or agreed amount, and any mandatory reference, to work from when organising a given month's billing.

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Check customer invoices against agreed billing terms

1
Put the month's issued invoices in the designated folder.
2
Tell Cowork to review each invoice against the client invoicing terms summary from task 8.
3
Ask Cowork to list only the exceptions, citing the term breached against each: wrong cadence, billing outside the agreed window, a missing purchase order or reference, a concern with the amount billed, and clients not invoiced at all that month, flagging in particular those on retainer or recurring monthly contracts who should have been.
4
Run the same check in code after the billing cut off, against the month's billing report. Ask Cowork to report that every client in the task 8 reference set appears once, either as billed or as not billed, so the check is complete.
5
Leave usage based billing out of the check unless the usage report is also in the designated folder.
6
A person reviews the exceptions and either corrects the invoice before it goes out or issues an accurate adjustment.

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Remittance matching and cash allocation shortlist

1
Put three things in the designated folder: the bank statement showing the receipts, any remittance advice received, and the open receivables ledger.
2
Tell Cowork to take each receipt on the bank statement and allocate it, in code, across the open invoices it pays.
3
Where a remittance advice was received, it states which invoices the receipt covers. Where there is none, Cowork matches the receipt amount on the bank statement to invoice amounts on the ledger.
4
Tell Cowork to keep anything that does not allocate cleanly, such as a part payment, a credit note, a bank charge or a short payment, as a separate group rather than force a match.
5
Ask Cowork to report that allocated plus unallocated equals the total receipts on the bank statement, and that every receipt appears once.
6
Spot check a sample of the high value allocations, then post them yourself. Receipts Cowork could not allocate go to a person for review and remediation.

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Close and reconciliations

Ties, bridges and journals5 tasks

Bank reconciliation first pass, bank export against ledger

1
Put the bank export and the ledger cash account export in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to match the two in code, on amount and date first, then reference.
3
Tell Cowork to treat any receipt that could pair with more than one ledger entry as a candidate for review, not a confirmed match.
4
Ask Cowork to return the result in four groups:
- matches made in code where the amount, date and reference agree
- receipts on the bank statement with no matching ledger entry
- ledger entries with no matching receipt on the bank statement
- possible matches that need a person to decide
5
Ask Cowork to report that every line on each side appears once, that confirmed plus unmatched equals each side's total, and that the closing difference equals your known reconciling items rather than a figure Cowork has chosen.
6
Review the unmatched lines and the possible matches, and spot check a sample of the high value confirmed matches.

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GL to sub ledger reconciliation (AR or AP)

1
Put the general ledger control account export and the sub ledger export in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to match the two at invoice level in code.
3
Ask Cowork to build a bridge from the general ledger balance to the sub ledger balance, listing each reconciling item with its amount.
4
If the exports do not carry invoice level identifiers, ask Cowork for the bridge by batch or journal instead, with an exceptions list for what does not tie.
5
Ask Cowork to report that the bridge closes with no unexplained residual, and to show any residual as an exception rather than absorb it into the total.
6
Review and sign off the exceptions, and spot check a sample of the high value matches, since two offsetting errors can still let a bridge close.
7
Cowork posts nothing to the ledger.

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Intercompany reconciliation first pass

1
Put each entity's intercompany ledger in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to match the balances in code by counterparty and currency, and to show both sides' figures against each difference without netting them.
3
Where a balance needs translating, tell Cowork the exchange rate source and date to use.
4
Ask Cowork to show timing differences, FX differences and mispostings as separate groups rather than one combined list.
5
Ask Cowork to stage the correcting journals as a table in the format you upload to the ledger.
6
Review the differences, and spot check a sample of the high value agreed balances.
7
Post the journals in the ERP yourself.

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Journal entry preparation, staged for review

1
Put the basis for each entry in the designated folder: the accrual workings, the invoices, the prepayment schedule, the payroll file, and a blank copy of your journal import template.
2
In Cowork, install the finance plugin from the Knowledge Work marketplace in the plugin catalogue. Run its journal entry command, which stages each journal in the import template layout, with its debits, credits, narrative and source reference.
3
Ask Cowork to report that every journal balances, debits to credits, and that each line traces to a named supporting document in the folder.
4
A named reviewer checks each staged journal against its support and posts it.
5
Leave judgement entries, such as provisions and impairments, out of this task.

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Month end close checklist tracking and status summary

1
Put the close checklist in the designated folder and update it as tasks complete. Give the checklist a column for the task, the owner, the due date and the status.
2
Tell Cowork to report from the checklist alone, not to infer completion from emails or file names.
3
Ask Cowork to report the status by owner, the tasks now overdue, and what sits on the critical path today, as a short memo.
4
Rerun each morning through the close. The checklist stays the record; the memo is the daily read of it.

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FP&A and reporting

Variance, views and workbooks5 tasks

Variance and flux commentary against a chosen comparative

1
Run actuals against whichever comparative you need, for example budget, latest forecast, prior month or prior year, in month and year to date. Set the threshold above which a variance is worth explaining.
2
If the inputs sit in separate files, put them in the designated folder and use Cowork. If they are all in one open workbook, the Claude Excel add in does the same there.
3
Ask Cowork to build the variance table first, in code, in month and year to date, showing actual against the comparative for every line over the threshold.
4
Ask Cowork to write the cause only where the figures hold it, for example a volume or price column, a driver line, or a note against the account. Where the figures do not hold the cause, Cowork reports the size and direction of the movement and marks the reason outstanding rather than inventing one.
5
With the workbook and the PowerPoint file both open, and the setting for working across apps turned on, ask Claude to put the finished analysis onto a slide in the company template.
6
The account owner supplies or confirms each cause. The figures come from the source; the explanation comes from a person.

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Build a P&L view from a raw general ledger export

1
Put the raw general ledger export and your account mapping in the designated folder, and check the mapping before Cowork runs.
2
Ask Cowork to build the management P&L view in code and to show the grouping logic.
3
Ask Cowork to put any account the mapping does not cover on a separate tab rather than force it into a line.
4
Ask Cowork to report that the view's totals cast to the GL total, with no account dropped or counted twice.
5
Verify the mapping on a sample, and cast the totals against source.

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Clean and restructure a system export

1
Open the export with the Claude Excel add in, or put it in the designated folder, and describe the target layout: unpivot, split the combined fields, standardise the dates, add a summary tab.
2
Claude makes the changes, highlights each one, and warns before overwriting anything.
3
Ask Claude to report that the row count and column totals match before and after, so nothing was dropped or duplicated.
4
Spot check the mapped fields against the original.
5
Keep the task to reshaping and tidying; macros, VBA and data tables sit outside what the add in supports.

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Audit an inherited workbook: explain formulas, flag errors

1
Open the inherited workbook with the Claude Excel add in.
2
Ask Claude to map the formula chains in plain English and flag circular references, hardcoded numbers and broken links, each one linked to its cells.
3
Click through the links and check the material formulas by hand. The map guides the review; it is not a control sign off.

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Write or debug a formula from a plain English description

1
In the Claude Excel add in, describe the calculation you want, or paste the formula you inherited.
2
Ask Claude to write the formula, or to explain the pasted one in plain English.
3
Test the formula on values where you already know the answer before the formula feeds a reported number.

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Contracts, leases and audit

Contracts, leases, covenants and audit reading4 tasks

Summarise client contract terms

1
Put the client contracts in the designated folder. This summary pulls out the terms that carry operational risk and the ones that drive the maximisation of commercial value. The billing terms sit in the task 8 summary, and an organisation may prefer to combine the two into one client contract view.
2
Ask Cowork to read each contract and summarise those terms, with the clause each came from, such as:
- penalty clauses, and any obligation where a missed step makes an invoice unpayable or a pass through cost unrecoverable
- out of scope services, and the sign off needed to invoice them
- any trigger needed to authorise a scoped service, for example a volume threshold crossed or an optional service requested
- non compete or exclusivity terms, and any client audit rights with non standard access
- renewal and break dates, the notice periods, and the last date on which notice can be served, calculated in code from those terms
3
Ask Cowork to report where a contract is silent on one of these, rather than leave a blank.
4
Cowork speeds up the reading and the drafting, but every entry needs a person to validate it against the contract. Start with the largest or highest risk contracts and work through the rest.

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Lease abstraction for accounting and forecasting

1
Put the lease documents in the designated folder, with a sheet listing the terms the accounting needs.
2
Ask Cowork to read each lease and fill the sheet, each term with the clause it came from, such as the commencement and end dates, the payment amounts and their timing, whether in advance or arrears, the fixed and variable elements, any rent free period, the indexation, and the extension and termination options.
3
Ask Cowork to build the payment schedule from those terms in code, so it is reproducible and does not drift between runs. The IFRS 16 entries and a cash forecast both draw from this schedule.
4
Ask Cowork to report where a lease is silent on a term rather than infer it.
5
The accountant checks the extracted terms against the leases and concludes on the treatment. The lease term judgement, the option assessments and the discount rate stay with the accountant.

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Debt covenant tracker from facility agreements

1
Put the facility agreements, any waiver letters, your latest actuals, and your forecast in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to extract each covenant with its exact definition, such as how the agreement defines adjusted EBITDA and net debt, together with the threshold, the test dates, and any cure period or reporting deadline, each with the clause it came from. The definition carries the risk, so the extraction uses the agreement's wording, not a generic ratio.
3
Ask Cowork to calculate each covenant and its headroom in code from your actuals, applying those definitions, so the ratio and the distance to breach are exact.
4
Ask Cowork to run the same calculation on your forecast for the coming test dates, so eroding headroom shows before the test rather than at it.
5
Ask Cowork to report where a definition is unclear, and to leave the treatment of any add back to a person, since a lender will challenge an aggressive one.
6
Check the calculations against the agreement, and keep the tracker as the record behind the compliance certificate.

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Summarise a long report or contract for a specific question

1
Put the document in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork the specific question you need answered, for example the termination terms, the change of control clause, or the total committed spend.
3
Ask Cowork to answer only from the document, to quote the passage each point rests on with its location, and to say plainly where the document does not address the question.
4
Read the quoted passages before you rely on the answer.

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General admin and personal productivity

Inbox, meetings and leadership updates5 tasks

Finance inbox triage and drafted replies

1
Connect Cowork to the finance inbox, whether that is a shared Outlook or Gmail mailbox. Claude for Outlook is the alternative, currently in beta; its mailbox wide features need a one off consent from a Microsoft administrator.
2
Ask Cowork to return each morning the threads that need a reply, a drafted response for each, and the day's meetings with their context. Every draft is unsent.
3
Save that morning review as a scheduled task. The schedule runs while the desktop app is open and the machine is awake.
4
For follow ups, ask Cowork to find who has not replied after a time you set, rank them by importance, and draft the chase.
5
After time away, ask Cowork to summarise what was missed, flag what is urgent, and suggest what is safe to archive.
6
You read every reply to an external party before sending. The model sends nothing.

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Meeting preparation and minutes into actions

1
Put the meeting transcript, the agenda, and the prior action log in the designated folder.
2
Ask Cowork to produce the recap, the actions with an owner against each, and a short briefing note for the next meeting.
3
The owners confirm their own actions; the recap is a draft of the record, not the record.

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Draft the weekly finance update for leadership

1
Put the sources for the update in the designated folder, such as the cash summary, the aged debtors report, the close checklist and the covenant tracker.
2
Ask Cowork to draft a one page update with the sections you use, for example cash, collections, close status and risks, citing the source row or cell behind every figure.
3
Ask Cowork to report that every figure traces to a named source, and to leave a section blank where the folder holds no source for it, rather than fill the gap.
4
The finance director checks the figures against source and writes the judgement and any requests in their own words.

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Turn a webinar or podcast into a team digest

1
Upload the transcript to Claude in the chat; most webinar and podcast platforms provide one.
2
Ask Claude for a one page digest, keeping the points and figures worth holding onto, each with its timestamp or source reference.
3
Spot check any quoted figure against the source before circulating the digest.

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Turn a month of email into a reconciled report

1
In Cowork, connect Gmail or Outlook, scoped to read, triage and draft. Nothing is sent.
2
Ask Cowork, as one task, to find the emails that match a subject or keyword within a date window you set, and to download every attachment into one named folder.
3
Ask Cowork to write the report from the figures in those emails and attachments, an executive summary, then the breakdown by entity, country or department, and to build a separate Excel that reconciles the report back to the source emails.
4
Ask Cowork to report that every email in the window appears once in the reconciliation and that the report totals cast to the figures extracted from the source emails.
5
Check that reconciliation rather than re keying, then save the task to rerun on a set frequency.

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