Reliable financial summary

How can you obtain a readable financial summary without distorting the figures or concealing the report’s caveats?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

This half-day session of 3 hours offers a guided introduction to generative AI for reading financial information. Using a fictitious report, participants identify essential information, request a short summary and check every statement. They leave with a summary note and a documented verification checklist.

Why this training?

A financial report combines tables, management commentary and explanatory notes. A summary produced too quickly may confuse profit and cash, overlook a change in the scope of consolidation or present a hypothesis as an established explanation. AI can help rephrase and prioritise this information, but convincing writing does not prove its accuracy. The training teaches participants to return to the source pages and retain caveats that are useful to the reader. Running case study: The fictitious organisation « Dorselle Composants » is preparing a management meeting. Its annual report shows rising revenue, falling operating profit and a cash position under pressure. Participants must make these developments understandable in one page, without inventing their causes or recommending an investment decision. Transfer to work: For a future report you are authorised to use, reuse the prompt and checklist, record the corrections required and have the note validated by a qualified finance professional before distribution. Never automate a sensitive decision based on this summary.

Objectives of this training

  • Identify the main indicators and their reference periods.
  • Distinguish numerical facts, management commentary and interpretations.
  • Formulate a summary request specifying length, intended audience and expected references.
  • Check figures, units and statements against the source document.
  • Write a short note highlighting the limitations of the available information.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Management assistants and administrative staff preparing financial notes.
  • Non-financial managers wishing to better understand the accounts presented to their team.
  • Finance staff discovering AI-assisted writing.

Prior skills

  • No prior AI knowledge required.
  • Ability to read a simple table; the financial concepts used are explained during the session.

What you will work on

  1. Read before asking AI

    Objective: Identify the information essential to the note. Role of the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement; comparable periods, units and scopes of consolidation.

  2. Request an initial summary

    Objective: Understand how to frame a financial response. How generative AI works, risk of fabrication, confidentiality; a prompt specifying the intended audience, length, sources and a prohibition on adding causes.

  3. Check the text against the accounts

    Objective: Detect distortions and omissions. Checking amounts, signs, changes, references and caveats; distinguishing increased activity from financial improvement.

  4. Finalise a useful page

    Objective: Present a balanced summary to a non-financial reader. Organisation into highlights, developments and points to watch; explanation of terms and human validation.

What you take away

  • Table of indicators with source pages.
  • Reusable financial summary prompt.
  • One-page summary note with caveats.
  • Completed checklist and correction log.

Method and assessment

  • Short teaching inputs followed by immediate practice on the running case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with peer review of the outputs.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Arrange access to a generative AI tool authorised by the organisation, in line with the agreed arrangements. Provide the paginated fictitious report and its text version; any other document must be anonymised and authorised for sharing.

Observable criteria: Every figure included matches the source, with the correct unit and period. ; Changes in revenue, profit and cash position are distinguished. ; Every important statement includes a verified reference. ; No causal relationship absent from the report is presented as fact. ; The note fits on one page and flags missing information; corrections are counted by type..

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to be proficient in accounting?

No. The essential distinctions between activity, profit and cash position are explained through the case study.

Can you use an internal report?

Only if it is anonymised and its use in the tool is authorised by the organisation.

Does AI check all the calculations itself?

Its response is not enough: the relevant calculations are checked separately using the source data.

Can the note be distributed immediately?

It must first be validated by a qualified finance professional, particularly with regard to its interpretations and caveats.

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