Let me tell you a secret your finance team doesn’t want you to know: ChatGPT might be better at reading your financials than they are.

Yep. I said it.

Let’s set the stage. Imagine having a hyper-intelligent, never-sleeps, doesn’t-bill-by-the-hour finance consultant who reads every line of your general ledger and actually gives you useful advice—fast. Not six weeks and a Zoom meeting later. I’m talking 30 seconds.

That’s what using AI on your P&L can feel like.

Here’s the Hack

Step 1: Go into your accounting software and pull a report from your general ledger system. Last 12 months. You want a detailed P&L, not the one-pager your accountant sends when they want to feel like they did something.

Step 2: Feed that baby into ChatGPT. Literally upload the PDF.

Step 3: Ask it:

“Where am I overspending?”

“What stands out to you in this financial data?”

“Where is my margin getting crushed?”

You’ll be shocked at what it finds. Did it say labor? Great. Upload your org chart and ask:

“Where could I optimize this?”

“Do I have too many middle managers for a 17-person company?”

Spoiler alert: probably.

Better Than a Consultant?

Well… maybe.

I just heard about a real-life finance consultant who told a dental office to take out a loan for equipment they didn’t need. Sounds fine—until you realize they didn’t calculate the debt service into the cash flow. Guess what? That dental office is no longer in business.

That bad advice cost them their company.

Now let’s be real—AI isn’t perfect. But here’s the question: Is your current setup perfect? Nope. At least AI is consistent, fast, and doesn’t take vacation.

Now for the Warning

Did you learn something? Cool. Did it seem easy? Even better.

Here’s the part that should freak you out: your employees can do this too. Right now. From their laptops. With your company’s data.

If they upload your financials into ChatGPT using the wrong version—or without guardrails—you just sent your secrets to the internet. That’s like standing on a street corner yelling your salary and account balances.

So, if you don’t already have an AI Acceptable Use Policy in place? You’re already behind. Your team is reading blogs like this one. They are using AI. The only question is: Are they doing it safely?

Need Help Writing That Policy?

I know a guy. Or hey—you could just ask ChatGPT to write your AI policy.

But here’s the real problem:

Where are you going to store it?

How will you prove your team actually read and accepted it?

If you want to get this right—and have the evidence to back it up—let’s talk.