For people who run the monthly numbers
The Setup is a folder your own Claude runs with you. In the first session it learns who you are and how you work. By the end of the week it drafts your monthly commentary from your own numbers and checks each figure against a cell.
Jamie WhitsonPwC-trained auditor, former Head of Finance
Claude can draft the commentary. You still have to check each figure before you sign it.
Hotel (name withheld), August.
Revenue was about £160,300, up 21% on July and 11% above budget, on 702 room-nights, up 38 on July. Profit was about £38,900, about £3,400 above budget.
OTA commission was about £25,100, 19.5% of room revenue against 14.3% in July. Reason not in the figures: the split by channel is not in this file.
10 of 10 tied. Draft saved.
Claude saves the draft with its tie-out, each figure beside its cell.
10 of 10 tied. Draft saved. Claude saves the draft with its tie-out, each figure beside its cell.
| Line | Aug 2026 | Jul 2026 | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room revenue | 128,460.00 | 104,920.00 | 115,000.00 |
| Food and beverage | 31,870.25 | 27,310.40 | 30,000.00 |
| Total revenue | 160,330.25 | 132,230.40 | 145,000.00 |
| OTA commission | 25,050.30 | 14,980.60 | 17,250.00 |
| Payroll | 41,200.00 | 40,850.00 | 42,000.00 |
| Utilities | 6,640.15 | 5,980.00 | 6,000.00 |
| Other costs | 48,524.40 | 40,009.05 | 44,250.00 |
| Profit | 38,915.40 | 30,410.75 | 35,500.00 |
| Room-nights sold | 702 | 664 |
A demo on the redacted sample from The Setup page. For the second check, this page changes one input cell, B3. In the kit’s rehearsal, when three cells in the source file were changed, 9 figures failed to tie, and Claude stopped and asked.
PwC-trained auditor, former Head of Finance
My own businesses run on this folder.
Claude follows an auditor’s rule: tie every figure to its source, and ask when one does not tie.
AI Elite Thinkers publishes practical AI guides for finance professionals and sells The Setup.
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Jamie Whitson, a PwC-trained auditor and former Head of Finance, writes and publishes AI Elite Thinkers. Set in Lora and Source Sans 3.
The figures in the check come from the redacted sample on The Setup page; Jamie changed the names, the entities, and every figure.
The Setup is $97, at /setup.
The Setup is made by AI Elite Thinkers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.