Work Smarter, Not Harder: Top 5 AI Prompts Every Finance Professional in Lincoln Should Use in 2025

Lincoln finance professionals should treat AI prompts as practical shortcuts that turn repetitive work into strategic insight: 2025 guidance shows AI is already reshaping corporate finance - automating reconciliations, speeding scenario planning, and surfacing risk signals in near real time (Workday guide to AI in corporate finance - 2025 insights) while firms balance innovation with governance (RGP 2025 review of AI in financial services).

Start small with pilots - OCR + human-review for invoices or short AI-assisted forecasting trials - to prove value locally before scaling; practical pilot examples for Lincoln teams are outlined in a local playbook (Lincoln finance AI pilot projects playbook).

The payoff: reclaim time for analysis and strategic partnering with business units while retaining human oversight.

“AI and ML free accounting teams from manual tasks and support finance's effort to become value creators.” - Matt McManus, Head of Finance, Kainos Group

Selection prioritized prompts that map to specific finance roles and real pain points (treasury, FP&A, CFO, controller, accountant) so outputs are immediately actionable for Lincoln teams; sources like Nilus' role-by-role list guided this alignment and the recommended attachments (for example, AR/AP aging for a Cash Flow Optimizer) Nilus 25 AI prompts for finance leaders.

Prompts were scored for pilot readiness and measurable benefit - Founderpath's research shows conservative, role-focused prompts can save teams meaningful time (20+ hours/week in portfolio cases), so priority went to prompts that support short, data-backed pilots rather than lofty “roofshot” projects Founderpath analysis of time-saving AI prompts for finance teams.

Finally, selection required attention to integration and governance (data attachments, auditability, IT buy-in) and local feasibility for Lincoln pilots - recommendations and small-win pilots are drawn from the Lincoln playbook to ensure teams can test and prove value before scaling Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus; the result is five prompts that are role-fit, data-ready, measurable, and pilot-friendly - so Lincoln finance pros can move from curiosity to cashable wins quickly.

“Top performing companies will move from chasing AI use cases to using AI to fulfill business strategy.” - Dan Priest, PwC US Chief AI Officer

One-line benefit: turn AR/AP aging and bank balances into a prioritized, validated action plan that frees a treasurer from spreadsheet wrestling and surfaces the top 10 customers likeliest to pay so working capital can be unlocked faster.

Attachments: include AR/AP aging reports and current cash balances (Nilus recommends these to improve accuracy) - link them to a short AI prompt that applies conditional rules and flags vendors safe to pay; see the conditional rules example below and pair the output with a short-term direct-method check for daily cash positioning to validate liquidity assumptions (Nilus Cash Flow Optimizer AI prompt for treasurers) and refer to cash-forecast method guidance for rolling or direct forecasts when extending horizons (DebtBook cash flow forecasting methods guide).

Example output: an analytical snapshot (table) of collection priority, 3 quick working-capital levers (discounts, lockbox timing, supplier term shifts), and an annotated cash runway for the next 30 days tailored for Lincoln municipal or mid-market operations - so treasurers can act within one meeting rather than a week of cleanup.

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One-line benefit: a Scenario Planning Assistant turns driver-based inputs into three decision-ready forecasts (base, upside, downside) for the next two quarters so Lincoln FP&A teams can quantify revenue, cash and staffing impacts fast and get leadership to a single, evidence-backed decision.

Attachments: include an assumptions file with historical trends and cost drivers plus a forecasted P&L (Nilus recommends these to make scenario outputs actionable) and a short list of key drivers to stress-test (Firmbase's structured approach - identify drivers, define scenario landscape, build models - is a helpful checklist).

Example output: a compact scenario summary with topline projections, cash runway per scenario, 3 trigger thresholds (when to hire, pause spend, or seek bridge liquidity) and recommended contingency actions - formatted for a one-slide board brief so Lincoln mid-market companies or municipal finance teams move from analysis to action in a single meeting Nilus Scenario Planning Assistant for finance leaders Firmbase Structured Scenario Planning Guide.

One-line benefit: draft a board-ready, narrative-driven financial slide in minutes that summarizes revenue trends, cash runway, burn rate and key risks so Lincoln CFOs can replace late-night slide assembly with a clear decision brief for the board.

Attachments: include recent KPI dashboards and prior board slides for context (Nilus recommends these to improve accuracy) - attach P&L/forecast exports or a 13-week cash snapshot when available; following Cube's prep cadence (share agenda 3–4 weeks out, circulate appendix ahead) keeps the board focused on decisions, not data.

Example output: a one-slide executive summary plus a templated deep-dive slide (revenue variance chart, 30-day runway, three recommended actions and one “ask” for the board) that turns raw numbers into a board conversation; practical tests show similar prompts cut prep time by hours (Founderpath examples save ~4–6 hours/month) and, in live trials, AI built full dashboard assets in roughly 30 minutes using a short prompt (CFO Office Manus case).

Use the Nilus prompt to get structure and Cube's template to standardize delivery for Lincoln's mid-market and municipal boards Nilus board deck generator for finance leaders Cube quarterly board deck finance template CFO Office example: AI-built board slides for CFOs.

One-line benefit: a structured, AI-assisted month-end close checklist turns scattered tasks into an auditable playbook that reduces errors and shortens close time so Lincoln controllers can move from reconciliation firefights to timely analysis.

Attachments: upload a GL export, AR/AP aging, bank and credit-card statements, payroll register, fixed-asset schedule and inventory counts so the prompt can validate transactions and flag missing support (best-practice lists and task-detail templates are outlined in Prophix's 10-step checklist and Rippling's checklist) Prophix month-end close 10-step checklist Rippling month-end close checklist.

Example output: a prioritized task list with owners, due dates and dependencies; a reconciliation summary (accounts cleared vs. exceptions), required journal entries with rationale, variance notes for material movements, and an audit-ready folder linking workpapers to final P&L/BS/CF - all packaged with a time-to-close metric and suggested automations (Numeric's guidance shows how checklist structure, dependencies and visibility cut review cycles) Numeric month-end close checklist best practices.

A practical local target: aim to move routine closes to under five business days and produce executive reports in minutes rather than hours (Prophix case studies show 30% faster reporting and reports in 10 minutes).

One-line benefit: equip Lincoln finance leaders with a repeatable “strategic mindset” playbook that turns routine reporting into forward-looking decisions - freeing at least one-third of team time for value-added work and turning staff into “mini‑CFOs” who partner on pricing, investment and workforce tradeoffs (FM Magazine article on empowering the finance team: Mindset, accountability, and change FM Magazine - Mindset, Accountability, Change: How to Empower the Finance Team; Trullion guide to building a high-performing finance team Trullion - Building a High-Performing Finance Team).

Attach a short time‑use audit, KPI dashboard, training plan and a one‑page vision statement; prompt the AI to produce a prioritized 6‑month roadmap with owners, SMART KPIs, a 30% manual‑work reduction target and three quick experiments (pilot automation, cross‑training, and a month‑end simplification) so Lincoln CFOs can show measurable progress to city or mid‑market boards within one quarter - this makes “so what?” concrete: faster decisions, clearer accountability, and visible time reclaimed for strategy.

“We track the KPIs, the topline growth, profitability, expenditures, cash flow, the control mechanism,”

Next steps for Lincoln, NE finance teams: run tightly scoped pilots of the top prompts (OCR + human review for AP, Cash Flow Optimizer, month‑end checklist and a one‑slide Board Deck Generator), pair each pilot with clear success metrics (time-to-close, cash runway accuracy, or hours reclaimed) and governance playbooks that follow the banking best practice to “automate the process, not the principle” so human judgment remains central (ABA Banking Journal article on AI for smarter, stronger compliance).

Treat Lincoln Financial's real-world use of human-in-the-loop AI as proof that explainable models can improve outcomes and operational speed while preserving reviewable decisions (Lincoln Financial human-in-the-loop AI press release).

For teams wanting a structured ramp, enroll finance staff in a practical upskilling path - Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp registration teaches prompt design, deployment and pilot-ready projects so local finance teams can prove value and present one‑quarter wins to city leaders or boards.

“We are focused on investing in innovations and the latest capabilities to drive the best claim outcomes for our customers.” - Christen White, SVP, Lincoln Financial Group Protection Claims and Operations