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

Malaysia's finance teams should treat 2025 as the year to move from curiosity to controlled adoption: national momentum (MYR 600M for AI R&D and a new National AI Office) and real-world wins in banking - like the National Fraud Portal cutting stolen-fund tracing from two hours to 30 minutes (a 75% drop) - mean AI prompts can shift finance work from manual firefighting to insight-driven decisions; see Malaysia's AI trends and governance for details.

Equally, global finance leaders are planning a rapid roll‑out of agentic AI, according to the Wolters Kluwer survey, which underscores a near-term push for accuracy and time savings.

Practical prompt-writing and on-the-job AI skills make that transition safe and repeatable - consider applied training such as the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp to build prompt fluency and data readiness across FP&A, forecasting and compliance.

“At Wolters Kluwer, we are committed to continuous innovation for the office of the CFO. Last year, we launched the market's first AI-powered corporate performance management platform - the CCH Tagetik Intelligent Platform with Ask AI. We have evolved Ask AI to an embedded super agent; it now mobilizes cutting-edge agentic technology across multiple use cases, including responding to voice commands in multiple languages, drilling into data without the need for IT skills, and testing assumptions and running analysis. Agentic AI represents an evolutionary leap in how finance leaders operate.” - Karen Abramson, Wolters Kluwer

Selection and testing focused on three practical filters for Malaysian finance teams: security and data governance, domain fit for finance/audit/reporting, and measurable business impact.

Tools had to match Workiva's secure, finance‑specialized design - so prompts could safely operate against trusted data without persistent leakage (Workiva AI secure finance platform) - and also demonstrate real-world ROI through broad case evidence like Microsoft's catalogue of 1,000+ AI success stories and CEO-reported benefits (Microsoft AI customer transformation case studies).

Methodology combined curated prompt templates (starting from vendor libraries), human-in-the-loop review for compliance and MFRS/BNM/LHDN alignment, and scenario-driven validation for Malaysia-specific workflows such as FX stress testing and cross‑border supplier onboarding (see practical tooling and tutorials for AP automation and AI literacy).

Prompts were iteratively tuned for clarity, auditability and repeatability - think tuning a radio until the CFO-grade summary comes in clear - and benchmarked against time‑savings and compliance outcomes rather than novelty alone, so teams can adopt confident, repeatable prompt practices that map directly to FP&A, forecasting and regulatory needs.

“I've saved 40% of my time [with Workiva AI]. That's time I've used to take on strategic work - and it's expanded my role.” - Deepa Rao, Sustainability Governance and Climate Action Leader, Cognizant

Monthly close work for Malaysian finance teams should start with a ready-to-run playbook: a standard month-end close checklist that centralises data collection, reconciliations and sign-offs so the close becomes repeatable rather than the usual last-minute paper chase (see the Spendesk practical month-end close checklist for step-by-step tasks).

Pair that checklist with a one‑page, CFO‑grade executive summary template - concise metrics, top variances and a short narrative - that turns raw numbers into a board‑ready snapshot (Devine Consulting guidance on effective monthly finance reports is a good model).

Automate the repetitive pieces where possible - bank reconciliations, AP/AR matching and report assembly - because automation has driven some teams to cut close cycles dramatically, even from three weeks to as few as five days; the result is more time for forecasting and value‑add analysis, not just firefighting.

Imagine handing leadership a single, visual snapshot each month that tells the “so what” in one glance - repeatable, auditable and ready to spot what needs decisions now.

Cashflow Forecast + FX Stress Test: Malaysian finance teams should pair a short‑term rolling forecast with a clear FX playbook - a 12‑week horizon gives the rapid visibility to spot upcoming gaps while still being actionable (the 12‑week model balances day‑to‑day control with forward planning), and a 13‑week/weekly TWCF is the go‑to when stress or restructuring scenarios are on the table; see practical guides on the 12‑week approach for step‑by‑step setup.

For FX, follow PwC's presentation rules: prepare cash flows in each operation's functional currency, translate using average rates only when flows and rates are stable, and use the transaction‑date rate for large or infrequent items; report the effect of exchange‑rate changes as a separate line (PwC's example even shows an FX effect of 35,800 on consolidated cash).

Malaysian evidence also supports using recent cash flows to seed forecasts - the past one‑year cash flow is a strong predictor of future liquidity - so combine a rolling 12/13‑week model, scenario and sensitivity runs for FX swings, and tight AP controls for cross‑border timing to keep decisions proactive rather than reactive.

A credit/counterparty underwriting memo for Malaysian finance teams should be a short, standardised document that an AI prompt can populate in seconds - summary of the borrower, program eligibility, key financial red flags and recommended exposure limits - so underwriters spend time on judgement, not formatting.

Anchoring memos to local rules matters: include whether the SME meets Bank Negara Malaysia's SME fund criteria (notably local ownership thresholds and SME definition) and specific facility fit (HTG, LCTF, BRF, etc.), which speeds approvals and avoids later compliance rework; see Bank Negara Malaysia's SME funds and a practical summary of the scheme options.

Use prompts that fetch supplier onboarding checks and cross‑border payment risk from AP automation tools like Tipalti to surface FX, payment lag and KYC gaps, then translate those into covenants and monitoring triggers in the memo.

The result should be a one‑page, audit‑friendly memo that flags material issues - think of a red banner for breaches and a green tick for BNM‑eligible borrowers - so credit committees decide with confidence and speed.

Regulatory and tax reporting drafts must be both standards‑accurate and audit‑ready, so AI prompts should be designed to cross‑check disclosure language against the MASB's official MFRS catalogue and to validate financial‑instrument treatment against IFRS 9's classification, measurement and impairment rules - automating those checks turns a manual checklist into a repeatable control (see the MASB MFRS official list and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments guidance).

Critical examples to codify in prompts include MFRS 112's international tax/Pillar Two references (which affect deferred tax presentation), the Supplier Finance Arrangements amendments to MFRS 107/MFRS 7 that change cash‑flow and disclosure framing from 2024, and Lack of Exchangeability rules for MFRS 121 that kicked in for 2025; a well‑tuned prompt can flag a missing tax line or FX disclosure gap as quickly as spotting a single loose ringgit in a packed ledger, so regulators, auditors and boards see consistent, standards‑aligned drafts every time.

Investor- and board-ready slides for Malaysian finance teams must do one thing first: make the story of the numbers instantly clear - investors often skim decks (Antler even suggests they may spend “three minutes - the time you'll wait for a cup of noodles”), so pick a single headline chart that answers the “so what?” in a glance and use supporting visuals for context.

Focus slides on the metrics investors actually care about - revenue trajectory (MRR/ARR), CAC vs LTV, churn/retention, cash runway and unit economics - and turn each into the clearest visual possible: line charts for trend credibility, stacked bars for revenue mix, stacked‑area to show how segments compound growth, and a simple competitor matrix or timeline for strategy and milestones (see practical chart guidance from ProjectionHub).

Keep financial assumptions explicit and the 3–5 year projection tight and readable, following Whitepage's tips for a pitch‑perfect financials slide: one neat table of core figures plus 2–3 visuals, not a spreadsheet dump.

For Malaysian boards, add an FX or cash‑runway callout if cross‑border receipts matter and surface the key assumption that would change the decision - that single cell should feel like the ringing bell on a dashboard when it moves.

“...a fatal move is to over-promise. Some entrepreneurs think they can pull the wool over investors' eyes and make their projections too good to be true. Do not do this.” - Alejandro Cremades

Move from pilot to practice with a short, Malaysia‑specific adoption checklist: (1) map high‑impact use cases first - fraud detection and payment tracing are already delivering results (the National Fraud Portal cut stolen‑fund tracing from two hours to 30 minutes) - then pilot secure prompts against those datasets; (2) embed governance: align prompt controls and documentation with Malaysia's AI Guidelines and the NAIO rollout to keep transparency, accountability and PDPA considerations front and centre (Malaysia AI trends and governance - Chambers Practice Guides); (3) use Budget 2025 incentives to fund R&D, training and secure pilots so projects scale without breaking the bank (Budget 2025 incentives for AI adoption - MyDIGITAL); and (4) upskill the team with practical prompt and data‑literacy training - for example, an applied course like the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus - Nucamp to make prompt practice repeatable, auditable and CFO‑ready.

Taken together, these steps turn promise into measurable impact - not tomorrow, but this financial year - and keep audit trails and human oversight where regulators and boards expect them.

“Budget 2025 fosters a conducive environment for accelerating AI adoption. With the support of incentives and R&D initiatives, companies can enhance their competitive edge, scale operations, and drive Malaysia's digital transformation.” - Adrian Marcellus, MyDIGITAL Corporation