If you’re an accountant who is looking to use my bot for the first time, say in advance of meeting up with your client who’s struggling financially, here is some guidance…
First off, as the quality of the output you receive from the bot depends on one thing, and one thing only – that’s the quality of your input – spend some time on the initial prompt. Think about putting it into a Word document first, then copying it over into the bot. Set it out in a structured way (see the suggestion below) and make use of as much of the bandwith you can to explain your client’s circumstances and what you want the bot’s output to look like. By the way, you have up to 4,000 characters for each and every prompt, far more than you will ever need.
Here’s an example of a typical prompt in advance of your meeting with your client…
Setting the scene
I’m an accountant, who has a client in financial difficulties, with significant pressure coming from HMRC, who are threatening to seize assets.
What am I looking for, in overview?
Initially I want some advice on what my client’s options are as I am meeting with the directors tomorrow morning.
Supplying the detail…
My client is a small engineering company, based in the Midlands, that processes steel. Established for 20 years, it has recently suffered a large bad debt. That company was also its biggest customer, providing 35% of its turnover. Turnover for the last full financial year was £0.5m, which saw the company make a profit before tax of £31,000. My client operates from leasehold premises; has plant and machinery which is probably worth £50,000, vehicles worth £15,000; stock of steel costing £40,000, book debts of £32,000, and has no cash at bank, although it has a facility it can draw on a potential overdraft facility of £15,000 (which would be personally guaranteed by the directors); it has 7 staff, including the 2 directors (husband and wife team, in their mid-50s); trade creditors of £90,000, including steel suppliers of £55,000; it owes HMRC £65,000 for PAYE, NIC and VAT, most of which is overdue. Cash flow forecasts show the company can expect to continue to struggle meeting its ongoing HMRC debts on time for the foreseeable future, I cannot see any possibility of it meeting its HMRC arrears. There are no debentures in place, no HP. The directors are in reasonable health, but stressed and tired, but have no wish to retire or exit the business until normal retirement age. They are not wealthy people and have only limited free funds to put into the business. They could, however, remortgage their house. Having lost their biggest customer, at the current level of staffing / operations, at best the directors expect to break even, and not generate any cash, in the short-term.
How do I want your support presented?
I would like you to set out the options that are available to the directors, explaining the pros and cons of each, and summarising the processes involved. Set this out in the form of an aide memoire for me to take into the meeting, using bullet points, and using British English, using words that the directors, who are not experienced in insolvency, will understand.
Oh, and if you want the very best output you can get, add this on at the end ‘Please ask me whatever questions you need answers to in order to give me the very best possible support. Ask those questions now‘.
Here’s a video with a few more suggestions…
Please note that this video has not been speeded up, this is how quickly VAi provides answers!
It’s worthrwhile noting that the bot can repurpose the output that it has produced in a number of ways, saving you time and effort, in this case preparing an agenda, an aide memoire for you, a file note of the meeting, and email to the client, all within seconds – just copy and paste what the bot has given you into your other systems to use them. Also, you can delve even deeper into any of the topics covered by VAi. In this case where a client’s options are being considered, you might ask it to ‘give me more detail about the processes involved in a creditors voluntary liquidation, paying close attention to the cessation and recommencement of trade, the ability of the client to buy back the business and assets and set up a new company with a similar name‘. Again, as you have 4,000 character limit per prompt, asking the bot to ask you questions will, even splitting the request for more information into separate topics, will massively increase the quality of the support you are given. Play with the bot, you cannot break it! See how deep you can go into a topic!
Note that you can also ask the bot to change the format / style of any or all of the output you’re given. Don’t like how it’s written something or prefer to have it in another format? Simply tell it to rewrite the output, explaining exactly how you want it. For example, ask it to ‘make it more friendly… or more professional’, ‘put it in markdown… or numbered points… in letter form … in fact any form you want’, tell it to ‘shorten it … or lengthen it‘, or lengthen a particular part of the output etc. If you want the output limited to say 500, or 1,000 words, simply tell it! The options are limitless!
Let me know how you get on!