Skip to content
TriedPrompts

More in Bookkeeping, receipts & invoices.

Categorize a year's business bank transactions and draft accounts with Claude Cowork

WorkedEvidence: Described by posterPosted Last checked

Andrew Blumson taught Claude Cowork a bookkeeping system; the latest run filled over 100 rows and drafted year-end accounts.

How to use this

  1. Tap Copy prompt.
  2. Open the tool the case used (or a similar one) and paste the prompt; results may differ from the original.
  3. Paste it into the message box.
  4. Send it, then read the answer before acting on it.
New to this? What's a prompt?

A prompt is the message you send to the AI tool. Copy the one on this page, put your own details where it asks, and read the answer before you act on it.

Prompt

Recreated prompt

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote one from what it describes. The result shown is the source's, not ours.

What the prompt labels mean

The person didn't share their exact words, so we wrote this from what they described. We haven't tested it, and they didn't use this exact version.

Here is my business bank statement spreadsheet. Learn my categories and voucher numbering from the rows already filled in, then fill in the blank rows. Only fill what you're sure of, ask me about anything new or ambiguous, and back up the file before you change anything.

Try this in:

ChatGPT Gemini Grok Claude

Sends the Recreated prompt shown above. ChatGPT and Grok open with it filled in, and ChatGPT may send it straight away. Gemini and Claude open empty, so we copy the prompt for you to paste. Every button also copies it.

The source used Claude Cowork, which can take actions in a browser or app. These are general chat tools, so results may differ, and a normal chat may only give you a plan.

Opens in a new tab. We don't see what you send.

These links are only a shortcut. We're not affiliated with OpenAI, Google, Anthropic or xAI, and your results may not match the source.

Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Categorize my business bank transactions using my existing system, match payments to invoices and prepare a clean draft for my accountant.

Questions to ask me first:
- Which file and date range should I work on?
- Which transaction types never get a voucher number?
- Do you have last year's accounts from your accountant to copy the format from?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Bank statement spreadsheet: [FILE]
- Sales invoices: [FOLDER]
- Last year's accounts from the accountant: [FILE]
- Rules file from earlier runs, if any: [FILE]

Rules:
- Back up the file before every run and only fill blank rows.
- Fill only rows with a clear match to past rows; list everything else as a question for me.
- Save each answer I give as a rule for next time.
- Leave anything that needs professional judgment, such as depreciation, tax and opening balances, blank and flagged for the accountant.

Checkpoint: Show me the questions and a sample of filled rows before writing the full year.

If you get stuck: If a payment could match more than one invoice, list the options instead of choosing.

Verify before you finish: Compare the row count and voucher numbers against the backup and report any gaps, duplicates or changed rows.

Output: The filled spreadsheet, a list of questions, a list of unpaid invoices and a draft of the year-end accounts with flagged items.

Done when: Every row is categorized or questioned, the self-check passes and the accountant has a clean draft to review.

AI tool

Claude Cowork

Outcome

Andrew Blumson handed the yearly bookkeeping job to Claude in Cowork: tagging hundreds of business bank transactions with categories, giving each business purchase a voucher number and matching client payments to sales invoices. Claude first read the spreadsheet to learn the categories, the voucher numbering and which transactions never get a number. It filled in only what had a clear history and asked about anything new or ambiguous, such as Amazon purchases. Every run took a backup, filled only blank rows and audited itself against the backup for row counts and numbering gaps or duplicates, which turned up a small inconsistency from over a year earlier. The rules live in a file that grows with each answer, and the latest run filled over 100 rows while stopping for only a handful of decisions. It also matched payments to invoices and listed what was still outstanding. Given an old set of year-end accounts from the accountant, it built this year's draft in the same format and flagged depreciation, tax and opening balances for the accountant, who still checks everything.

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Source

Posted
by Andrew Blumson (LinkedIn)
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewblumson_ai-claude-bookkeeping-activity-7519737420251201536-IoMy

Context: Blumson says Claude wrote the post itself, and the date is estimated from the LinkedIn post ID. The exact prompt isn't quoted, so the prompt is recreated. The accountant still reviews everything.

More in Bookkeeping, receipts & invoices

Similar cases