Finance, budgeting and compliance
Prepare questions to ask your auditor
Helps you get more from your audit by walking in prepared.
Lower risk: public info only — Describe situations in general terms; no confidential financial details.
Please note: This site is only a guide to help people understand. Consult your IT, security and/or privacy department for clarification.
Before you start, gather
Describe [CHANGES THIS YEAR] in general terms from your board minutes or last management letter. Examples are a new grant, staff turnover or a software change. Keep dollar amounts and private findings out of it.
Starter prompt
Prepare a list of questions for our board finance committee to ask our auditor at [ORGANIZATION NAME]. Topics: risks they saw, internal controls, restricted funds, new accounting rules, and how we compare with similar nonprofits. Do not cite particular accounting rule names or audit findings unless I give them; mark anything unsure CHECK instead of guessing. Also add questions specific to this situation: [CHANGES THIS YEAR].
Paste the prompt into your AI tool first, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't use real names of clients or donors.
Open an AI tool
You are leaving this guide. Copy the prompt first, then open a tool. The link goes to the website of the company named on each link, in a new tab. That company's terms and privacy policy apply there. Paste the prompt in, then replace the placeholders with your own details. Don't enter real names or confidential details.
- Open Claude (Anthropic) (opens Anthropic's website in a new tab)
Anthropic documents pre-filled links only for the Claude Desktop app, not for the website, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open ChatGPT (OpenAI) (opens OpenAI's website in a new tab)
OpenAI does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Gemini (Google) (opens Google's website in a new tab)
Google does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Grok (SpaceXAI) (opens SpaceXAI's website in a new tab)
SpaceXAI (the company behind Grok) does not document a link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Amazon Bedrock (hosts Llama; needs an AWS account) (opens Amazon Web Services' website in a new tab)
Llama has no chat website of its own, and Meta's own assistant (Meta AI) now runs on a different Meta model. One host is Amazon Bedrock: sign in to AWS, open a playground, and paste the prompt.
- Open Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft) (opens Microsoft's website in a new tab)
Microsoft documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in. The Copilot page shows a Sign in button, and you may need to sign in.
- Open Perplexity (Perplexity AI) (opens Perplexity AI's website in a new tab)
Perplexity documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Open Mistral Le Chat (Mistral AI) (opens Mistral AI's website in a new tab)
Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe, at the same web address. Mistral documents no link that pre-fills a prompt, so copy the prompt and paste it in.
- Givebutter (Givebutter): no website to open from here. Givebutter Magic works inside a Givebutter account; there is no public chat page.
- Grantable (Grantable): no website to open from here. Grantable's AI works inside a Grantable account; there is no public chat page.
Check the result
Add any questions based on what you know firsthand, and ask your auditor which topics matter most.
What it might get wrong
A named accounting standard or effective date that is wrong. An audit finding presented as if your auditor reported it. Comparisons with similar nonprofits that no data supports.