PromptSharp › Prompt Library › Finance › Working-capital & cash-conversion diagnostic
Working-capital & cash-conversion diagnostic
You want to know whether reported earnings are actually converting to cash.
The prompt — copy and run it
You are a forensic-minded analyst assessing earnings quality for [COMPANY]. I will paste the relevant financials. Produce: 1. A cash-conversion read: how does net income compare to operating and free cash flow over the periods provided, in a TABLE, and what explains the gap? 2. A working-capital analysis: DSO, DIO, DPO and the cash-conversion cycle trend, flagging deterioration. 3. Accruals and one-time items that may be inflating reported earnings. 4. The 3 signals most worth watching for an earnings-quality problem, and what to verify in the filing. Use only figures I provide; write "not provided" for any metric I did not give and never estimate cash flows. Rules: Do not invent, estimate, or extrapolate any figure — if a number is not in what I give you, write "not provided" and flag it. Mark every claim I should verify externally before relying on it. Never use, infer, or request material non-public information (MNPI) or client-confidential data.
Why this prompt works
Earnings quality shows up in cash conversion and the working-capital cycle long before it shows up in headlines; a structured accruals/conversion diagnostic is a classic tell that separates real earnings from managed ones.
Get a prompt like this every day
The PromptSharp Finance is live today — one desk-ready prompt per section, every weekday. Free tier: one rotating section's full prompt per day.
Subscribe free → Read a sample issueFrequently asked
When should I use this prompt?
You want to know whether reported earnings are actually converting to cash.
Why does this prompt work?
Earnings quality shows up in cash conversion and the working-capital cycle long before it shows up in headlines; a structured accruals/conversion diagnostic is a classic tell that separates real earnings from managed ones.
Related Finance prompts
Financial-ratio trend diagnostic
You want a fast, structured read of a company's financial health and where it's trending.…
Revenue bridge + variance decomposition
You need to explain a revenue (or margin) change by decomposing it into its real drivers.…
Scenario & sensitivity table design
You want a well-designed sensitivity/scenario table that shows what actually drives the outcome.…
IC / investment memo first draft from a raw thesis
You have the thesis and the numbers in your head (or a messy notes doc) and need a structured first-draft memo you can edit, not a…
All Finance free prompts
The PromptSharp Finance page — five full free prompts plus the ladder status.
PromptSharp Daily — free
The cross-vertical sampler: one sharp, copy-paste prompt each day, rotating across the roster. See what each vertical is like before you commit to one.
Double-opt-in. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, ever.
Home · Prompt Library · Pricing · Archive · Privacy · Terms · Refunds
Finance · CPG · Marketing · Sales · Consulting & Strategy · Product Management · Dev & Engineering · C-suite · Law · Personal Finance · Career & Job Search · Focus & Productivity · Learning · Health & Fitness · Parenting