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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.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the full prompt above with the Copy button.
- Fill in your inputs. Replace each bracketed placeholder with your specifics:
[COMPANY] - Paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and run. Read the reality guardrail below before you act on the output.
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.
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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.
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