Let’s start with an obvious disclaimer. What follows is not a substitute for proper accounting or audited financial statements. A profit and loss (P&L) statement has compliance and tax implications that should always be prepared and reviewed by an accountant. That said, there are times when businesses need directional clarity rather than perfection. This is where a “rough” P&L created with ChatGPT can provide lift, whether you are a small business trying to get a handle on cash flow or a larger company looking to break out financials by product line or business unit.
Why It Matters
Traditionally, creating separate P&Ls for every business unit requires a lot of manual effort and financial tooling. With AI, you can do this faster. Suddenly, each product line, region, or business unit can have its own P&L view without weeks of accounting work. Even though it is rough, this can provide valuable insight into performance trends, cost drivers, and profitability.
Step 1: Gather Your Data
To get started, collect all relevant financial data that captures both revenue and expenses. For most businesses, this means pulling:
Revenue transactions (Stripe exports, invoice data from your billing system)
Bank statements (checking accounts that reflect deposits and operating expenses)
Credit card statements (to capture recurring payments, subscriptions, and ad spend)
The goal is to bring these sources together into a single dataset. A CSV format works best, with fields like date, description, amount, and the source, but you could keep the sources separate and feed in individually.
Step 2: Feed It Into ChatGPT
Once you have your raw data, upload it into ChatGPT with a clear prompt. Something like:
“Please categorize these transactions into Revenue, Cost of Goods Sold, Marketing, Payroll, Operations, and Other. Then create a rough profit and loss statement for the period.”
{INSERT DATA VIA CSV OR COPY & PASTE IT IN}
ChatGPT can take unstructured descriptions (merchant names, invoices, subscriptions) and classify them into categories you define. You can refine categories to match how you think about your business—such as breaking out Marketing into Ads, Events, and Tools, or splitting Operations into Rent, Contractors, and Software.
Step 3: Adjust and Iterate
The first pass will not be perfect. That’s expected. In fact, I like to feed in smaller batches, typically monthly, so that I can better audit and correct mistakes. Review the output and re-prompt ChatGPT with adjustments like:
“Reclassify Facebook Ads under Marketing instead of Other.”
“Group all AWS charges under Cost of Goods Sold.”
“Move payroll transactions to their own category.”
The great thing about ChatGPT is that it will do a good job of remembering these preference for future iterations. With just a few iterations, you will get a rough P&L that reflects how you actually run your business.
Use It for Insight, Not Compliance
A rough P&L can help you answer questions quickly:
Is a product line actually profitable once expenses are allocated?
How much are we really spending on software tools every month?
What percentage of revenue is going toward marketing versus payroll?
Use these insights to guide decisions, but do not confuse them with audited numbers. When it comes to taxes or raising capital, you still need a proper accounting team.
A Note on AI Math
ChatGPT is powered by large language models, which means it works by predicting the next words and letters based on patterns in text. It is not a calculator or accounting engine on its own. That said, ChatGPT does have access to math tools such as Python and spreadsheet functions that it can leverage to perform accurate calculations when prompted. The key is to make sure those tools are being used and to always audit the output. While ChatGPT can sort, categorize, and summarize financial data with surprising accuracy, you should review its calculations carefully, since mistakes or misapplied categories can still occur.
The Bottom Line
AI can take raw financial data that is messy and unstructured and give it shape. With just a few CSV files and clear prompts, you can spin up directional P&Ls that provide clarity across business units. It is not about replacing accountants—it is about giving business leaders faster visibility into performance so they can make better decisions in real time.
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