How finance teams use Codex

With Codex, finance teams can just build things. Start with the close workbooks, revenue and expense dashboards, forecast updates, prior MBRs, and owner notes you already use. Codex helps turn that context into tangible outputs your team can review, refine, and share—no coding required. Spend less time assembling the first pass and more time shaping the story, validating the numbers, and preparing for the decisions ahead.

Top Codex use cases for finance teams

Ready to try Codex with real finance work? Start with a starter prompt, then explore a fully built example that shows how the same workflow becomes more powerful with real files, systems, constraints, and review expectations. Each use case also includes suggested skills and plugins to help Codex work across your tech stack, so your team can get to a reviewable first pass faster and spend more time on the judgment, analysis, and decisions that matter.

1. Monthly business review narrative

Use this when: You need a CFO-ready story that explains performance, key variances, risks, and follow-ups after close.

Suggested plugins: Google Drive, SharePoint, Box, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Documents, Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook Email.

1. Codex reviews close workbooks, dashboards, forecast updates, prior MBRs, and owner notes.

2. It identifies key variances, changes since forecast, risks, and CFO prep questions.

3. It creates a review-ready narrative document with source-backed numbers and owner follow-ups.

Prepare Acme’s April management business review story for the Enterprise Sales team. Use “April Close Workbook.xlsx,” “April Revenue Dashboard,” “April Forecast Update,” “March MBR Deck.pptx,” owner notes in “April MBR Owner Inputs,” #finance-close from April 22 through April 30, and any related close context I provide.

Draft an executive-ready narrative with key revenue and expense variances, what changed since forecast, risks, CFO prep questions, and follow-ups by owner. Cite a workbook tab, dashboard, or source note for every material number. Create the draft as a Microsoft Word document named “Monthly Business Review Narrative.”

2. Finance model cleanup and analysis

Use this when: You need to improve a model’s reliability before a high-stakes review by checking formulas, structure, sources, and assumptions.

Suggested plugins: Spreadsheets, Google Drive, SharePoint, Box, Documents, Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook Email.

1. Codex reviews workbook structure, formulas, hardcodes, links, checks, source tie-outs, and output tabs.

2. It makes safe cleanup changes where appropriate and flags assumptions that require finance-owner review.

3. It creates a cleaned model where safe, plus a QA memo with high-risk issues, fixes made, and remaining review items.

Clean and review “FY27 Operating Plan Model.xlsx” before it goes to the leadership team. Check workbook structure, formulas, hardcodes, broken links, circular references, sign conventions, period labels, source tie-outs, model checks, and output tabs.

Make safe cleanup changes where appropriate, but do not change business assumptions without calling them out. Return a cleaned workbook if safe, plus a QA memo with high-risk issues, fixes made, remaining assumptions, and cells or tabs that need finance-owner review. Pay special attention to the “Revenue Drivers,” “Headcount Plan,” “Cash Forecast,” and “Exec Summary” tabs.

3. Recurring CFO and board reporting pack

Use this when: Speed recurring executive reporting by refreshing metrics, commentary, and open questions from the latest source materials.

Suggested plugins: Presentations, Spreadsheets, Google Drive, SharePoint, Box, Documents, Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook Email.

1. Codex reviews the latest forecast model, KPI dashboard, prior pack, cash view, forecast notes, and owner inputs.

2. It updates metrics, deltas, charts, commentary, and open questions.

3. It creates a refreshed CFO or board reporting pack with a summary of what changed, what still needs input, and which sections need executive review.

Refresh Acme’s May CFO reporting pack. Use “May Forecast Model.xlsx,” “May KPI Dashboard,” “April Board Pack.pptx,” “May Cash View,” “Forecast Notes - May,” owner inputs in “CFO Pack Open Questions,” and related discussion from #cfo-staff.

Update the key metrics, deltas, charts, and commentary. Create a CFO-ready pack summary that explains what changed since the April board pack, what still needs owner input, which assumptions remain open, and which slides or sections need executive review. Do not invent metrics. Flag any number that cannot be tied back to the forecast model, KPI dashboard, cash view, or owner notes.

4. Variance driver bridge

Use this when: You need to explain what drove movement between actuals, budget, and forecast across revenue, expense, cash, or KPI lines.

Suggested plugins: Spreadsheets, Documents, Presentations, Google Drive, SharePoint, Box, Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook Email.

1. Codex compares actuals, budget, forecast, prior forecast, KPI data, and owner notes.

2. It identifies the largest drivers, anomalies, source-backed explanations, and open questions.

3. It creates a variance bridge deliverable with ranked drivers, commentary, owner follow-ups, and optional chart or slide-ready summary.

Explain Acme’s April forecast-to-actual movement. Use “April Close Workbook.xlsx,” “FY26 Budget.xlsx,” “March Forecast.xlsx,” “April Revenue Dashboard,” “April Opex Tracker,” “April Cash View,” and finance owner notes from #finance-close.

Build a variance bridge across revenue, gross margin, opex, EBITDA, free cash flow, and balance-sheet drivers where relevant. Draft owner-ready follow-up questions, reconcile source breaks, and flag any variance that is not supported by a source. Cite the workbook tab, dashboard, tracker, or owner note behind each material driver.

5. Forecast refresh and scenario planning

Use this when: You need to update a forecast with new assumptions, compare scenarios, and turn the results into a review-ready planning artifact.

Suggested plugins: Spreadsheets, Documents, Presentations, Google Drive, SharePoint, Box, Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook Email.

1. Codex reviews the prior forecast, latest actuals, assumption updates, owner inputs, and scenario rules.

2. It updates the forecast where safe, builds or compares scenarios, and identifies key sensitivities, risks, and open assumptions.

3. It creates a refreshed forecast and scenario planning deliverable with review notes, source-backed assumption changes, and optional chart or slide-ready summary.

Refresh Acme’s FY27 forecast for the Enterprise business. Use “FY27 Operating Plan Model.xlsx,” “Revenue Driver Model.xlsx,” “Headcount Plan.xlsx,” “13 Week Cash Forecast.xlsx,” April actuals, approved planning assumptions in “FY27 Planning Assumptions,” and leadership notes from #fy27-planning.

Create base, downside, and upside scenarios with the key revenue, margin, hiring, and cash drivers. Summarize cash impact, hiring implications, trigger points, and your recommendation. Include a sensitivity table and list assumptions that need approval before the plan is shared. Do not overwrite business assumptions without flagging them for review.

More resources

Keep exploring Codex for work with these resources: