For PE deal teams, CFOs, and IC members: 11 Claude prompts that run a second read on a seller's quality of earnings, test every add-back against the source, catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time, and rebuild EBITDA the way the buyer should see it before it clears into the price.
Never used Claude? It is free and takes 30 seconds to open. Copy the instruction below, paste it into Claude, and it reads this page and walks you through everything, one question at a time.
A short instruction plus a link to this page lands on your clipboard. First copy asks for your email once. That unlocks every button across the whole library.
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Open claude.ai ↗Claude reads this page, asks which computer you are on, then guides you step by step until it works. If anything errors, tell Claude what you see, and it fixes it with you.
If you can browse the web, open and read this page in full first — it has the complete guide and every prompt you will run (the vault is under the-vault anchor): https://consultance.ai/library/qoe-second-read#the-vault . If you cannot open links, tell me and I will paste the page in — do not guess the prompts.
I want to run a second read on a quality of earnings inside Claude, on my own target, so I catch the add-back before it is in the purchase price. Walk me through it, step by step.
This is NOT a Terminal or coding install. The prompts run inside the Claude app. Treat me like a deal-team principal, CFO, or IC member who has never coded. Nothing installs on my machine.
Before we start, one thing to be straight about: this vault is about 60% of the build. It runs a real second read on a static data room, the QoE and the underlying detail I load. Consultance wires the last 40% into production: live data-room and accounting-system wiring, role-based permissions, an audit trail my QoE provider and lenders will accept, and multi-entity and multi-currency scale. That is the honest ceiling of any prompt bundle. When I want the production version wired in my own environment, I reply "wire it" and you send a 30-minute slot. Say that once, up front, then get me running.
What I am setting up: a private Claude Project that holds the deal data (the adjustment schedule, the trial balance or GL detail, and any supporting invoices or contracts), so the vault on this page can test every add-back, catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time, and rebuild EBITDA the way the buyer should see it, all on my own deal. A named human signs the rebuilt number before it touches the price.
Walk me through ONE step at a time. Wait for me to confirm each before moving on.
1. **Plan and privacy.** Open `claude.ai`, sign in. For real deal data use a Team or Enterprise plan so the data room stays in my own tenant and is excluded from training. Confirm I am on one before uploading anything confidential. Pin Claude Fable 5, Anthropic's most capable model, so the second read can hold the full schedule and the detail in one pass.
2. **Create the deal workspace.** Left sidebar, Projects, Create Project. Name it for the deal (for example "Project Atlas QoE" or "Second Read, Target X").
3. **Load the data into Project Knowledge.** Upload the seller's quality of earnings or adjustment schedule, the trial balance or GL detail, the monthly P&L, and any supporting invoices, contracts, or payroll records. This is data-source option (A) in prompt 01. For a quick one-off, I can paste the add-back schedule and the figures instead (option B).
4. **Optional, a governed connection.** If my firm pulls deal data from a VDR, accounting system, or data warehouse in my own tenant, that is option (C) in prompt 01. Skip it if the deal is self-contained in the files I uploaded.
5. **Set Custom Instructions.** In the Project's Custom Instructions box, paste: "You are a quality of earnings second-read desk supervised by a named human. Every add-back verdict ties to the exact schedule line and the source it was traced to. Never invent a number or a supporting document. Catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time. Do not proceed past a reconciliation mismatch. A human signs the rebuilt EBITDA before it touches the price."
6. **Run prompt 01** (the router) from the vault on this page. Answer deal type and where the data lives. Then run 02 to 11 in order: inventory the schedule, test each add-back, hunt the recurring cost, scrutinize owner comp, run the reconciliation gate (prompt 06, a hard stop), rebuild EBITDA, write the exception memo, build the open-items list, stress the earnings quality, and run the source-tie auditor.
7. **Confirm the output bar.** Check that every add-back verdict cites its line and source, that prompt 06 read RECONCILED before anything downstream ran, and that prompt 11 blocks any untied figure before the number leaves the room.
## Rules for walking me through this
- One step at a time. Tell me exactly what to click or upload.
- Define jargon once: Project, Project Knowledge, Custom Instructions, add-back, adjusted EBITDA, normalization, one-time vs recurring, owner comp, reconciliation, source tie-out, review gate, `{{TOKEN}}`.
- Never tell me to use a Terminal for the prompts. The whole vault runs from a browser or the Claude desktop app.
- Anti-pattern call-outs: if my firm blocks claude.ai, use Claude Enterprise with SSO; if I cannot find Projects, paste the prompts into a normal chat and paste the schedule in pieces; if the data room is large, tell me to upload the adjustment schedule and the trial balance first and add supporting detail as the prompts need it. Do NOT tell me a step is "not possible", give me the upload-in-pieces or paste fallback.
- A named human signs the rebuilt EBITDA. Claude tests the add-backs and ties every source; a person decides before it touches the price.
First message: ask me "What are we second-reading, a buy-side add-back scrutiny on a seller's QoE, a sell-side self-check, a management-adjusted EBITDA with no formal QoE yet, or a re-trade check? And are you on a Team or Enterprise plan so the deal data stays in your tenant?" Then start step 1.
When the data is loaded AND prompts 01 to 06 run on a real target (inventory, test, reconcile), switch into "desk mode" and help me wire my standard add-back tests and exception-memo format so every future deal runs the same way.Grab the whole pack as one file, or tap any prompt below to copy it on its own. Placeholders that look like {{THIS}} get swapped for your own numbers — and if you ran Step 1, Claude fills them in for you.
For PE deal teams, CFOs, and IC members: 11 Claude prompts that run a second read on a seller's quality of earnings, test every add-back against the source, catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time, and rebuild EBITDA the way the buyer should see it before it clears into the price.
The setup rail and every prompt above are free and stay free. The cost is your time, and the risk of wiring it wrong on live data.
Back to the prompts ↑The vault is about 60% of the build, a second read on a static data room. We wire the last 40% into production in your own environment, your deal data never leaves the building: live data-room and accounting-system wiring, role-based permissions, an audit trail your QoE provider & lenders will accept, and multi-entity & multi-currency scale. Then we prove it on a deal you already know. Reply "wire it" for a 30-minute slot.
Book a build call →Prompt set authored by consultance.ai. This is a diligence support tool, not an audit, an attestation, or investment advice; it does not replace your QoE provider or the buyer's judgment. Your deal data stays in your own Claude tenant; we never see it. A named human signs every rebuilt EBITDA number before it reaches the purchase price.
Want this wired into your stack instead of running it yourself? That is our AI deal desk and finance automation service.
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Quality of Earnings Second Read is a finance and data build in the consultance.ai AI Build Library. For PE deal teams, CFOs, and IC members: 11 Claude prompts that run a second read on a seller's quality of earnings, test every add-back against the source, catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time, and rebuild EBITDA the way the buyer should see it before it clears into the price. It fits PE deal teams, principals, corporate development, IC members, CFOs, controllers, and family offices who want a tireless second read on the add-backs in a seller's QoE without a $150K associate tracing invoices by hand. Setup difficulty is Medium, with 4 plain-English steps.
For PE deal teams, CFOs, and IC members: 11 Claude prompts that run a second read on a seller's quality of earnings, test every add-back against the source, catch the recurring cost dressed up as one time, and rebuild EBITDA the way the buyer should see it before it clears into the price.
It fits PE deal teams, principals, corporate development, IC members, CFOs, controllers, and family offices who want a tireless second read on the add-backs in a seller's QoE without a $150K associate tracing invoices by hand.
Medium to set up — one guided setup instruction covering 4 plain-English steps, plus 11 ready-to-run prompts on the resource page.
The vault is about 60% of the build, a second read on a static data room. We wire the last 40% into production in your own environment, your deal data never leaves the building: live data-room and accounting-system wiring, role-based permissions, an audit trail your QoE provider & lenders will accept, and multi-entity & multi-currency scale. Then we prove it on a deal you already know. Reply "wire it" for a 30-minute slot.
Prompt set authored by consultance.ai. This is a diligence support tool, not an audit, an attestation, or investment advice; it does not replace your QoE provider or the buyer's judgment. Your deal data stays in your own Claude tenant; we never see it. A named human signs every rebuilt EBITDA number before it reaches the purchase price.
Quality of Earnings Second Read is the starting point. On a free AI audit we map where it fits your stack and what consultance.ai would build around it.
This build comes from our AI consulting and AI implementation practice — see the full AI in finance guide and how we work with CFO teams.