The FP&A Genius is a powerful Large Language Model (LLM) specifically designed to assist with your Datarails reporting. This tutorial will guide you through the basics of using FP&A Genius, helping you interact with it effectively to enhance your FP&A tasks.

Large Language Model (LLM)

A Large Language Model (LLM) is an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system trained on vast amounts of data. It can understand and generate human-like responses based on the input it receives.

Datarails FP&A Genius

FP&A Genius is a Large Language Model (LLM) designed to provide answers to your questions using consolidated finance data from across your company. It can answer business-critical questions about budgets, forecasts, variances, spending, and trends in real time.

If I can just ask FP&A Genius questions, why do I need a tutorial?

While you can simply ask FP&A Genius questions, this tutorial is essential to help you leverage its full potential. By learning how to interact effectively with FP&A Genius, you can streamline your workflows, enhance the accuracy of your reports, and gain deeper insights into your financial data. This guide bridges the gap between complex AI technology and practical use in the FP&A field, ensuring professionals can confidently utilize this powerful tool to its fullest extent.

Use FP&A Genius

You can access FP&A Genius from the left side panel.

Follow these steps to effectively use Datarails FP&A Genius:

Step 1: Understanding the Basics

To effectively use FP&A Genius, it's crucial to understand the basic concepts that form the foundation of interacting with Large Language Models (LLMs). Here’s a breakdown of the essential elements:

Key Concepts

Prompt

• What it is: A prompt is the input text or question you provide to FP&A Genius. It can be a single word, a sentence, or a complex query.
• How it's used: FP&A Genius processes the prompt to understand the context, identify key elements, and generate a relevant response. It uses advanced algorithms and its extensive training data to predict the most appropriate continuation or answer based on the given prompt.
• Why it’s important: Crafting clear and specific prompts ensures that FP&A Genius understands your query accurately, leading to more precise and useful responses. A well-formulated prompt can significantly improve the quality of the output.
• Example: "What was the total revenue for our North America division in Q2 2024?”

Key Elements

• What it is: Key elements are the main points or specific details within your prompt that are crucial for generating an accurate and relevant response.
• How it's used: FP&A Genius identifies and focuses on these key elements to understand the core of your query. It ensures that the response addresses the most critical aspects of the prompt.
• Why it’s important: Highlighting key elements helps FP&A Genius prioritize important information, leading to more precise and relevant answers. It ensures that the model’s output aligns closely with your specific needs and queries.
• Explanation: The key elements from the previous prompt are “total revenue”, “North America division”, and “Q2 2024”. FP&A Genius will focus on these elements to provide a detailed analysis of the specified area.

Context

• What it is: Context refers to the previous prompts and responses in a conversation with FP&A Genius. It helps the model maintain coherence and relevance throughout the interaction.
• How it's used: FP&A Genius uses context to keep track of the conversation’s flow, understand references to previous interactions, and provide more accurate and contextually aware responses. This is particularly important in multi-turn dialogues where each response builds on the previous ones.
• Why it’s important: Maintaining context ensures that FP&A Genius can follow the conversation logically, providing consistent and relevant answers. It allows for more natural and human-like interactions, making the tool more effective for complex queries and extended discussions.
• Example: "What was the variance in revenue compared to the prior quarter?" Using the context of the first prompt, FP&A Genius can accurately respond to the follow-up prompt with revenue variance in the North American division compared to Q1 2024.

Response

• What it is: The response is the text generated by FP&A Genius based on your prompt. It aims to address your query or provide the requested information.
• How it's used: FP&A Genius generates responses by analyzing the prompt and drawing on its training data, which includes a vast amount of text from various sources. It uses this data to predict and construct a coherent and contextually appropriate answer.
• Why it’s important: The response is the direct output of your interaction with FP&A Genius. Understanding how to interpret and refine the responses can help you better utilize FP&A Genius for your specific needs, ensuring that you get the most relevant and accurate information.

By understanding these key concepts, you can interact more effectively with FP&A Genius, ensuring that you leverage its capabilities to enhance your reporting and analysis.

Step 2: Crafting Effective Prompts

To get the best results from FP&A Genius, it’s essential to craft effective prompts. Here’s a guide with examples and explanations:

Asking Direct Questions

Formulating your prompt as a clear and straightforward question eliminates ambiguity, helping FP&A Genius understand your needs better and provide more accurate information.

• Focus on Clarity: Ensures that your query is clear and unambiguous.
• Example: "What were the factors contributing to the increase in operational expenses in Q1 2024?"
  • This direct question clearly asks for specific information about the factors contributing to the increase in operational expenses, making it easy for FP&A Genius to provide a focused response.

Being Specific

Detailing exactly what you are asking about narrows down your question to a particular aspect or element, so FP&A Genius knows exactly what information to focus on.

• Focus on Detail: Ensures FP&A Genius understands the precise aspect of your query.
• Example: "What was the total revenue for our North America division in Q2 2024?"
  • This prompt is specific because it clearly identifies the metric (total revenue), the division (North America), and the time period (Q2 2024).

Providing Context

Giving background information or setting the scene for your query helps FP&A Genius understand the broader situation or conditions surrounding your specific question.

• Focus on Background: Provides FP&A Genius with necessary background information to ensure the response is relevant and appropriately tailored.
• Example: "For our Asia-Pacific division, compare the profitability in Q3 2024 to Q3 2023, including any significant changes in net profit margin."
  • This prompt provides context for comparison by specifying the division (Asia-Pacific), the time frames (Q3 2024 to Q3 2023), and the specific metric of interest (net profit margin), allowing FP&A Genius to generate a detailed and relevant response.

Combining Direct Questions, Specificity, and Context

The most effective prompts combine direct questions, specificity, and context. This ensures that FP&A Genius not only understands exactly what information you need but also why you need it and under what conditions.

Example Combining All Three

• Prompt: "For our North America division, what was the total revenue in Q2 2024, and how does it compare to Q2 2023?"
  • Direct Question: "What was the total revenue?"
  • Specificity: "Total revenue in Q2 2024"
  • Context: "For our North America division" and "compare to Q2 2023"

In summary:

• Direct Questions: Ensure that your query is clear and unambiguous, making it easier for FP&A Genius to provide an accurate response.
• Specificity: Ensures FP&A Genius knows exactly what detail you need.
• Context: Ensures FP&A Genius understands the background and conditions related to your query.

By combining all three, you can create prompts that are clear, focused, and provide all the necessary information for FP&A Genius to generate accurate and useful responses.

Step 3: Experiment and Iterate

Using FP&A Genius effectively often involves some trial and error. Experimenting with different prompts and iterating based on the responses you receive is key to refining your interaction and getting the most accurate and relevant information. Here’s how to approach this process:

Understand Initial Responses

When you first start using FP&A Genius, pay close attention to the initial responses you receive. Analyze these responses to understand how well they address your queries. This step will help you identify areas where your prompts might need refinement.

• Example:
  • Initial Prompt: "Tell me about our marketing expenses."
  • Initial Response: "Marketing expenses include costs for advertising, promotions, and market research."
  • Analysis: The response is general and does not provide specific information, such as details for a particular time period or campaign.

Refine Your Prompts

Based on the initial responses, refine your prompts to be more specific, direct, and context-rich. This helps FP&A Genius understand your query better and provide more targeted answers.

• Example:
  • Refined Prompt: "What were the marketing expenses for our Advanced Research Division in Q1 2024?"
  • Expected Response: "Marketing expenses for the Advanced Research Division in Q1 2024 were $2.5 million."

Use Exact Names

When interacting with FP&A Genius, using the exact names of divisions, subsidiaries, or other entities is crucial. This ensures that FP&A Genius understands precisely what you are referring to, which improves the accuracy of the responses.

• Example:
  • Prompt Using Nickname: "What were the marketing expenses for AR Division in Q1 2024?"
  • Expected Response: "I'm sorry, but I can't provide marketing expenses for AR Division as the data doesn't specify AR Division. Total marketing expenses for Q1 2024 were approximately $7.1 million."

Incorporate Feedback

Incorporate feedback from the responses you get. If a response is not as detailed or relevant as you need, adjust your prompt accordingly. Consider the elements of specificity, direct questions, and context in your refinements.

• Example:
  • Prompt Adjustment: "Can you break down the marketing expenses for our Advanced Research Division in Q1 2024 by category?"
  • Expected Response: "In Q1 2024, the Advanced Research Division's marketing expenses were $2.5 million, with $1 million for advertising, $800,000 for promotions, and $700,000 for market research."

Test Different Approaches

Don’t hesitate to test different approaches to see what works best. You might find that certain phrasings or additional context improve the quality of the responses from FP&A Genius.

• Example:
  • Alternative Prompt: "Provide a detailed breakdown of marketing expenses for the Advanced Research Division in Q1 2024, including advertising, promotions, and market research."
  • Analysis: Compare this approach to the previous ones to see if it yields more comprehensive and useful information.

Iterate Based on Insights

Iterate your prompts based on the insights you gather from each interaction. This iterative process helps you learn how to communicate more effectively with FP&A Genius, ensuring that you consistently receive high-quality responses.

• Example:
  • Iteration: "For our Advanced Research Division, compare the marketing expenses in Q1 2024 to Q1 2023, highlighting any significant changes in each expense category."
  • Expected Response: "In Q1 2024, marketing expenses for the Advanced Research Division increased by 10% compared to Q1 2023. Advertising costs rose by 5%, promotions by 15%, and market research by 8%."

Document Successful Prompts

As you experiment and iterate, document the prompts that yield the best results. Having a repository of effective prompts can save time and improve the consistency of your interactions with FP&A Genius.

By experimenting with different prompts and iterating based on the responses you receive, you can optimize your use of FP&A Genius. This process will help you develop a deeper understanding of how to interact with the tool, ensuring you get the most accurate and relevant information for your FP&A tasks.

Conclusion

FP&A Genius is a powerful tool designed to streamline your financial planning and analysis processes. By leveraging its capabilities, you can enhance your workflows, gain deeper insights into your financial data, and make more informed decisions. This tutorial has provided you with the foundational knowledge to interact effectively with FP&A Genius, helping you unlock its full potential for improved efficiency and effectiveness in your everyday tasks.

Updated September 03, 2024 11:49