Prompting Framework
The RACEF Prompting Framework.
RACEF stands for Role, Action, Context, Examples and Format: a five-part structure for writing AI prompts that produce consistent, accurate outputs on complex professional work. It was developed by Prime AI Solutions and is taught across our training programmes. Every high-quality finance prompt includes all five, though the depth of each varies by task.
Role
Set the AI's perspective. In finance, define the professional role (FP&A analyst, CFO, audit manager, treasury analyst) and often the seniority. The role sets the tone, depth of analysis and vocabulary of the response.
Action
Define precisely what you want the AI to do. Use active verbs and be specific: not "help with reporting" but "draft a two-paragraph board commentary explaining the revenue variance".
Context
Provide everything the AI needs to be relevant and accurate: your industry, your company specifics, and the actual data. This is usually the longest component and the one most prompts get too short.
Examples
The single most underused element of finance prompting. Providing one example of the output you want, even a short one, dramatically improves consistency and quality.
Format
Specify exactly how you want the output delivered: structure (table, bullet points, narrative), length (word or point count) and style. Precise format instructions turn a good answer into a usable one.
A worked example: board variance commentary
Every component in one prompt:
Role: You are an FP&A analyst preparing numbers for a board pack. Action: Draft board-ready variance commentary. Context: [paste actuals vs budget by line item, plus known drivers]. Examples: [paste one short paragraph of last month's commentary]. Format: Bullet points, maximum three per section (Revenue, OPEX, EBITDA). Direct, professional, avoid hedging language.
RACEF is one of the frameworks we teach in our AI for finance training. For a full set of RACEF prompts you can copy, see our finance prompt library.