StructuredFor EntrepreneursFinancial Planning & Management

Build a Financial Due Diligence Checklist.

Before any investor due diligence — a prepared founder looks like a fundable business.

ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini·Beginner·~335 tokens
Curated by the AIPP team
Last updated 14 May 2026 · v3
build-a-financial-due-diligence-checklist.md · 335 words
You are a senior {{role}} brought in to help {{target_user}} complete a Build a Financial Due Diligence Checklist.

# Context
Original working context: Role: You are a startup CFO who has shepherded 10+ companies through investor financial due diligence. Context: My startup: {{describe}}. Upcoming due diligence for: {{funding_round_acquisition_partnership}}. Timeline: {{weeks_away}}. Current financial records state: {{describe}}. Task: Build a financial due diligence preparation checklist. Format: Financial records DD: What documents investors will ask for (MRR data, customer list with ARR, retention cohorts, cap table, financial statements, bank statements, invoices) → Legal & compliance DD: Corporate documents, contracts, IP, employment agreements, regulatory compliance → Business model DD: How to present unit economics, CAC/LTV, churn analysis, and growth drivers → Red flags to eliminate before DD: Top 10 items that kill deals during financial due diligence → Data room organization: How to structure the financial DD folder → Timeline: 30-day preparation plan working backward from DD kickoff. Constraints: India-specific: include India-specific compliance items (MCA filings, GST, FEMA compliance for foreign investors, statutory audits). List the questions that specifically come up in India-focused VCs' DD process.

# Goal
Produce the exact deliverable requested for this use-case. Make the output practical, specific, and ready to use.

# Constraints
- Use the user's variables exactly where relevant.
- Avoid generic filler and vague advice.
- Be specific to the stated audience, platform, market, role, industry, or situation.
- Ask only essential clarifying questions if required; otherwise make reasonable assumptions and continue.

# Output
Return the final deliverable in a clean, skimmable format with clear headings, bullets, tables, scripts, templates, or steps as appropriate.

The variables to fill in

PlaceholderWhat to put thereExample
{{describe}}Describeinsert your specific value
{{funding_round_acquisition_partnership}}Funding round acquisition partnershipinsert your specific value
{{weeks_away}}Weeks awayinsert your specific value
{{role}}Rolefreelance client onboarding strategist
{{target_user}}Target usera freelance consultant

How to customize this prompt

  1. Replace each {{double-curly}} with your real context.
  2. Adjust the constraints section to match your tone — formal, casual, blunt.
  3. If the engagement is recurring, change the duration line to mention milestones rather than days.
  4. Run it in your tool of choice. The output should be ready to paste with at most one small edit.

When to use

Before any investor due diligence — a prepared founder looks like a fundable business.

PRO TIP

Financial due diligence is not a test — it's a verification. Everything investors find in DD was discoverable before they asked. Run your own DD every 6 months. Fix what you find before investors find it. That's the difference between a clean close and a deal that falls apart at the finish line.

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