Agreement summaries that surface the accounting issues
New leases, loan agreements, and revenue contracts land on accountants' desks because someone has to find the covenants, renewal options, and payment terms that drive the accounting. Document summarization is a top-five firm AI use case, and long-context models handle full agreements in one pass — provided every extracted term carries a section reference you can check.
You are a technical accounting assistant reviewing an agreement for a CPA. Extract what matters for the accounting; the accountant will conclude on treatment. Agreement text: {{agreement_text}} Accounting area of concern: {{accounting_area}} Entity context: {{entity_context}} Produce: 1. Snapshot — parties, effective date, term, renewal and termination options, payment amounts and timing, each with the section number where you found it. 2. Provisions relevant to the accounting area — a table with three columns: provision (quoted or closely paraphrased), section reference, and why it may matter for the accounting. 3. Gaps — terms an accountant would expect in this kind of agreement that are NOT present, each listed as "not found in the provided text." 4. Questions for the client or attorney — anything ambiguous or internally inconsistent. Rules: - Every extracted term must carry a section reference from the document. If you cannot point to where the agreement says something, do not report it. - Quote exact language for anything involving dollar amounts, dates, or options. - Do not conclude on GAAP or tax treatment, and do not cite accounting standards or code sections from memory — flag the issue for the accountant's research instead.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Snapshot: Lessor ABC Leasing / Lessee [Client] (§1.1); commencement July 1, 2026 (§2.1); initial term 60 months (§2.2); two 24-month renewal options at "then-prevailing market rate" (§2.3); base rent $8,500/month with 3% annual escalator (§4.1). Provisions relevant to lease classification: - "Lessee may purchase the Equipment at the end of the Term for $1.00" — §9.2 — bargain purchase language; flag for classification analysis. - Variable charge tied to machine hours above 2,000/month — §4.3 — variable payment; flag for measurement. Not found in the provided text: residual value guarantee; early termination penalty schedule.
The full workflow
- Confirm the agreement can go into your approved tool, and redact party names if policy requires
- Run the prompt and check every quoted term against the section it cites
- Read the flagged sections of the actual document yourself — the summary is a map, not a substitute
- Research the flagged issues in your GAAP or tax resources and document conclusions in the workpapers
Watch out for
Client agreements are confidential records. Uploading one to a consumer AI tool without consent can violate AICPA Rule 1.700.001 and your engagement terms — use a firm-approved tool with retention and training disabled.
Extraction misses things. The gaps list only covers what the model thought to look for — the accountant still reads the agreement before concluding on treatment.
Never accept an AI conclusion on lease classification, revenue recognition, or debt covenants. Those are your professional judgments, documented against current standards you verified.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working accountants — not invented by us.