Ask Lou

Everything Ask Lou can do

The reporting, forecasting, and analysis of a full FP&A team, shaped around your business. Set up in a day, with no onboarding fees.

Onboarding

A guided onboarding process that takes you from data import to financial statements and business insights in a day, with no onboarding fees and none of the usual complexity.

How it works

1

Connect

QuickBooks or a file upload

AccountDebitCredit
Cash25,000—
Accounts Receivable18,500—
Inventory12,000—
Accounts Payable—15,000
Equity—25,500
Revenue—45,000
Expenses30,000—
Totals85,50085,500
QuickBooksExcelCSV
2

Map

Lou suggests, you approve

Suggested by Lou
  • CashCurrent Assets
  • Accounts ReceivableCurrent Assets
  • Accounts PayableCurrent Liabilities
  • RevenueRevenue
  • ExpensesOperating Expenses

You review every suggestion before it's saved.

3

Statements

Ready the moment data lands

Balance Sheet

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Statements tie out
4

Insights

Lou explains what he sees

Lou, the Ask Lou mascot

Your financials are telling a story. Here's what I found.

Profitability

Good

Efficiency

Watch

Liquidity

Strong
  • Operating expenses are up 12% year over year
  • Cash covers 4.2 months of expenses
QuickBooksConnectExcel or CSVUpload a fileAny other systemUpload your trial balanceAsk Lou· Connect QuickBooksAuthentication2Sync & CategorizeACCOUNTCATEGORY1000 · CashCurrent Assets1200 · Accounts ReceivableCurrent Assets2000 · Accounts PayableCurrent Liabilities4000 · Sales RevenueRevenue6100 · Rent ExpenseOperating ExpensesI'll help you getconnected and setup, step by step.

Seamless Data Connection

Connect QuickBooks, or drop in your trial balance from any accounting system. Lou organizes, maps, and groups your accounts, and our team walks you through your first import, all without changing your source system.

Ask LouFile ImportsI reviewed your 214 mapped accounts.11 have high-confidence GAAP suggestions ready.Nothing saves until you approve.Apply Bulk Mapping ChangesRemaps accounts to Cash, Investments and Notes Payable per GAAP11 of 11 selected1010 · Operating Checking→ Cash95%1020 · Business Savings→ Cash95%1500 · Brokerage Account→ Investments90%2600 · Equipment Loan – Long Term→ Notes Payable90%+7 more in the listCancelApprove 11

GAAP-Compliant Mapping Recommendations

Works with any accounting system. As your accounts come in, Lou points out mappings that could be more GAAP-compliant, lays out the changes, and lets you adjust any of them before you save. Your source system stays untouched.

Import AssetsUploadContext3Analyze4ReviewFile loaded — 3 sheets foundFixed_Asset_Schedule.xlsxAnalyzing your spreadsheet…Detecting columnsExtracting assetsWorking out each depreciation methodFixed AssetsNAMEBOOK VALUESTATUSSep 2025 Device Refresh$61,388.40ActiveAug 2025 Platform Release$191,824.97ActiveMay 2025 Office Expansion$20,841.11ActiveMo. Depr: $41,288.19Book: $1,568,557.13Import LoansTerm Loan A$2,740,0008.75% · 92 paymentsStarts January 2025Ready to import

Asset & Debt Tracking

Upload your fixed asset and loan schedules, and a step-by-step wizard walks you through them. Depreciation and amortization flow straight into your statements and cash flow, with no side spreadsheets to maintain.

Company RelationsParent, subsidiary, investment and common-ownership linksLink a companyRequest a new companyCurrent relationshipsSUBSIDIARYNorthwind Manufacturing80% · Majority of voting shares · Financials shared for consolidationConsolidatedINVESTMENTHarbor Point Logistics30% · Minority stakeLinkedCOMMON OWNERSHIPSummit Ridge SupplySame owners as Northwind ManufacturingLinkedFeeds your consolidated and consolidating financial statements

Every Entity, Connected

Subsidiaries, investments, and companies under common ownership. Set up new entities under a holding company, or link companies already on Ask Lou once both sides approve. Consolidated and consolidating statements bring it all together.

Business Analytics

Income Statement20252024ChangeRevenueTotal Revenue$208,238$190,379$17,858Cost of SalesCOGS$74,514$10,671$63,843Total Cost of Sales$74,514$10,671$63,843Gross Profit$133,723$179,708($45,985)Operating ExpensesPayroll$69,874$69,491$383Insurance$61,327$70,470($9,143)Facilities$46,561$28,781$17,780Marketing$45,710$40,790$4,920Utilities$35,028$58,814($23,785)Ask LouIncome Statement - Jan – Dec 2025Why did gross profit drop this year?Gross profit fell $45,985 to $133,723.Revenue grew $17,858, but cost of sales rose$63,843, from $10,671 to $74,514.The increase is all in COGS. I'd look at whichGL accounts are behind it next.What GL accounts make up COGS?Show gross profit over timeExplain in more detailReview GL accounts in Trial BalanceAsk a question…

Ask Lou — Your CFO AI Agent

Get instant answers, insights, and guidance drawn from your own financials. Ask Lou helps you work through FP&A questions, spot what's changing in your business, and understand what to do next.

Gross MarginKPIFinancial PerformanceGross MarginGross Profit / RevenueNOV 202534.1%DEC 202535.0%FORECAST35.4%Jan 202612 MONTH HISTORY28%32%36%JFMAMJJASONDCompany ScorecardKPIACTUALTARGETGross Margin35.0%34.0%Current Ratio1.8x1.5xDebt to Equity1.6x1.2xDays Sales Outstanding4845Lou's takePaying down $250K of the term loanbrings debt to equity to 1.2x, on target,and saves about $18K a year in interest.Of the moves open to you, it does themost for net income.

KPI & Business Diagnostics

Turn your financial data into decisions. KPIs and your company scorecard build automatically from your trial balance, and Lou points out which moves, like paying down debt or cutting inventory, would do the most for your profit.

Net Income ForecastActual through December 2025, forecast to June 2026FORECAST$25K$35K$45K$55K$65KJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunBase forecastFrom your own history$273KJan – JunAcquire Peak Supply Co.Closes March 2026$293KJan – JunNew equipment loan$400K from February 2026$264KJan – Jun

Business Forecasting

See what's next before you commit. Forecast your statements from your own history, then layer on scenarios like an acquisition, new equipment, or a loan to see how each one changes your profit.

Additional Features

Build a financial view that works for your business. Set budgets from your own targets or let Ask Lou recommend them from your history, and shape dashboards that show at a glance what's on track, off track, or ahead of plan.

Budget AnalysisBudget SettingsTotal Revenue$612,400Ahead+3.8% vs budgetGross Profit$214,300Ahead+3.8% vs budgetOperating Expenses$158,250Off track+5.5% over budgetOperating Income$56,050On track-0.8% vs budgetNet Income$40,950On track-1.1% vs budgetBudget vs ActualTIME VIEWMonthlyQuarterlyFull YearMulti-YearCHARTContainer BarData Labels% VarianceBudgetLegendFind a line…Summary3Gross ProfitOperating IncomeNet IncomeRevenueTotal RevenueOther IncomeCost of SalesOperating ExpensesOther Income and Expenses$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KJulAugSepOctNov$41K$214KDecNet IncomeOperating IncomeGross ProfitActual (solid)Budget (faded)
Create PresentationBASICSPRESENTATION NAMEQ4 Board UpdateAUDIENCELoan OfficerBoard of DirectorsInvestorOwner / OperatorBank Covenant ReviewPotential AcquirerAnything else about this audience? (optional)Quarterly board meeting; they focus on marginsWHAT SHOULD THIS PRESENTATION ACCOMPLISH?Show how our KPIs improved over the last twoquarters and what drove the changeNextACME MANUFACTURINGQ4 Business UpdateBoard of DirectorsKey Financial HighlightsRevenue$7.2M▲ 8.2% YoYEBITDA$1.4M▲ 12.7% YoYNet Income$0.6M▲ 15.3% YoYSummary1Gross margin up 2.1 points on pricing2Debt paid down ahead of schedule3Operating expenses held to budget

Presentation Wizard

Build a board-ready presentation for any audience in minutes. Tell the wizard who you're presenting to and what you want to show, and Ask Lou pulls in your statements, KPIs, and budgets and writes the story around them.

Company ValuationYour companyAcquisition targetImplied value$8.4M – $9.6MMidpoint $9.0M · 6.4x trailing EBITDAAs of December 2025▲ 11% vs last yearBy methodDiscounted Cash Flow$8.1M$10.2MMarket Multiples (EBITDA)$7.6M$9.4MSum of the Parts$8.4M$9.8M$6M$8M$10M$12MImplied value range

Company Valuation

Coming soon

Know what your business is worth, and what a company you're looking to acquire is worth, with industry-standard valuation methods applied to the financials.

Fixed AssetsFixed AssetsTrack company equipment, vehicles, and other fixed assetsImport+ Add AssetSearch assets…NAMETYPEPURCHASE PRICEBOOK VALUESep 2025 Device RefreshComputer Equipment$80,000.00$61,388.40Aug 2025 Platform ReleaseSoftware & Intangibles$250,000.00$191,824.97May 2025 Office ExpansionLeasehold Improvements$25,000.00$20,841.11Mar 2025 Hardware ExpansionComputer Equipment$70,000.00$53,708.60Jan 2025 AI Workflow ReleaseSoftware & Intangibles$300,000.00$230,193.94Import your fixed assetsDrop in your fixed asset schedule and the importwizard walks you through it, column by column.Depreciation is worked out from there.Next

Spotlight Guide

No CFO? No problem. From your first company setup on, Spotlight Guide dims the screen around each tool and explains what it does, so you learn the platform as you use it. Skip it anytime, or replay it whenever you want a refresher.

Task ListOutstanding items requiring attentionSETUPOnboarding3/5Import your dataCompleteAdd your fixed assetsCompleteAdd your loans & debtsNeededResume setup ›COMING UPOnboarding session with our teamTue, Nov 4 · 10:00 AMIn 2 daysSUPPORTWaiting on youP-TKT-00042Question about your September importOpen in Settings ›More sources coming soon — budgets, forecasts, and account mappings.

Task Alerts

Your Task List, at the top of every page, gathers what needs you next: setup steps, upcoming sessions, and replies from our team. Alerts on cash flow, performance, and key indicators are coming soon.

Constantly evolving to meet your needs

Join the waitlist to be among the first to use the full platform, and what's coming next.

Join Waitlist

Takes under a minute. We'll email you when it's your turn.