· Saul Mateos · Claude and AI Tools · 3 min read
Claude Code for Finance: Stop Using AI in the Browser
Claude Code for finance in a 20-minute setup: files on your machine, a CLAUDE.md that remembers you, and a fresh eyes trick. Free guide for CFOs.
If you’re using Claude in the browser, you’re doing it the slow way. There’s a terminal version. Way better. Stop Using AI in the Browser is the complete guide to Claude Code for finance, written for CFOs who want to work faster.
Most CFOs have no idea this exists. Once you see it, you’re not going back.
What’s inside the Claude Code for finance guide
- The Four Ways to Use Claude
- Installing This Thing (It’s Easy)
- Let Me Show You How This Actually Works: a real example, a lender update built in one folder
- The Fresh Eyes Trick
- Your CFO Brain Setup
- Getting Started Right Now: the 20-minute setup
- Your Files. Your Machine. Your Control.
The four ways to use Claude
Browser. Where you are now. Limits. Copy/paste. Lost context.
- Token limits kill momentum
- Context resets every chat
- Can’t read your files
- Everything is copy/paste
Desktop. Better. Still has limits.
- Stays on your machine
- Still token-limited
- No file system access
- Context still resets
Claude Code. This one. The upgrade.
- Reads all your files
- Creates & edits documents
- Persistent context via CLAUDE.md
API. Developers only. Ignore.
I did Browser, then Desktop, then Claude Code. Claude Code fixed everything. 20 minutes to set up.
The fresh eyes trick
You’ve been working on your lender report for 30 minutes. Claude helped you write it. But now you need honest feedback.
The problem: Your current Claude session knows everything you’ve been thinking. It has bias.
The solution: Fresh session. Type exit. Close Claude. Type claude. New session. Fresh start. Still reads CLAUDE.md, but no memory of writing the report.
Read lender-report.md with fresh eyes.
Be brutally honest:
- Is this clear?
- What's missing?
- Where am I wrong?
I need objective feedback, not nice feedback.This Claude? Never saw you write it. No context from the creation process. Just CLAUDE.md + the file. Fresh context = fresh perspective.
Your CFO brain setup
Here’s how I organize everything. One main folder: CFO-Brain.
CFO-Brain/
├── CLAUDE.md (who I am, how to help)
├── Reference/
│ ├── strategy-docs/
│ ├── market-analysis/
│ └── competitor-analysis/
├── Call-Recordings/
│ └── (all meeting transcripts)
├── Lender-Updates/
│ ├── q3-report.md
│ ├── q4-forecast.md
│ └── covenant-tracking.csv
├── Monthly-Reviews/
│ ├── oct-2024.md
│ ├── nov-2024.md
│ └── process.md
└── Budget-2025/
├── submissions/
└── analysis/The key: One CLAUDE.md at the top with your CFO context. All your work underneath. Claude sees it all when you start it in CFO-Brain folder.
Want separate brains? Make Marketing-Brain folder. Different CLAUDE.md. Make Strategy-Brain folder. Different CLAUDE.md. Same Claude. Different expertise based on CLAUDE.md.
Get the full guide
The guide walks through the install step by step, the full lender update example, and the CLAUDE.md I actually use. Sign up below to get it.