GrantLink Chat can turn tool results, synced accounting data, GrantLink records, and uploaded files into short financial or narrative summaries. Use a summary to decide what to review, but don't treat it as proof of its own claims.

Important: Clear, confident wording doesn't show that a statement is complete, current, or supported. The model can misread the scope, make a math error, leave out an exception, or overstate a conclusion, even when the tools returned correct data.

What a summary can use

Depending on the request and the tools available, a summary can use:

GrantLink records for the organization, funders, initiatives, and grants
Grant budgets, actuals, budget mappings, allocations, receipts, funding shares, and reporting cycles
QuickBooks accounts and activity that GrantLink stored at the last sync
Records you selected, the page you started from, or budget cells you selected
Uploaded images, PDFs, text extracted from other files, or data from a budget import
Earlier report snapshots and saved report templates
A public web page you named, or image search results, when those tools are set up

The model doesn't see every record in your organization automatically. It sees the conversation and can call the tools available for that turn, and the tools return only your organization's records. If Chat didn't read the records you need, don't treat its answer as a checked data summary.

QuickBooks data: Chat's accounting answers normally use the QuickBooks data stored at the last sync, not live QuickBooks data. A correct summary of old data is still out of date. Check the sync date before you rely on current balances or transactions.

Read the basis before the conclusion

For a financial summary, find these items first:

Scope: One grant, the grants included for an initiative or funder, or the whole organization.
Dates: The exact start and end dates.
Basis: Period activity, inception-to-date amounts, a balance on a date, or a comparison.
Data date: The last QuickBooks sync, and any GrantLink changes since then.
Filters: Allocation status, transaction type, budget line, vendor, class, location, or other exclusions.
Calculation: How Chat calculated totals, percentages, spending pace, variances, or risk labels.

If any item is missing and could change the answer, ask Chat to state it or to run the analysis again with exact settings.

Types of output and their risks

Record summary

A record summary restates grant terms, dates, award amounts, statuses, funders, or reporting settings. Compare important terms with the grant record and the original award. Text taken from an uploaded file can be cut off or wrong, so the signed agreement is still the source of truth.

Financial summary

A financial summary shows budget, actuals, variances, receipts, vendor spending, or transaction activity. Check these points:

Actuals come from the allocations and dates you intended.
The summary discloses uncategorized or unallocated amounts instead of leaving them out.
Budget mappings match the categories shown.
Period totals and inception-to-date totals have separate labels.
Rounding doesn't create a difference when you reconcile.

Narrative summary

A narrative summary organizes activities, outcomes, challenges, and next steps from program documents or the conversation. Spending doesn't show that an activity took place or that an outcome was achieved. Check every beneficiary count, result, explanation, quote, and date with program staff or a named source.

Trends and risk labels

A trend, unusual value, spending pace, or risk label depends on how Chat calculated it. Ask which period, comparison, threshold, and calculation produced the label. An "unusual" value needs review, but it isn't automatically an error, a sign of fraud, or an unallowable cost.

Compliance or accounting explanation

Chat can explain concepts and apply instructions to everyday questions. It doesn't replace award terms, current agency guidance, accounting policy, legal advice, or professional judgment. Check each citation, and confirm important decisions with the right reviewer.

Check a routine internal summary

Confirm the scope and exact dates in your request and in the response.
Ask Chat to state the data source, the filters, and the sync date.
Compare the main total with the matching GrantLink screen.
Check at least one detail row or category.
Review gaps that Chat disclosed, such as uncategorized amounts, unallocated amounts, missing budgets, or an old sync.
Confirm that Chat labels each recommendation as its own interpretation, not as a recorded fact.

Expected result: The summary agrees with the GrantLink screen for the same scope, and it states every exclusion and calculation. If it doesn't agree, fix the source or the scope before you reword the conclusion.

Check a funder report or other important summary

Fix the scope: Write down the grant, initiative, or funder, the included grants, the period, and the data date.
Check the sync: Confirm that the QuickBooks sync you need has finished.
Reconcile the numbers: Compare budget, actuals, receipts, and transaction detail with the matching GrantLink screens.
Check consistency: Compare cumulative amounts with the last report you submitted or a saved report snapshot.
Recalculate: Check variances, percentages, spending pace, remaining balances, and totals.
Resolve exceptions: Look into uncategorized, unallocated, reversed, conflicting, or old data instead of leaving it out without a note.
Check the narrative: Ask program staff to confirm activities, outcomes, beneficiaries, challenges, and next steps.
Check the requirements: Compare section names, certifications, dates, and formatting with the funder's current instructions.
Check privacy: Remove internal notes, personal data, unsupported images, and internal warnings from content that the funder will see.
Get approval from an authorized person: GrantLink reports have no Approved status, so record the approval in your own process.

Publishing a report or downloading a PDF doesn't run these checks.

Warning signs

Stop and look into a response that does any of these things:

Uses "current", "quarter", or "year-to-date" without exact dates
Doesn't say which grants are included in an initiative or funder total
Treats synced QuickBooks data as live without checking the sync status
States an outcome, beneficiary count, variance reason, or certification without a source
Leaves out uncategorized or unallocated activity that you expected
Gives two different values for the same figure in two sections
Mixes period amounts and cumulative amounts
Calls a transaction improper, fraudulent, or unallowable based only on its amount
Says that a report was approved, filed, accepted, or submitted when Chat only drafted or published it
Makes a claim from a web page or image without a reliable source and a human review

Fix the source of a wrong number

If a number is wrong, find where it comes from and fix it there:

Problem	Where to fix it
Source transaction, account, vendor, date, or QuickBooks tracking field	QuickBooks, and then sync GrantLink
Grant assignment, split, budget line, or funding share	The GrantLink allocation screens
Budget amount or schedule	The GrantLink grant budget
Grant details, dates, funder, initiative, or reporting setup	The grant, funder, or initiative record in GrantLink
Program activity, outcome, explanation, or other narrative fact	The approved source document or your program review process

Then run the summary again or revise it. Don't ask Chat to reword the text so that a number that doesn't reconcile looks correct.

When Chat proposes a change to a GrantLink record, it asks you to select Approve or Do not approve. Your approval applies only to that record change. It doesn't confirm that the text around it is correct.

Revise without new errors

When a summary is correct but needs editing, limit the change:

"Shorten this to 150 words and keep all names, dates, and amounts unchanged."
"Replace only the personnel explanation with the approved text in the attached file."
"Remove the recommendation section and don't change the findings table."
"State the scope and calculation next to every percentage you calculated."

Check the revised output again. A wording change can drop a qualifier, change a period label, or make the text disagree with a table.

When an AI summary isn't the final answer

Use Chat as one input, not as the final authority, for these items:

Legal, tax, or audit questions, and new accounting questions
Decisions about whether a cost is eligible or allowable under a specific award
Certifications, attestations, and representations
Sensitive messages about staff, beneficiaries, investigations, or disputes
Decisions with important funding, compliance, or reputation effects
Any submission to a funder when the source data isn't reconciled

Chat can't approve or submit a report, sign in to a funder portal, record that a funder accepted a report, or make professional decisions for your organization.

For better requests, see Best Prompts for Grant Reporting. For Chat permissions, tools, and data limits, see How to Use the GrantLink AI Assistant.