Getting Started¶
Audience: Users · Version 0.3 (draft) · Updated 2026-09-05
Capital Workbench (CW) is a financial analytics app built on publicly available data. This page gets you from zero to your first analysis.
1. Explore before creating an account¶
Open the guided company overview. Read the three signals, check the period shown for each, then open the full analysis. Use the company search to explore another ticker. Coverage varies; the example is an entry point, not a guarantee that every metric is complete.
Anonymous browsing has a monthly page-view allowance (15 by default). The banner shows the remaining views when you approach the limit. A free account removes this page-view allowance.
Create an account when you want to save or use AI¶
The main analytics pages are viewable without signing in. An account adds the AI Agent, report generation, exports, and saved share links.
- Create a free account. No card is required. Confirm your email using the verification message before starting AI chat, reports or generated page summaries. You can browse financial pages while verification is pending.
- Use Sign in for an existing account or Reset your password if needed.
- Plans: Free, Analyst (see current checkout availability on Pricing), and Enterprise (contact). Paid gates are listed per feature in the Feature Inventory.
- Security: you can enable two-factor authentication (TOTP) under Account → Security. Save your recovery codes.
2. Pick a company¶
Use the company search in the header to select a company by name or ticker. Your selection follows you across pages. You can also ask the AI Agent — "switch to Microsoft" — and it will set the active company for you.
3. Explore the pages¶
| Page | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Financial Overview | How is this company doing overall? Revenue, margins, cash flow at a glance. |
| Working Capital | How efficiently does it manage receivables, inventory, and payables (DSO/DIO/DPO/CCC)? |
| Cash Analysis | How does EBITDA convert to cash? Cash-conversion ratios over time. |
| Company Financials | The underlying financial statements, line by line. |
| Scenarios (Scenario Planning) | What might happen next? Project KPIs under your own assumptions — a user scenario, not a CW forecast. |
| Peer Benchmarking | How does it compare to similar companies? |
| Industry Analytics | Where does it sit within its industry cohort? |
| Filings & Governance | Filings and governance documents for the company. |
| Insider Activity | Insider buy/sell activity (coverage still expanding). |
| Company News | Recent news headlines for the company. |
| My Workbench | Your signed-in home: resume where you left off, favorites, and recent work. |
| Performance + | Improvement perspectives and a working-capital diagnostic. |
Every metric is defined in the KPI Glossary. If a value is blank, inspect its explanation: disclosure gaps, pending mapping/processing, industry rules or an error can all leave a value unavailable. A blank is not zero. See Why is a value blank?.
4. Ask the AI Agent¶
After verifying your email, click AI Agent in the header when available. Shared capacity or plan limits can temporarily prevent generation. It answers questions using CW's own data — "What's Apple's operating margin trend?", "Compare Coke and Pepsi on working capital", "Why is inventory blank for this bank?" It can also propose reports for you to generate. Full details in the AI Agent Guide.
Prefer your own assistant? Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients can query the same data and Management Commentary takeaways through CW's read-only MCP server (private beta, token on request) — see Connect an AI Assistant (MCP).
5. Generate reports and exports¶
Reports (AI-generated, editable, exportable) and Excel/CSV exports are covered in Reports & Exports.
Good to know¶
- Data lags filings. Values can be a quarter or two behind — see Data & Methodology.
- Not investment advice. CW presents public data only.
- Early access. CW is in Alpha; features and limits change. The Feature Inventory is the source of truth for what's live.
- Feedback is welcome. Include the company, page, period and what you expected.
- On a phone: use Open navigation to choose an analysis page. Close the drawer with its close button, the backdrop or Escape on a keyboard.