# Contributing to PythonMuse

Thank you for your interest in improving accounting and finance automation knowledge.

You do not need to be a developer to contribute to PythonMuse. We welcome contributions from finance professionals, accountants, auditors, analysts, writers, and technical builders.

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## Ways to Contribute

- **Share a workflow** — bank reconciliation, AR aging, month-end close steps, payroll allocation
- **Submit an example** — a Python script, notebook, or dashboard that solves a real finance problem
- **Add a dataset** — sanitized, realistic accounting data (CSV, Excel) for others to learn from
- **Improve documentation** — rewrite instructions for beginners, add finance context for non-coders
- **Review accounting logic** — check that examples follow sound accounting practices
- **Create visuals** — diagrams, charts, or dashboards that make concepts clearer

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## Focus Areas

- Accounting workflows (reconciliations, close processes, audit prep)
- AI in finance (prompt templates, review checklists, audit-friendly outputs)
- Python for finance (Pandas, data cleaning, reporting automation)
- Audit-friendly automation (control documentation, trail design)

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## How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch (e.g., `feature/ar-aging-example`)
3. Add your work in the appropriate folder (`articles/`, `examples/`)
4. Submit a pull request
5. Describe what you added and why it's useful

Not sure where to start? Check the [Ideas Wanted](community/ideas-wanted.md) page or look for issues labeled `help wanted` or `good first issue`.

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## Article Format

If you're contributing an article, each article lives in its own folder under `articles/`:

```
articles/NN-slug/
├── README.md            ← the article
├── visuals/             ← charts and images
├── data/                ← sample data files (if applicable)
└── generate_visuals.py  ← script to reproduce charts (if applicable)
```

See existing articles for reference.

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## Questions?

Open an issue or start a discussion. We're glad you're here.