The Cost Recovery Playbook presents a structured approach to reducing business costs while protecting revenue, customer relationships, and essential capabilities. It contains 37 AI prompts organized into eight areas: P&L spend auditing, vendor renegotiation, software stack auditing, operational waste mapping, staffing and capability decisions, marketing spend decisions, 30-day sequencing and guardrails, and stakeholder communications. The methodology begins by sorting expenses into Invest More, Optimize, or Eliminate, followed by two pressure tests: the 12-Month Test and Replacement Test. It emphasizes sequencing cost-reduction actions, starting with lower-risk opportunities such as vendors before moving toward staffing decisions. The playbook also introduces guardrails, weekly reporting, attribution checks, and Day-91 capability reviews. Ultimately, the goal is cash recovery without sacrificing the capabilities that matter.