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variance-commentary

Turn current, prior-period, and budget figures into a financial variance commentary table. It identifies lines needing explanation, traces changes to underlying business activity, and adds a short narrative covering the period's largest movements.

OriginalShow the original description

Write flux commentary for every P&L and balance-sheet line over threshold — current vs prior period and vs budget, with the driver explained from underlying activity. Use for the month-end close package and management reporting.

See how to install

Good for

  • Preparing month-end close commentary
  • Explaining actual results against budget
  • Reviewing major balance-sheet movements
  • Flagging unexplained changes for the controller

Files included (1)

  • SKILL.md1.5 KB

SKILL.md (original)

Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.

Variance commentary

Given current-period actuals, prior-period actuals, and budget for the same scope, produce a commentary table.

Threshold

Flag a line for commentary if either is true:

  • Absolute variance ≥ the firm's materiality threshold (use the provided value; default 5% of the line or a fixed floor, whichever is greater)
  • The line is on the "always comment" list (revenue, headcount cost, cash)

For each flagged line

ColumnContent
LineAccount or caption
Current / Prior / BudgetThe three values
Δ vs prior and Δ vs budgetAmount and %
DriverOne sentence explaining the movement from underlying activity — not a restatement of the number

A driver explains why, not what: "Cloud spend up $1.2M on incremental GPU reservations for the May launch" — not "Cloud spend increased $1.2M (18%)."

Sourcing the driver

Look at the activity behind the line (journal-source breakdown, vendor mix, headcount delta, volume × rate) via the internal-gl MCP. If the driver isn't clear from the data, write "driver unclear — flag for controller" rather than inventing one.

Output

The commentary table plus a short narrative (3–5 sentences) summarizing the period's biggest movers.

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