Variance Commentary
Write flux commentary for every P&L and balance-sheet line over threshold, current vs...
Install
npx skills add anthropics/financial-services --skill variance-commentary -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- anthropics/financial-services41k
- Category
- Writing
- Updated
- 7d ago
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Context cost
- Lightabout 317 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
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.
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
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| Line | Account or caption |
| Current / Prior / Budget | The three values |
| Δ vs prior and Δ vs budget | Amount and % |
| Driver | One 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.
