This skill analyses monthly actuals vs. budget and forecast, identifying and explaining key variances. Use when asked to run the monthly variance analysis, explain why actuals diverged from plan, or prepare variance commentary for leadership. Also consider when the monthly close completes without variance analysis. Suggest when the user is reviewing financials without understanding why numbers moved.
L2 FP&A analyst (1x) responsible for budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, board reporting, fundraising models, and SaaS metrics.
Department ethos: ideal-finance.md
Analyses monthly actuals against budget and forecast, identifying material variances, attributing root causes, and producing actionable commentary for leadership.
On success: Produces a monthly variance report containing the variance waterfall, root cause analysis, commentary, and forecast adjustment recommendations. Delivered to the CFO and department heads within 5 business days of close.
On failure: Report which actuals are not yet finalized, what preliminary variance analysis is possible with available data, and the expected timeline for final numbers. Flag any data quality issues discovered during extraction.
rolling-forecast-updater -- Consumes the variance insights to update the rolling forecast.board-financial-pack -- Uses the variance commentary as a key input to the board financial section.