Financial Model Narrative Skill
Turns financial model outputs into a clear, structured written narrative suitable for board packs, investor updates, or management reporting.
Required Inputs
- Financial data (paste key figures: revenue, costs, margins, EBITDA, cash)
- Period covered (month / quarter / annual / multi-year)
- Audience (board / investors / management / bank / internal)
- Key message (what is the headline story?)
- Actuals vs budget / prior period? (comparison context)
Output Structure
1. Headline Summary
3-5 sentences. The financial story in plain English. Lead with the most important insight — not "revenue was X" but what that figure means.
2. Revenue
- Performance vs prior period / budget
- Key drivers: what caused the movement
- Risks or opportunities in the revenue line
3. Costs and Margins
- Gross margin: % and trend
- Key cost movements and why
- EBITDA performance and drivers
- One-off items clearly flagged
4. Cash and Balance Sheet
- Cash position and movement
- Runway (for startups)
- Key working capital movements
5. Variance Analysis
For each significant variance:
[Line item] — Over/Under by [amount]
- Cause: [Plain English explanation]
- Permanent or temporary? One-time / Structural
- Action being taken: [If applicable]
6. Forward-Looking Commentary
- Expected next period
- Key risks to forecast
- Key opportunities
- Any reforecast or guidance change
Writing Rules
- Never just restate a number — always explain what it means
- Flag variances over 10% automatically
- Use past tense for actuals, conditional for forecast
- One insight per paragraph
Quality Checks
- Headline summary leads with meaning, not just the number
- Every significant variance has a cause, permanence, and action
- Forward-looking commentary includes specific risks and opportunities
- Audience-appropriate language (board vs investor vs management)
- One-off items clearly distinguished from recurring items
Anti-Patterns
- Do not list numbers without explaining what is driving them — narrative must go beyond restating the figures
- Do not mix one-off items with recurring performance without clearly distinguishing them
- Do not write the same level of detail for all line items — focus depth on the items that matter most
- Do not omit forward-looking commentary — a narrative without outlook is incomplete for board or investor audiences
- Do not use technical accounting language without translation — the audience is executives, not accountants
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Write a financial narrative for these results: [paste numbers]"
- "Turn this P&L into a board narrative"
- "Write the finance section of our board pack"
- "Explain these financial results in plain English"