Finance · Intermediate
Write variance commentary for the monthly management accounts
Turn a table of budget-versus-actual variances and your notes into clear commentary for budget holders.
The task
Every month someone writes "Marketing is £12k over budget due to timing" forty times. Give the assistant the variance table (already calculated by you) and your rough notes on the causes, and ask it to write consistent, readable commentary. The numbers stay yours; the assistant only does the wording.
A prompt to start from
Paste it into your AI assistant, then fill in the bits in [square brackets].
Below is a table of budget vs actual variances for [month], already calculated, and my rough notes on the causes. Write commentary for the management pack:
- One short paragraph per cost centre with a variance above [threshold]
- Lead with the cause, then whether it's timing or permanent, then any action
- Use only the figures in the table. Don't calculate new numbers or percentages
- Plain British English, no jargon a budget holder wouldn't know
Table: [paste table]
My notes: [paste notes]
What to check in the output
- Check every number in the commentary against the table. Assistants mis-copy figures and sometimes invent percentages.
- Make sure "timing" vs "permanent" matches what you actually know.
- Remove any cause the assistant inferred that isn't in your notes.
Before you paste anything in
Management accounts are usually confidential and may be price-sensitive in listed companies. Only use a tool your company has approved for financial data.
Your organisation's AI policy wins over anything here.
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