The numbers are done by day five. The board pack takes another week. Most of that week goes to rebuilding the same variance table. Then someone writes why each line moved, from memory and old email threads.
What Flux Runs Each Period
- Variance table. Actual against budget, forecast and prior period, calculated from the trial balance before any words are written.
- Flagged items. Lines over your dollar and percent thresholds, so nobody reads 40 lines to find 6.
- First-draft commentary. Each explanation cites only causes visible in the data, like a new vendor or a one-off entry.
- Open-questions list. Variances the data can't explain become questions for the budget owner.
- Number check. Every figure in the commentary matched back to the variance table.
- Board pack pages refreshed. Your template, updated with this period's tables and charts.
What Your Team Keeps
- The story: what the board should take from the period.
- Final wording on every comment.
- Answers to the open questions, from the people who own those lines.
- Forecast changes and what you commit to next quarter.
What We Need From You
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Trial balance or P&L detail | Period end, at account level, with GL detail for flagged lines |
| Budget and forecast | The versions the board approved, on the same account structure |
| Last board pack | The deck or document, so we keep your layout and tone |
| Your thresholds | For example, over US$25,000 and over 10% |
| Context notes | Optional: anything already known, like a delayed launch |
| Time from you | About 30 minutes to send files, then about an hour to edit the draft |
What You Get Back
You get the variance table, flagged items, draft commentary and open questions, set in your board template. For the free run on a closed period, that arrives within one business day of complete files. Every number in the draft ties to the ledger before it reaches you.
What It Looks Like
Illustrative, with sample numbers, not a client engagement.
Marketing comes in at US$62,000 against a US$40,000 budget. GL detail shows US$18,000 paid to a new events vendor and US$4,000 of creep across existing vendors. The draft reads: "Marketing was US$22,000 (55%) over budget. US$18,000 is a new events vendor in March. The other US$4,000 is spread across existing vendors." Whether that event was planned goes on the questions list for your marketing lead.
Common Questions
How do you stop the commentary making things up?
The numbers come first, calculated and tied to the ledger. The draft can only cite what's in the data. Anything else becomes a question for you.
Can the draft sound like us?
Send two or three past packs. The draft follows their structure and phrasing, and you edit the rest.
Who sees our budget and board materials?
Only the files you choose to send, under a mutual NDA. We use business-grade AI services that don't train on client data. Files are deleted within 90 days after the engagement ends.