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.
Hermes Profile Notes
This skill was packaged from pi-financial-services source path plugins/vertical-plugins/fund-admin/skills/variance-commentary for the Hermes financial-services profile. Use institutional data connectors first when available, cite sources, and stage outputs for qualified human review.
Common Pitfalls
- Do not present drafts as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice.
- Do not use web search as the primary source when an institutional MCP/data connector is available.
- Do not execute transactions, contact clients, post to a ledger, or approve onboarding. Stage outputs for review.
Verification Checklist
- Inputs, assumptions, dates, and currencies are explicit.
- Numbers tie across tables, models, decks, and memos.
- Sources are cited and institutional data is preferred where available.
- Output is labeled draft / for human review where appropriate.