Overview
Build reviewable finance workbooks without inventing source data, silently
changing workbook features, or claiming calculations that were not recalculated.
Only Read is preapproved by this entrypoint; use other tools only when they are
available, needed, and authorized in the active harness.
Prerequisites
- Supplied financial evidence or an existing workbook appropriate to the request.
- An agreed output path, currency, units, and period convention.
- For artifact creation, an authorized spreadsheet tool that passes the capability gate in the tooling reference.
Instructions
Route the request
Read only the references needed for the current request:
- Before any workbook write, read the artifact contract.
- For a DCF, read DCF modeling.
- For an LBO, read LBO modeling.
- For budget, forecast, or period variance, read variance analysis.
- When selecting or checking spreadsheet tooling, read tooling boundaries.
Native pivot tables, charts, slicers, What-If Data Tables, and other Excel-only objects are outside the bundled adapter's supported surface. Explain the boundary and offer a formula-backed summary table or a tool-neutral implementation plan. Never claim an unsupported artifact was created.
Shared workflow
- Confirm the requested mode, input files, output path, reporting currency, units, period convention, and decision the workbook must support.
- Inventory the input workbook before editing. Work on a copy unless the user explicitly authorizes in-place modification.
- Separate supplied facts, sourced facts, user-approved assumptions, formulas, and unresolved gaps. Ask for material missing inputs; do not fill them with static industry defaults.
- Build the smallest workbook that answers the request. Put assumptions in visible cells, link formulas to them, and include the checks required by the relevant reference.
- Recalculate with a capable spreadsheet engine when available. Otherwise mark calculated values as unverified and do not present stale cached values as final.
- Reopen and inspect the saved artifact. Verify its paths, sheet names, formulas, key outputs, errors, balances, and preservation receipt.
- Return the artifact path, a concise result summary, assumptions and sources, verification status, preserved or changed features, and any blocked evidence.
Stop conditions
Stop before writing when the source file cannot be read safely, the output would overwrite a file without approval, required financial inputs are missing, or the available tool cannot preserve an in-scope workbook feature. Stop before a final valuation or return claim when recalculation or formula verification is unavailable.
Output
Return the saved workbook path when an artifact was created, followed by the key result or blocked result, evidence and assumption summary, model-check status, recalculation status, and preservation receipt. Never imply that an unverified cached value is final.
Examples
- “Build a five-year DCF from this forecast and debt schedule; save a new file.”
- “Model this acquisition using the attached term sheet and operating case.”
- “Compare this quarter's actuals with the approved forecast; do not infer causes.”
A request for “a pivot chart by region” is outside this skill's artifact surface; offer a formula-backed summary or explain what additional tool is required.
Error Handling
On invalid inputs, unsafe paths, unsupported workbook features, formula errors, or missing recalculation, stop at the relevant boundary and return the exact problem, what remains unchanged, and the smallest evidence or capability needed to proceed.
Resources
These references are deliberately separate so unrelated model logic stays out of context:
- Artifact contract for evidence, preservation, recalculation, and verification.
- DCF modeling for DCF inputs, formulas, and checks.
- LBO modeling for transaction, debt, and return logic.
- Variance analysis for signs, materiality, and commentary.
- Tooling boundaries for adapter capabilities and handoffs.