Financial Workbook Release Review
Get a release decision, traceable findings, and prioritized fixes for financial workbook formulas, reconciliations, and claims.
by AgentVoltv1.0.0
Free to sign up · every skill included with AgentVolt Pro
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
Prompt“Validate our Q3 financial forecast before board presentation to investors.”
Beforegeneric AI agent
Data validation for financial reports is critical before presenting to leadership. You'd want to check for calculation errors, data consistency, outliers that don't make sense, and whether the narrative is actually supported by the numbers. I'd typically look at methodology, source data quality, assumption reasonableness, and then flag anything that stands out. Do you have documentation of your forecast assumptions? What's your historical accuracy rate? Are there specific areas you're most concerned about?
Afterwith Financial Workbook Release Review
FINANCIAL DATA VALIDATION REPORT: Q3 2026 Forecast VALIDATION SUMMARY → Critical errors found: 3 (release-blocking) → Warnings: 7 (material impact, fix before board) → Green: 18 sections (validated) → Overall risk: MEDIUM → LOW (post-fixes) CRITICAL ISSUES (STOP—Fix before presenting) Issue 1: Revenue Calculation Error Finding: Q3 revenue formula references Q2 actuals instead of Q3 forecast Location: Sheet 'Revenue Forecast', Column C (row 15-27) Impact: Q3 revenue overstated by $340K (9.2%) Root cause: Copy-paste error from prior quarter Fix: Update references from Q2 to Q3 forecast data Severity: CRITICAL—changes bottom line materially Issue 2: Duplicate Customer Revenue Finding: Enterprise customer appears twice in subscription revenue Location: 'Customer List' sheet rows 42 and 87 Data: Both rows show $85K annual contract value Impact: Overstated ARR by $85K Root cause: Customer acquired in Q2, not removed from renewal forecast Fix: Remove row 87 (duplicate), retain row 42 with Q3 renewal date Severity: CRITICAL—materially overstates growth Issue 3: Expense Category Math Error Finding: Total operating expenses (row 120) is sum of Q1-Q2 actuals, not Q3 forecast Location: 'Expense Forecast' sheet Current value: $1.2M (should be: $1.35M for Q3) Impact: Operating margin appears 12% higher than forecast Root cause: Wrong row summed in formula Fix: Recalculate row 120 formula to sum Q3-only rows (45-89) Severity: CRITICAL—ebitda projection false WARNING ISSUES (Fix within 48 hours) Warning 1: Unsupported CAC Assumption Finding: CAC projected to drop 18% in Q3 vs. Q2 actuals Data: Q2 CAC actual $580 → Q3 forecast $475 Supporting evidence: None in methodology doc Question: What changes drive this improvement? Recommendation: Document assumption or revise forecast conservatively Impact: If assumption wrong, miss revenue target Warning 2: Churn Rate Anomaly Finding: Churn rate increases from 3.2% to 4.1% mid-quarter Reasoned explanation needed: No commentary in forecast narrative Historical pattern: Q2 was flat at 3.2%, sudden jump is unusual Action: Validate with support/CS team—is there a known issue driving churn? Risk: Churn can accelerate if root cause is real and untreated Warning 3: Headcount Plan Mismatch Finding: Engineering headcount forecast shows 12 new hires in Q3 Supporting plan: Recruiting roadmap only approved 8 new hires Gap: 4 unbudgeted FTE Impact: Salary expense may be understated Action: Reconcile with HR, update forecast if hire plan is firm Warning 4: Foreign Exchange Risk Not Modeled Finding: Q3 forecast assumes USD/EUR = 1.08 (fixed) Actual volatility: Range 1.05-1.12 in 2026 Impact: 21% of revenue is EUR-denominated; 1% FX move = +/- $45K Recommendation: Add FX sensitivity analysis (best/base/worst case) Warning 5: Bad Debt Reserve Missing Finding: No reserve for AR over 90 days Current overdue AR: $120K (2 customers) Historical bad debt rate: 2.1% Forecast should reserve: ~$14K for likely defaults Impact: Net income overstated by $14K Warning 6: Segment Revenue Split Inconsistent Finding: SMB revenue % does not equal sum of SMB customer ARR Data: SMB forecast = 35% of total ($1.4M), but SMB customer list totals $1.24M Gap: $160K unexplained Action: Audit customer segmentation, reallocate revenue to correct segment Warning 7: Discount Rate Assumption Not Disclosed Finding: Cash flow projection uses 8% discount rate (NPV calc) No mention in assumptions section Best practice: Disclose discount rate chosen + sensitivity Recommendation: Add footnote explaining 8% rate choice RECOMMENDATION DO NOT PRESENT to board until: 1. Fix 3 critical errors (1-2 hours work) 2. Document CAC assumption or revise down 8% conservatively 3. Reconcile engineering headcount plan 4. Add 1-page sensitivity analysis (best/base/worst case scenarios) Post-fixes, forecast is defensible and board-ready. Estimated time to board: 48 hours with urgent fix prioritization. Note: This is illustrative financial validation, not advice. Consult your CFO and auditor for material decisions.
About this skill
The totals look right, but one pasted value, duplicated join, or unsupported headline can change the decision leadership makes. This review traces a finished financial workbook from source data through calculations to conclusions and identifies what must change before release.
What it does
- Checks whether the workbook answers the requested business question using the right periods, definitions, and population.
- Traces decision-driving formulas to source records and flags hardcoded overrides, broken references, omitted rows, and inconsistent formulas.
- Reconciles source totals, detail schedules, subtotals, and every leadership-facing summary.
- Investigates duplicate records, impossible values, unusual movements, and persistent forecast bias without silently deleting outliers.
- Recomputes narrative claims, including growth rates, margins, variance explanations, and forecast accuracy.
- Separates release-blocking defects from other fixes and identifies review gaps that prevent a reliable release decision.
What you get
A scoped validation report with a release recommendation, exact evidence locations, quantified effects where supportable, and a prioritized correction and retest list. Coverage limits stay explicit, so a checked screenshot or sample never becomes a claim that the entire workbook passed.
Best for
Financial analysts, controllers, FP&A teams, and reviewers preparing workbooks for leadership, board reporting, budgeting, or investment decisions.
SKILL.md preview
SKILL.md
---
name: financial-workbook-release-review
description: >-
Review finished financial workbooks by tracing decision-driving formulas to source data, reconciling summaries, investigating anomalies, and checking every narrative claim before recommending release. Use when the user says "check this workbook before I send it", "audit these financial calculations", "can leadership rely on these numbers?", "my summary tabs keep disagreeing", "find the hardcoded overrides", "does this narrative match the model?", or "why are we always under-forecasting?".
---
# Financial Workbook Release Review
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