Finance & Accounting Ops

Builds and interprets the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement as one linked system - construction order, the three mechanical ties between statements, and the review checks that catch errors. Use when someone asks "build me a three-statement model", "why doesn't my balance sheet balance", "how does net income flow into the cash flow statement", "check this financial package for errors", or is explaining statements to stakeholders. Do NOT use for spreadsheet layout and formula hygiene - use spreadsheet-model-builder instead - for forward-looking 13-week or 12-month cash projections - use cash-flow-forecast instead - or for the monthly process that produces the trial balance - use month-end-close instead.

Structures a budget-vs-actual variance analysis that isolates root causes - price/volume/mix decomposition, timing vs structural expense buckets, a materiality screen, and reforecast flags - instead of restating numbers. Use when someone asks "why did we miss budget", "write the variance commentary for the board deck", "explain this expense overrun", or is closing the month and owes narrative on the P&L. Do NOT use to build the budget or plan itself - use budget-builder instead; do NOT use for a full driver-based forecast model - use fpa-model instead; do NOT use for cash timing and runway questions - use cash-flow-forecast instead.

Builds a rolling 13-week and 12-month cash flow forecast with runway view. Use when managing liquidity, planning for fundraising, preparing board materials, or stress-testing the business under downside scenarios.

Builds a driver-based FP&A operating model linking business inputs to P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow outputs. Use when building an annual plan, preparing investor materials, running scenario analysis, or stress-testing the business.

Drafts a clear, enforceable expense and approval policy - per-category spend limits, a dollar-tiered approval matrix, receipt and documentation rules, 30/90-day submission deadlines, and audit sampling. Use when someone says "write our expense policy", "who should approve what spend", "set reimbursement rules", or is onboarding a finance system or preparing for a compliance review. Do NOT use for building a departmental or personal budget - use budget-builder instead; do NOT use for the monthly close checklist - use month-end-close instead; do NOT use for general internal SOPs outside spend - use process-doc instead.