Financial reporting narrative generation

Requirements describe capabilities the pattern needs in your environment, not the vendors you must buy. Any system that fills a requirement satisfies it — that’s what makes the catalog portable across the long tail of SMB tooling.

1. financial_data_source

   REQUIREDREADbatch

   The numbers being reported on.

   DATA SHAPE

   P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, key metrics at the granularity the reports cover (consolidated, by entity, by segment), with prior-period and budget comparisons.
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • financial reporting module of the accounting system
   • data warehouse with finance tables
   • structured exports from the close process
2. operational_context_corpus

   REQUIREDREADcorpus

   The non-financial context that explains why the numbers moved.

   DATA SHAPE

   Sales pipeline movement, headcount changes, customer churn and wins, key project milestones, market events.
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • CRM with pipeline and customer events
   • HR system with headcount data
   • operations dashboard with project status
   • decision archive from C9 if live
3. report_template_library

   REQUIREDREADcorpus

   The structure and tone of the firm's reports. Consistency matters; the pattern follows the firm's conventions.

   DATA SHAPE

   Per-report-type template: sections, length conventions, tone, mandatory inclusions, audience.
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • template documents maintained by the finance team
   • prior reports the pattern learns conventions from
   • structured report scaffold in the reporting tool
4. prior_period_context

   RECOMMENDEDREADcorpus

   What was said in last period's report, what was promised, what was flagged as risk. Lets the new report close loops.

   DATA SHAPE

   Prior reports with their commentary, flagged risks, stated forecasts.
   IF MISSING

   Reports start fresh each period rather than building on continuity. Quality drops noticeably on quarterly and annual reports where the narrative arc matters.
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • archived prior reports in a structured folder
   • report archive in the reporting tool
   • internal repository of board materials
5. draft_review_destination

   REQUIREDWRITErequest

   Where drafts go for finance lead review and editing.

   DATA SHAPE

   Draft report in the format the audience expects (document, slide deck, dashboard commentary).
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • shared document for collaborative editing
   • draft slide deck for board materials
   • commentary field in the reporting dashboard
6. audience_distribution

   REQUIREDWRITEbatch

   Where the finalized report goes to its audience: leadership team, board, investors.

   DATA SHAPE

   Approved report distributed in the appropriate format to the appropriate audience with versioning.
   COMMONLY FILLED BY

   • distribution to the leadership team via shared folder
   • board portal upload
   • structured report archive accessible to permitted audiences