BS Quick Compare — Skill

What This Skill Does

Runs a period-over-period variance analysis on the Balance Sheet (BS) pulled directly from QuickBooks Online. Outputs a 4-tab Excel workbook: Summary | Detail | Flags | CDC Log.

Mirrors the pl-quick-compare and scf-quick-compare patterns but for the Balance Sheet — Assets / Liabilities / Equity sections, accounting equation validation, and BS-specific analysis notes on flagged items tying changes to SCF, AR/AP aging, capex, debt schedule, and equity activity.

When to Use

Use when:

• A client needs month-end or YTD balance sheet comparison
• Reviewing BS as part of monthly close deliverables
• Investigating material shifts in assets, liabilities, or equity
• Client asks: "why did our AR/AP/cash/debt change?" or "what happened to our equity?"
• Pre-loan/investor analysis requiring clear BS trend visibility

NOT for:

• P&L variance analysis → use pl-quick-compare.py
• Cash flow analysis → use scf-quick-compare.py
• AR aging deep-dive → use ar-collections
• Financial projections or forecasting → use cash-flow-forecast.py
• Full three-statement analysis (run all three compare pipelines and cross-reference)

Script Location

scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py

Requirements

• pip install openpyxl (already installed in workspace)
• Node.js QBO client with valid auth token
• QBO credentials configured

Usage

# Current month-end vs. prior month-end (auto-detects prior)
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug sb-paulson \
    --current-end 2026-03-31

# Explicit prior period
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug sb-paulson \
    --current-end 2026-02-28 --prior-end 2026-01-31

# YTD (as of end of last completed month vs. same date prior year)
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug sb-paulson --ytd --year 2026

# Full date control (for QBO BS reports needing explicit start dates)
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug sb-paulson \
    --current-start 2026-01-01 --current-end 2026-03-31 \
    --prior-start 2025-01-01 --prior-end 2025-03-31

# Custom output directory
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug glowlabs \
    --current-end 2026-03-31 \
    --out ~/Desktop/reports

# Sandbox mode (QBO sandbox environment)
python3 scripts/pipelines/bs-quick-compare.py \
    --slug glowlabs \
    --current-end 2026-03-31 \
    --sandbox

Arguments

*Either --current-end OR --ytd is required.

Balance Sheet date note: BS is a point-in-time statement. --current-end and --prior-end are the "as of" dates. The QBO CLI requires start/end dates even for BS — the script defaults --current-start to Jan 1 of the same year if omitted.

Output

Excel file: BS_QuickCompare_{slug}_{as-of-date}.xlsx saved to Desktop (or --out directory).

Tab 1: Summary

• Total Assets / Total Liabilities / Total Equity (current vs prior, $ change, % change, F/U)
• Total Liabilities + Equity (cross-check row)
• Accounting equation validation: Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Total Equity (both periods, ≤$1 tolerance)

Tab 2: Detail

• Every BS line item with hierarchy preserved
• Prior period | Current period | $ Change | % Change | F/U label
• Color-coded by section (Assets = blue, Liabilities = gold, Equity = purple)

Tab 3: ⚠ Flags

• Material changes: ≥10% change OR ≥$2,500 absolute
• Analysis note for each flagged item — plain-English explanation tying the change to relevant follow-up actions
• BS-specific cross-references (see Analysis Notes section below)

Tab 4: CDC Log

• Change Data Capture: compares current BS flat map against last cached run
• First run: full snapshot saved (no deltas)
• Subsequent runs: shows exactly what line items changed since last run
• Cache location: .cache/bs-quick-compare/{slug}.json

BS Logic

Section Classification

Each QBO BS row is classified into sections by keyword matching:

• Assets: cash, bank, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid, property, equipment, fixed asset, accumulated depreciation, investment, due from, notes receivable
• Liabilities: liabilit, accounts payable, accrued, loan, note payable, line of credit, mortgage, deferred revenue, sales tax, payroll, credit card, due to
• Equity: equity, owner, capital, retained earnings, net income, distribution, contribution, member, shareholder, partner, opening balance equity, paid-in, common stock

Children inherit their parent section classification.

Variance F/U Logic

Strategic exceptions (new LOC for growth, timely AP buildup) are noted in the analysis notes column.

Accounting Equation Validation

Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Total Equity   (≤$1 tolerance)

Runs on both periods and displayed in Summary tab with pass/fail icons.

YTD Mode

--ytd: Current = as of end of last completed month. Prior = same date in prior year. Example: run on March 17, 2026 → Current = as of Feb 28, 2026 | Prior = as of Feb 28, 2025.

Analysis Notes (Flags Tab)

The Flags tab includes an Analysis Note column with BS-specific interpretation for each material change:

CDC Cache

.cache/bs-quick-compare/{slug}.json

Stores the flat map of all BS line names → balances for the most recent run. On re-run, diffs against the prior cache and shows exactly what changed. Useful for catching mid-month QBO adjustments, journal entries, or bank feed imports.

Decimal Math

All calculations use Python Decimal with ROUND_HALF_UP — no floating-point rounding errors in financial outputs.

Related Pipelines

Run all three compare pipelines for a complete monthly close package:

Cross-reference flags across all three:

• Cash change on BS → tie to SCF net change
• AR/AP change on BS → tie to aging pipelines
• Net income on BS → tie to P&L net income
• Loan changes on BS → tie to SCF financing section