Financial Analyst Skill
Overview
Production-ready financial analysis toolkit providing ratio analysis, DCF valuation, budget variance analysis, and rolling forecast construction. Designed for financial modeling, forecasting & budgeting, management reporting, business performance analysis, and investment analysis.
5-Phase Workflow
Phase 1: Scoping
- Define analysis objectives and stakeholder requirements
- Identify data sources and time periods
- Establish materiality thresholds and accuracy targets
- Select appropriate analytical frameworks
Phase 2: Data Analysis & Modeling
- Collect and validate financial data (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow)
- Validate input data completeness before running ratio calculations (check for missing fields, nulls, or implausible values)
- Calculate financial ratios across 5 categories (profitability, liquidity, leverage, efficiency, valuation)
- Build DCF models with WACC and terminal value calculations; cross-check DCF outputs against sanity bounds (e.g., implied multiples vs. comparables)
- Construct budget variance analyses with favorable/unfavorable classification
- Develop driver-based forecasts with scenario modeling
Phase 3: Insight Generation
- Interpret ratio trends and benchmark against industry standards
- Identify material variances and root causes
- Assess valuation ranges through sensitivity analysis
- Evaluate forecast scenarios (base/bull/bear) for decision support
Phase 4: Reporting
- Generate executive summaries with key findings
- Produce detailed variance reports by department and category
- Deliver DCF valuation reports with sensitivity tables
- Present rolling forecasts with trend analysis
Phase 5: Follow-up
- Track forecast accuracy (target: +/-5% revenue, +/-3% expenses)
- Monitor report delivery timeliness (target: 100% on time)
- Update models with actuals as they become available
- Refine assumptions based on variance analysis
Tools
1. Ratio Calculator (scripts/ratio_calculator.py)
Calculate and interpret financial ratios from financial statement data.
Ratio Categories:
- Profitability: ROE, ROA, Gross Margin, Operating Margin, Net Margin
- Liquidity: Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Cash Ratio
- Leverage: Debt-to-Equity, Interest Coverage, DSCR
- Efficiency: Asset Turnover, Inventory Turnover, Receivables Turnover, DSO
- Valuation: P/E, P/B, P/S, EV/EBITDA, PEG Ratio
python scripts/ratio_calculator.py sample_financial_data.json
python scripts/ratio_calculator.py sample_financial_data.json --format json
python scripts/ratio_calculator.py sample_financial_data.json --category profitability
2. DCF Valuation (scripts/dcf_valuation.py)
Discounted Cash Flow enterprise and equity valuation with sensitivity analysis.
Features:
- WACC calculation via CAPM
- Revenue and free cash flow projections (5-year default)
- Terminal value via perpetuity growth and exit multiple methods
- Enterprise value and equity value derivation
- Two-way sensitivity analysis (discount rate vs growth rate)
python scripts/dcf_valuation.py valuation_data.json
python scripts/dcf_valuation.py valuation_data.json --format json
python scripts/dcf_valuation.py valuation_data.json --projection-years 7
3. Budget Variance Analyzer (scripts/budget_variance_analyzer.py)
Analyze actual vs budget vs prior year performance with materiality filtering.
Features:
- Dollar and percentage variance calculation
- Materiality threshold filtering (default: 10% or $50K)
- Favorable/unfavorable classification with revenue/expense logic
- Department and category breakdown
- Executive summary generation
python scripts/budget_variance_analyzer.py budget_data.json
python scripts/budget_variance_analyzer.py budget_data.json --format json
python scripts/budget_variance_analyzer.py budget_data.json --threshold-pct 5 --threshold-amt 25000
4. Forecast Builder (scripts/forecast_builder.py)
Driver-based revenue forecasting with rolling cash flow projection and scenario modeling.
Features:
- Driver-based revenue forecast model
- 13-week rolling cash flow projection
- Scenario modeling (base/bull/bear cases)
- Trend analysis using simple linear regression (standard library)
python scripts/forecast_builder.py forecast_data.json
python scripts/forecast_builder.py forecast_data.json --format json
python scripts/forecast_builder.py forecast_data.json --scenarios base,bull,bear
Knowledge Bases
| Reference | Purpose |
|---|---|
references/financial-ratios-guide.md | Ratio formulas, interpretation, industry benchmarks |
references/valuation-methodology.md | DCF methodology, WACC, terminal value, comps |
references/forecasting-best-practices.md | Driver-based forecasting, rolling forecasts, accuracy |
references/industry-adaptations.md | Sector-specific metrics and considerations (SaaS, Retail, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Healthcare) |
Templates
| Template | Purpose |
|---|---|
assets/variance_report_template.md | Budget variance report template |
assets/dcf_analysis_template.md | DCF valuation analysis template |
assets/forecast_report_template.md | Revenue forecast report template |
Key Metrics & Targets
| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| Forecast accuracy (revenue) | +/-5% |
| Forecast accuracy (expenses) | +/-3% |
| Report delivery | 100% on time |
| Model documentation | Complete for all assumptions |
| Variance explanation | 100% of material variances |
Input Data Format
All scripts accept JSON input files. See assets/sample_financial_data.json for the complete input schema covering all four tools.
Dependencies
None - All scripts use Python standard library only (math, statistics, json, argparse, datetime). No numpy, pandas, or scipy required.