Financial Kpi

Financial KPI Dashboard (財務KPIダッシュボード解説)

Interpret financial KPIs and generate executive-ready commentary for dashboards and board reports — for CFOs, board members, and investors.

1. Overview

• Purpose: What story do the financial numbers tell, and what requires management attention?
• Audience: CFO, board members, investors
• Frequency: Monthly (with quarterly deep-dives)
• Time to complete: 20–40 minutes per reporting period

When to use

Use this skill when preparing monthly board packs, investor updates, or management dashboards. It is essential when financial results deviate from plan, when new metrics need contextual commentary, or when leadership needs a narrative that connects numbers to business decisions.

2. Input Data

Required

Optional

Data Quality Checks

• Verify P&L line items sum correctly (gross profit = revenue − COGS)
• Confirm budget and actuals use the same chart of accounts and period definitions
• Check for currency consistency across all inputs
• Validate customer metrics are as-of the same reporting date

3. Analysis Steps

Step 1: Variance Analysis (Actual vs Budget vs Forecast)

For each major P&L line item, calculate:

• Absolute variance = Actual − Budget
• Percentage variance = (Actual − Budget) / Budget × 100%
• Favorable / Unfavorable classification (revenue over-budget = favorable; cost over-budget = unfavorable)

Repeat for Actual vs Forecast if a rolling forecast exists.

Step 2: Trend Analysis (QoQ, YoY)

Compute quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year growth rates for:

• Revenue, Gross Profit, EBITDA, Net Income
• Key customer metrics (MRR, customer count, churn)

Identify acceleration, deceleration, or inflection points. Flag any metric declining for 3+ consecutive periods.

Step 3: Ratio Analysis

Calculate and interpret:

• Gross Margin % = Gross Profit / Revenue × 100%
• EBITDA Margin % = EBITDA / Revenue × 100%
• LTV/CAC Ratio = Customer Lifetime Value / Customer Acquisition Cost
• Burn Rate = Monthly net cash outflow (if cash-flow negative)
• Cash Runway = Cash Balance / Monthly Burn Rate (in months)
• Rule of 40 = Revenue Growth % + EBITDA Margin % (for SaaS)

Step 4: Cohort Revenue Retention

If cohort data is available, calculate net revenue retention (NRR) and gross revenue retention (GRR) by cohort vintage. Identify whether newer cohorts retain better or worse than older ones.

Step 5: Unit Economics Health Check

Evaluate:

• LTV/CAC ratio — is customer acquisition sustainable?
• Payback period — how many months to recover CAC?
• Contribution margin per customer — are individual customers profitable?

Step 6: Narrative Synthesis

Combine quantitative findings into a structured executive narrative:

1. Headline (one sentence: "Revenue beat budget by 8% but gross margin compression offset gains")
2. KPI status cards with red/amber/green ratings
3. Variance explanations for any metric outside tolerance
4. Forward-looking commentary (next quarter outlook, risks, opportunities)
5. Risk flags requiring board attention

4. Output Format

Summary (top-level)

• Headline sentence capturing the period's financial story
• 4–6 KPI status cards: metric name, actual value, vs budget, vs prior period, status color (green/amber/red)
• One-paragraph executive narrative

Detail sections

• Variance analysis table: Line item, Budget, Actual, Variance ($), Variance (%), Status
• Trend analysis: 6-period sparkline or mini-table for key metrics
• Ratio analysis summary with benchmarks
• Cohort retention matrix (if data available)
• Unit economics scorecard

Visualizations

• KPI dashboard cards (metric, value, trend arrow, status color)
• Waterfall chart: Budget → Actual bridge for revenue or EBITDA
• Trend line charts: Revenue, Margin %, LTV/CAC over time
• Cohort retention heatmap (months since acquisition × cohort vintage)

5. Judgment Criteria

Decision Rules

• If budget variance exceeds ±10% for any major line item, it must include a written explanation and remediation plan.
• If LTV/CAC < 3, flag as unsustainable unit economics — either reduce CAC or improve retention/monetization.
• If gross margin declines for 3+ consecutive months, flag as a structural issue — investigate COGS composition, pricing, and mix shift.
• If cash runway < 6 months, flag as critical — board must discuss fundraising or cost reduction immediately.
• If NRR < 100%, the business is in net revenue churn — expansion revenue does not offset losses.
• If Rule of 40 < 25%, the business is underperforming on both growth and profitability.

6. Examples

Sample Input

metric,budget,actual,prior_quarter
Revenue,"¥120,000K","¥129,600K","¥115,200K"
COGS,"¥48,000K","¥54,432K","¥44,928K"
Gross Profit,"¥72,000K","¥75,168K","¥70,272K"
Operating Expenses,"¥60,000K","¥61,800K","¥57,600K"
EBITDA,"¥12,000K","¥13,368K","¥12,672K"
LTV,,"¥84,000",
CAC,,"¥32,000",
Monthly Churn,,"2.8%",
Cash Balance,,"¥180,000K",
Monthly Burn,,"¥8,200K",

Sample Output

## Financial KPI Dashboard — 2026 Q1

**Headline**: Revenue beat budget by 8.0% driven by enterprise upsells,
but gross margin compressed 200bps (58.0% vs 60.0% budget) due to
infrastructure cost increases.

### KPI Status Cards
| KPI            | Actual      | vs Budget | vs QoQ   | Status |
|----------------|-------------|-----------|----------|--------|
| Revenue        | ¥129,600K   | +8.0%     | +12.5%   | GREEN  |
| Gross Margin   | 58.0%       | −2.0pp    | −3.0pp   | RED    |
| EBITDA         | ¥13,368K    | +11.4%    | +5.5%    | GREEN  |
| LTV/CAC        | 2.63×       | —         | —        | AMBER  |
| Cash Runway    | 22.0 months | —         | —        | GREEN  |
| Monthly Churn  | 2.8%        | —         | —        | AMBER  |

### Variance Explanations
- **Revenue (+8.0%)**: 3 enterprise renewals pulled forward from Q2;
  mid-market pipeline also ahead of plan.
- **Gross Margin (−2.0pp)**: Cloud infrastructure costs up 18% due to
  usage-based pricing surge; renegotiation underway for Q2.

### Risk Flags
1. LTV/CAC at 2.63× — below 3.0× sustainability threshold.
   CAC increased 12% QoQ; marketing efficiency review recommended.
2. Gross margin declining for 2nd consecutive quarter — if Q2
   continues this trend, reclassify as structural.

### Forward-Looking
- Q2 revenue forecast: ¥135,000K (+4.2% QoQ) based on pipeline.
- Infrastructure contract renegotiation expected to recover 100–150bps
  of gross margin by Q3.

7. Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Always show both absolute and percentage variances — executives need both
• Provide written explanations for every metric outside tolerance (±10%)
• Include forward-looking commentary — boards want outlook, not just history
• Use consistent color coding (green/amber/red) mapped to the judgment criteria table
• Benchmark against industry where possible (e.g., Rule of 40 for SaaS)

Don't

• Don't present raw numbers without context — always compare to budget, forecast, or prior period
• Don't bury bad news — lead with the most material variances, positive or negative
• Don't mix currencies or time periods without clear labeling
• Don't use overly technical financial jargon without defining it for non-finance audiences
• Don't omit cash runway when the company is pre-profit — it is the single most critical metric

8. Agent Guide

When executing this analysis skill:

You are performing Financial KPI Dashboard analysis (財務KPIダッシュボード解説).
Key rules:
- Calculate variance for EVERY major P&L line item against budget AND prior period.
- Flag any variance exceeding ±10% with a written explanation.
- Always compute LTV/CAC, gross margin %, and cash runway.
- If LTV/CAC < 3, flag as unsustainable.
- If gross margin declines 3+ consecutive months, flag as structural.
- If cash runway < 6 months, flag as critical and escalate.
- Produce KPI status cards with green/amber/red ratings.
- Write a one-sentence headline and an executive narrative paragraph.
- Include forward-looking commentary and risk flags.

Refer to the full SKILL.md for thresholds, output format, and detailed steps.