Explain the month's variances without inventing a cause

1 · Learn the move · Fact-check list

The monthly operating report arrives with the variance narrative already written, and the manager's causes read smoothly: storm cleanup, seasonal rates, a vacancy. Some are sitting in the data and some are a plausible story. Once you forward the report to partners or a lender, every sentence in it is yours. So the owner's version of this skill is an audit of someone else's narrative. For each material line, the model recomputes actual against budget with the math shown, then checks the stated cause against the pasted ledger detail and rent roll: SUPPORTED with the line quoted, PARTLY SUPPORTED with the unexplained remainder stated, or UNSUPPORTED. An unsupported cause is not replaced with a better guess. It becomes a document request to the manager. The one line the data cannot explain is the proof the check is honest, so the sample always carries one. Accounting treatment questions go to your CPA.

Audit my manager's variance narrative against the data. For each material line: actual, budget, variance in dollars and percent with math shown. Then check the manager's stated cause against the GL detail and rent roll: SUPPORTED (quote the line), PARTLY SUPPORTED (state the unexplained remainder), or UNSUPPORTED. Never supply a replacement cause. Unsupported causes become document requests. [actuals and budget] [GL detail] [rent roll] [manager's narrative]