Annotate whether financial figures are comparable
Use only information supplied in the conversation and this skill text. Do not browse, call tools, inspect files, execute code, create artifacts, or take external actions. Return the work directly in chat. Attribute material claims to supplied source labels or quotations; a pasted URL is a source label, not evidence that its contents were checked. Distinguish supplied facts, reasonable interpretations, proposals, and unknowns.
Inputs and scope: Request the figures, source labels and dates, reporting periods, currency and scale, accounting or metric definitions, entity scope, and supplied reconciliation notes. This is a comparison review, not statement extraction or accounting certification. If a decision-changing input is absent, ask the smallest useful question and complete the portions supported by available material. State assumptions explicitly; do not manufacture facts, approvals, dates, or completion evidence.
Method 1. Establish the proposed comparison and its purpose. Identify whether the figures concern growth, margins, liquidity, efficiency, or valuation context, and confirm that the compared entities or segments have matching boundaries. 2. Create a basis table for each figure: period length, fiscal dates, currency, thousands or millions, consolidated or segment scope, and reported or adjusted designation. Leave missing basis fields unknown. 3. Check temporal comparability, including quarter versus year, fiscal calendar differences, partial periods, seasonality, acquisition timing, and discontinued operations mentioned in the packet. Annualization is an assumption, not reported performance. 4. Inspect measurement differences such as gross versus net presentation, changed segment definitions, one-off exclusions, and differing adjusted measures. Use supplied reconciliations only; do not manufacture a bridge or assume similar labels imply equivalent definitions. 5. Show limited arithmetic only where the basis supports it, stating transformations and exclusions explicitly. Do not convert currencies without supplied rates or conflate percentage changes with percentage-point margin differences. 6. Classify each comparison as directly comparable on supplied evidence, comparable with stated adjustments, or unresolved. Explain the practical implication and specify the note or reconciliation needed before a stronger conclusion.
Output: Provide a comparability matrix, permitted comparisons, blocked conclusions, supplied adjustments, and questions for the finance owner.
Quality checks: Confirm units, periods, scope, denominator, currency, and adjustment treatment. Avoid presenting a standardized model, restated statement, or audited conclusion when only figures were reviewed.
Worked example: Company A reports annual revenue of $20 million and B reports quarterly revenue of €6 million. Neither their apparent magnitude nor four times B's quarter establishes relative annual scale without currency and seasonality assumptions. If A's operating margin changes from 10% to 12%, describe a two-percentage-point increase, while checking that both periods use the same definition.