By ForeCraft · Published 2026-09-08 · Updated 2026-09-08
Good financial commentary answers four things in order: what moved, by how much, why it moved, and what should happen next. This page gives you that sentence structure, three before-and-after rewrites showing weak commentary turned into decisions, and the specific habits that make commentary unreadable.
The four-part structure
Every sentence of useful commentary carries the same four elements. Written out as a pattern:
[Category] [direction] [amount] ([percentage]) to [new value] because [driver], so [implication or action].
- What moved — name the category, not “costs”.
- By how much — give the currency amount and the percentage. One without the other hides either scale or significance.
- Why — the driver. Volume, price, timing, one-off, or correction. This is the part that requires you to have done the work.
- So what — the implication, or explicitly that no action is needed. Saying “no action needed” is itself information.
Three rewrites
The figures are illustrative and invented, carried over from the variance analysis example so the two pages agree. They are not customer data or benchmarks.
Rewrite 1
Before: “Software costs increased this month.”
The problem: States the direction with no size, no cause, and nothing to act on.
After: “Software and subscriptions rose 2,700 (84 percent) to 5,900 because the annual analytics renewal posted in full this month; the run rate returns to roughly 3,200 from next month, so no action is needed.”
Rewrite 2
Before: “Revenue was up 10 percent, a strong result.”
The problem: Praises a movement without checking the ratio underneath it. Gross margin fell while revenue grew.
After: “Revenue rose 12,000 (10.0 percent) to 132,000, but cost of goods sold rose 16.9 percent over the same period, taking gross margin from 60.0 to 57.5 percent; the growth was won at a lower margin and pricing should be reviewed before the next quarter.”
Rewrite 3
Before: “Marketing spend was down, which helped profitability.”
The problem: Treats an underspend as a win without asking whether it was deliberate or a deferred commitment.
After: “Marketing fell 2,700 (30 percent) to 6,300 because the Q3 campaign did not run in the period; this is timing rather than a saving, and the spend is expected to land next month.”
Habits that make commentary unreadable
- Restating the table in prose. If the sentence contains no information beyond the number already shown, delete it.
- Hedging. “Costs appear to have somewhat increased” is a way of not having checked. If you do not know the driver, say the driver is not yet known and who is finding out.
- Explaining everything. Commentary on twenty lines means the reader finds none of them. Explain what passed your materiality threshold and leave the rest.
- Burying the ratio. Margin, runway, and collection days move without appearing in any variance column. Check them separately.
- Ending without an owner. “Pricing should be reviewed” is an observation until it has a name and a date attached.
- Adjectives instead of drivers. “Disappointing” and “strong” are your judgment, not an explanation. Give the cause and let the reader judge.
The three-sentence executive summary
The summary at the top of a pack is not a shorter version of the commentary. It is three sentences with three distinct jobs:
- What happened. The headline result for the period.
- Why. The single largest driver — one, not a list.
- What it means. The implication or the decision required.
If a fourth sentence is needed, it usually belongs in the variance section instead. Length is not credibility, and an executive summary that runs to a page gets skipped.
How ForeCraft handles this
ForeCraft drafts commentary in this structure from your uploaded figures, with every number traceable to the source row. It produces a first draft you edit — it does not send anything to a client on your behalf, and the judgment in the “so what” clause stays yours.
Related resources
- Variance analysis examples and templates — finding what deserves commentary.
- CFO management pack template — where the commentary goes.
- Monthly close checklist — the steps before you start writing.
- All resources