The finance page a busy director can read once and understand.
A finance section for a board or investor update that leads with the verdict, carries five numbers, names the risk, and ends with the ask.
Finance sections tend to be a dense table with no story, or a story with no numbers. Directors skim for three answers: are we on plan, is anything about to go wrong, and what do you need from us. Bad news placed in a footnote gets found anyway, and trust drops.
Board Update Section leads with an honest verdict, limits the page to five numbers with definitions, explains only the variances that matter, and states the risk and the ask in plain sentences. It finishes with a read-through as a skeptical director would.
What it produces.
- →A verdict sentence that matches the numbers
- →A five-metric table with actual, plan, and difference
- →Variance notes labeled timing, one-off, or lasting
- →A named risk and an exact ask with a deadline
- ✦Founders writing the finance part of a board update
- ✦Finance leads who produce the monthly or quarterly pack
- ✦Operators preparing an advisory board or investor letter
This Playbook writes one finance section. It does not include the full-pack review in the Board Pack Review Tool: checking the whole pack's narrative against its numbers, finding missing metrics and shifted definitions, and preparing the hardest likely questions. Use the Playbook to draft the section, and the Board Pack Review Tool to stress-test the whole pack.
See the Board Pack Review Tool ($149) →- →board-update-section.zip: a native Claude Skill. Upload to Settings → Skills in Claude, or unzip to
~/.claude/skills/ - →board-update-section-skill.md: plain markdown. Works in ChatGPT Custom GPTs, Gemini, Claude Projects, agent system prompts, anywhere
- →A README inside the zip with install steps for Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini
No subscription · free updates within v1.x
Works as a Claude Skill (.zip) and as a plain .md for ChatGPT, Gemini & every LLM
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Before you buy.
How is this different from just asking Claude directly?
Asked cold, Claude produces a balanced-sounding summary that buries the awkward number in the middle. This puts the verdict first, limits the page to five defined metrics, puts bad news up top, and checks that no definition quietly changed since the last update.
How is this different from a Tool?
Playbooks are systematically produced to a fixed template and priced accordingly ($12.99). Tools are hand-built, one at a time, and go deeper ($39 to $199). A Playbook gives you a reliable method for routine work; a Tool is for when the judgment matters more than the format. This Playbook writes one finance section. It does not include the full-pack review in the Board Pack Review Tool: checking the whole pack's narrative against its numbers, finding missing metrics and shifted definitions, and preparing the hardest likely questions. Use the Playbook to draft the section, and the Board Pack Review Tool to stress-test the whole pack.
Will this work with ChatGPT, Gemini, and other LLMs?
Yes. You get a native Claude Skill (.zip) that auto-invokes in Claude, plus a plain .md you can paste into a ChatGPT Custom GPT, a Gemini system prompt, or any LLM. The procedure travels with the file.
Can I share this with my team?
It's licensed for your own personal and professional use. The output it produces is yours to circulate. To put the Playbook itself in the hands of a whole team, email hello@authority.md about team licensing.
What if it doesn't work for me?
If the file hasn't been delivered, or arrives defective or empty, we refund in full: see our refund policy.
Finance Playbooks are writing and structuring aids. They are not financial, tax, or accounting advice. Check figures, policies, and anything with legal or tax consequences with a qualified professional.