SCF Deep Analysis — SKILL.md#

What This Skill Does#

Runs a controller-level Statement of Cash Flows deep analysis for a QBO-connected client. Extends the SCF Quick Compare with:

• CF Quality Ratio: Operating CF ÷ Net Income (>1.0 = cash-backed quality earnings)
• Free Cash Flow: Operating CF − CapEx (pulled from investing section)
• Working Capital Movement: AR, AP, Inventory, Prepaid — which WC components drove operating CF changes
• 3-Month Rolling Averages: Per-account and per-section CF trend baseline
• GL Drill-Down: Vendor-level transaction detail for every flagged CF account
• Controller Findings: Plain-English narratives with urgency — "Operating CF decreased 15% because AR increased $8K (collections lagging) while AP decreased $4K (paying faster)"
• Action Proposals: Specific, actionable recommendations (HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW urgency)
• CDC: Tracks what changed in CF since last run

Output: Excel workbook with 7 tabs: Summary | Detail | ⚠ Flags | GL Drill-Down | Working Capital Movement | Controller Findings | CDC Log

When To Use#

• Monthly close: controller-level CF review beyond the Quick Compare
• Client with CF concerns (declining operating CF, negative FCF, low CF quality)
• Board prep: need to explain why cash changed this period
• Internal review: identify AR collection problems, AP timing, capex overruns

When NOT To Use#

• Quick period-over-period CF snapshot → use scf-quick-compare.py instead
• P&L variance analysis → use pl-deep-analysis.py
• Budget vs. actual → use budget-vs-actual skill
• Non-QBO clients (no integration) → use bank-reconciliation skill

Prerequisites#

• QBO client connected for the slug
• QBO auth token configured
• openpyxl installed: pip install openpyxl
• Node.js available on PATH

Script Location#

text

scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py

Usage#

bash

# Basic: current month vs. prior month (auto-calculated)
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug my-client \
  --current-start 2026-03-01 --current-end 2026-03-31

# Explicit prior period
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug my-client \
  --current-start 2026-02-01 --current-end 2026-02-28 \
  --prior-start 2026-01-01 --prior-end 2026-01-31

# YTD vs prior YTD
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug my-client --ytd --year 2026

# Skip GL drill-down (faster — use when GL is unavailable or not needed)
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug my-client \
  --current-start 2026-03-01 --current-end 2026-03-31 --skip-gl

# Custom output directory
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug glowlabs \
  --current-start 2026-03-01 --current-end 2026-03-31 \
  --out ~/Desktop/reports

# Sandbox mode (QBO sandbox environment)
python3 scripts/pipelines/scf-deep-analysis.py \
  --slug glowlabs \
  --current-start 2026-03-01 --current-end 2026-03-31 --sandbox

Arguments#

ArgumentRequiredDescription--slug✅Company slug (must match qbo-client connection)--current-start✅*Current period start YYYY-MM-DD--current-end✅*Current period end YYYY-MM-DD--prior-start❌Prior period start — auto-calculated if omitted--prior-end❌Prior period end — auto-calculated if omitted--ytd❌YTD mode: Jan 1 → end of last completed month--year❌Year for --ytd (default: current year)--skip-gl❌Skip GL drill-down (faster run)--out❌Output directory (default: ~/Desktop)--sandbox❌Use QBO sandbox environment

*Required unless --ytd is used.

Pipeline Steps (8 Steps)#

1. Pull CF — current + prior period CF from QBO via report {slug} cf
2. Pull P&L — current + prior period P&L for Net Income extraction (CF quality ratio)
3. Rolling Averages — pull 3 prior months of CF; compute per-account and per-section averages
4. CDC — compare current flat map vs. .cache/scf-deep-analysis/{slug}.json
5. CF Quality + FCF — compute ratio + extract CapEx from investing section
6. Working Capital Movement — classify AR / AP / Inventory / Prepaid from operating section
7. Variance + Flags + GL — flag material variances (≥10% or ≥$2,500); pull GL for flagged accounts
8. Controller Findings — generate narrative findings with urgency and action proposals

Output: Excel Workbook (7 Tabs)#

Tab 1: Summary#

• Section totals: Operating / Investing / Financing / Net Change / Beginning / Ending Cash
• vs. prior period + 3-month rolling average
• CF Quality Ratio block (with color coding)
• Free Cash Flow calculation
• Controller Findings summary (top 8 findings, HIGH in red)

Tab 2: Detail#

• Every CF line item with prior period, current period, $ variance, % variance, rolling avg
• Section-grouped with color bands (Operating = blue, Investing = yellow, Financing = purple)
• F/U column (Favorable = more cash, Unfavorable = less cash)

Tab 3: ⚠ Flags#

• Material variances only: ≥10% change OR ≥$2,500 absolute delta
• Includes rolling avg comparison
• Sorted by absolute dollar variance

Tab 4: GL Drill-Down#

• Vendor-level transaction detail for every flagged account
• Top 3 vendor contributors shown in sub-header per account
• Max 50 transactions per account
• Skipped if --skip-gl flag used

Tab 5: Working Capital Movement#

• AR, AP, Inventory, Prepaid, Other WC — current vs. prior vs. delta
• Cash Impact column (Source / Use)
• Plain-English analysis note per component (e.g., "AR increased $8K — collections lagging sales")
• Total WC impact row

Tab 6: Controller Findings#

• Full narrative findings sorted HIGH → MEDIUM → LOW
• Detail / GL attribution per finding
• Specific recommended action per finding
• $ Impact column

Tab 7: CDC Log#

• All accounts/line items that changed vs. last cached run
• Prior value, current value, $ delta, % change, note (New / Changed / Removed)
• Color coded: green = cash increased, red = cash decreased

Cache#

text

.cache/scf-deep-analysis/{slug}.json

Stored after each run. Contains:

• flat_map — all CF line items and amounts
• totals — section totals (operating, investing, financing, net_change, ending_cash)
• cf_quality — CF quality label
• fcf — Free Cash Flow amount
• net_income — Net Income for the period
• saved_at — ISO date of last run

Key Metrics Explained#

CF Quality Ratio#

text

Operating CF / Net Income

RatioQualityColor≥ 1.0x✅ Quality Earnings — cash-backedGreen0.5–1.0x⚠ Adequate — partially cash-backedYellow< 0.5x⚠ Low Quality — accrual-heavyOrange< 0🔴 Cash Drain — cash negative despite reported profitRed

Free Cash Flow#

text

FCF = Operating CF + CapEx (CapEx is negative outflow, so this subtracts it)

CapEx detected by keyword matching in investing section (equipment, property, asset, capital expenditure, etc.)

Working Capital Movement (in Operating section)#

• AR change (negative = AR grew = cash used; positive = AR shrank = cash released)
• AP change (positive = AP grew = cash deferred; negative = AP shrank = cash paid out)
• Inventory change (negative = inventory built = cash used; positive = inventory drawn = cash released)
• Prepaid change (negative = more prepaid = cash used; positive = prepaid expensed = cash released)

Materiality Thresholds#

• Percent threshold: ≥10% change in any CF line item
• Absolute threshold: ≥$2,500 absolute variance
• Both thresholds checked — either triggers a flag

Safety Rules#

• Read-only: No writes to QBO — only pulls reports
• All Decimal math: No floating-point for financial calculations
• Disclaimer footer: Controller Findings tab includes audit disclaimer
• Cache separation: Uses .cache/scf-deep-analysis/ — separate from scf-quick-compare cache

Related Pipelines#

PipelineUse Whenscf-quick-compare.pyQuick CF period-over-period snapshot (4 tabs, no GL)scf-deep-analysis.pyController-level CF with GL drill-down, CF quality, FCF, WC movementpl-deep-analysis.pySame depth for P&L (not CF)budget-builder.pyBuild annual CF budget / BvA