Build the pack only from closed, signed books, and let the agent do the assembly: financial statements, cash, KPIs, forecast, covenant headroom and a first draft of commentary, with every number tied across pages and to the ledger. The CFO edits the narrative, approves the pack and sends it. The agent never sends anything to the board.
What is in the board finance pack, and who owns it?
A monthly board finance pack usually holds the income statement against budget and forecast, the balance sheet, cash flow and cash position, key performance indicators, the latest forecast, covenant headroom where there is debt, and a few pages of commentary. Some boards also see capital expenditure, headcount and risks.
The CFO owns the pack. A finance business partner or FP&A lead usually assembles it over several days after close, chasing numbers, pasting tables and making sure the same figure says the same thing on page three and page twelve. Board members read it to decide things: whether to approve spending, whether the plan is on track, whether to worry. Mistakes cost credibility quickly.
What does the agent prepare?
- Agent, depth 1: waits for close sign-off. It starts only when the controller has signed the close. Before that, it can build a draft marked as unaudited management figures for internal review, never for the board.
- Agent, depth 2: builds the financial pages. From the ledger, consolidated as the board sees them, with budget, forecast and prior year.
- Agent, depth 2: builds the KPI pages. From certified sources only, with each KPI's definition in a footnote and the same definition used every month.
- Agent, depth 1: ties every figure. Revenue on the summary page equals revenue in the income statement equals revenue in the KPI table. Cash in the cash page equals cash in the balance sheet. Each tie is checked and listed.
- Agent, depth 2: drafts the commentary. Factual: what moved, by how much, and what the confirmed reasons are, drawn from the variance commentary already approved for management accounts. It flags anything material without a confirmed reason.
- Person, CFO: rewrites the narrative. Adds context, judgement, outlook and what the board should focus on.
- Person, CFO: approves the pack. After review by the finance business partner.
- Person, company secretary or CFO: sends to the board.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gate on close | Waits for sign-off | 1 | Controller signs close |
| Financial pages | Builds from ledger | 2 | Nothing new |
| KPI pages | Builds from certified sources | 2 | Owning definitions |
| Tie-out | Checks every figure | 1 | Resolving breaks |
| Commentary | Drafts factual text | 2 | CFO writes narrative |
| Approve | Nothing | none | CFO |
| Send | Nothing | none | Company secretary or CFO |
What does the CFO approve, and where does the evidence sit?
The CFO approves that the numbers are right, consistent and final, that the narrative is fair, and that nothing the board should know is missing. That last point is the one an agent cannot judge: a lost customer, a looming dispute, a regulatory letter. Make the CFO's sign-off include it explicitly.
The evidence sits in three places. The tie-out list shows every figure checked and its source. The commentary record shows the agent's draft, the CFO's edits and which reasons came from confirmed variance commentary. The approval record shows who approved which version and when it was sent. If a board member later asks where a number came from, finance can answer in minutes.
Confidentiality is a control too. Board packs often contain price-sensitive or personal information, such as executive pay or a planned restructuring. Keep the agent's drafts in the same restricted location as the final pack, and do not let it pull from board papers into other work.
Boards may also ask about the agents themselves. If the finance agent is certified, a summary of its certification evidence pack is a fair appendix for the audit committee, not the main board pack.
Where does it usually go wrong?
Numbers before close. The pack is built on day two and the close moves on day four. Gate the build on sign-off, and mark any early draft clearly.
Inconsistency across pages. A late adjustment updates the income statement but not the summary. The tie-out list catches this if it runs on the final version, not an earlier one.
KPI definitions drift. "Active customers" is redefined by a product team and the trend breaks without anyone noticing. The agent should compare each definition with last month's and flag changes.
Commentary invents reasons. A plausible explanation that nobody confirmed reaches the board. The agent should use only confirmed reasons and mark the rest "reason to be confirmed".
Wrong version sent. Several drafts circulate and the wrong one goes out. The approval record should name the file version sent.
The same discipline serves other audiences. Whether an agent can produce board reports more widely, or prepare the audit pack for external auditors, depends on the same gate-tie-approve pattern.
What should you measure?
- Days from close sign-off to pack sent.
- Errors found after sending. The measure that matters most.
- Tie-out breaks found before approval.
- Draft commentary lines kept, edited or removed by the CFO.
- Board questions that the pack could have answered.
Where Pryme fits
In Pryme, building pages, tying figures and drafting commentary are separate capabilities certified on your own past packs. Ledger figures arrive sealed and confirmed reasons as declared by named owners, so the CFO can see what each sentence rests on. Sending to the board sits outside the agent's role scope. More on finance bounds is in AI agents for finance.
Questions people ask
Can the agent answer board members' follow-up questions?
It can draft answers for the CFO from the same sources. Replies to board members come from the CFO.
Should the board be told an agent helped prepare the pack?
It is good practice to say so, along with what the agent does and what finance reviews. Boards want to know how numbers are produced.
How much commentary should the agent draft?
Enough to cover every material movement with its confirmed reason. The CFO's narrative should be shorter and sharper than the agent's draft, not longer.