A commentary on what stands out in the report.
A report shows that gross margin has fallen by 14 %. What it does not tell you is why, or how to explain it to an advisory board, a bank or an investor. Today, the AI commentary that ReportNow! writes on the financial and the sales report helps with this. It names the lines with variances and the postings or customers behind them. From Financials, ReportNow! also writes, on request, the core of the management report: the commentary on the results of operations, financial position and net assets. Finished monthly, quarterly and annual reports and the full management report are in preparation.
Maximum data security: The language model runs directly on our server in the EU. Your financial data is neither sent to external AI services (such as OpenAI) nor used to train models.
ReportNow! does the calculating, the language model the wording.
Before a single sentence is written, ReportNow! works out from the report what stands out: variances against the prior year, the prior period or the plan, months that are out of line, and trends. The model receives only these findings and the subtotals of the report, plus your question if you ask one. Every figure in the text is then checked. If a figure appears neither in the findings nor in the subtotals, the model gets a second attempt. If that fails as well, the text is discarded.
In the sales report
The commentary names the customers that have been lost, have brought more or less revenue or are new, each with the amount, plus NRR and churn. For a month that stands out, it shows what individual invoice lines contribute to it. Splitting a variance into volume and price effects is in preparation.
In the financial report
The commentary reports variances in the P&L, balance sheet or cash flow statement at the line that explains them. For a month that stands out, it gives the posting behind it with its share and, if enabled, the posting text as well, which often names the supplier. Ratios such as the material cost ratio are in preparation.
In the HR report
Planned: growth and reductions in staff, cost per head and shifts between cost centres, plus the part of staff costs that appears in the P&L but not in the payroll data, such as provisions.
What a commentary looks like
In May 2026, gross margin was 610 k€, 39 k€ (6.0 %) below plan. Revenue, at 1,180 k€, fell 55 k€ short of plan; cost of sales, at 570 k€, was 16 k€ below plan and offset part of this. Other operating expenses were out of line in May 2026 at 96 k€; the usual level is 71 k€. Of the variance, 22 k€ (88 %) is accounted for by a single posting, “Consulting – system migration”.
The paragraph contains no guesses about causes. ReportNow! calculated every figure in it; the model merely put them into words. If the postings have been imported, every line in the report can be expanded down to the individual posting.
Results of operations, financial position and net assets in one click.
The core of every management report is the analysis of the course of business and the company’s position. For the period you choose in the financial report, ReportNow! writes all three sections in the structure of German Accounting Standard DRS 20, each against the prior year, the plan or both. Each section is built from the findings of its report and passes the same figure check as the commentary.
Results of operations
From the P&L: revenue and result with their change against the prior year and the plan, followed by the significant shifts in material, staff and other expenses, depreciation and amortisation, and the financial result.
Financial position
From the cash flow statement: cash flow from operating, investing and financing activities and the change in cash and cash equivalents, with investments, repayments and new funding.
Net assets
From the balance sheet at the reporting date: total assets, fixed and current assets with receivables and cash and cash equivalents, and on the equity and liabilities side equity, provisions and liabilities.
Sample: results of operations
In the period Jan–Jun 2026, revenue rose by 510 k€ (11.8 %) to 4,820 k€ (prior year: 4,310 k€). The plan had provided for 5,000 k€; actuals were 180 k€ (3.6 %) lower than planned. Gross margin rose by 180 k€ (9.2 %) to 2,140 k€ (prior year: 1,960 k€). Staff costs rose by 140 k€ (12.2 %) to 1,290 k€ (prior year: 1,150 k€). The result for the period rose by 70 k€ (29.2 %) to 310 k€ (prior year: 240 k€).
What the text deliberately leaves out: causes that are not in the figures, and the overall assessment of the economic position. Both are for management to write, as are opportunities and risks and the forecast. You copy the three sections into your document with one click and add there what only you know.
From the monthly report to the going concern forecast.
Today ReportNow! comments on the financial or sales report you have open and writes the results of operations, financial position and net assets. The following documents are to build on the same findings and are in preparation. The table describes what they will contain.
| Document | Content | Planned length | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly report | The month’s result with the variances against plan and against the same month of the prior year. Significant variances are to be explained one by one – for staff costs, for example, with the newly filled positions and the share of a provision rather than just “+8 %”. | 2 to 4 pages | In preparation |
| Quarterly report | Three months in context, looking at the trend rather than at individual spikes. In addition, the forecast for the full year and the assumptions on which it rests. | 4 to 8 pages | In preparation |
| Annual report | The year against plan and prior year, with the development of the balance sheet and cash flow, as a basis for the shareholders’ meeting and talks with the bank. | 8 to 20 pages | In preparation |
| Management report | Complete and in the usual structure: fundamentals, economic report, opportunities and risks, forecast. The core of the economic report, the results of operations, financial position and net assets, is already written by ReportNow! today (see above). | As required | Partly available |
| Going concern forecast | Liquidity projection, assumptions and sensitivities, set out so that a third party can review the forecast. | As required | In preparation |
Ask your question in your own words.
If you do not enter a question, the commentary gives an overview. It answers a question from the same findings. If the findings do not provide an answer, it cannot give a figure for it and is meant to say so. This works today in the financial and the sales report.
- “Why did gross margin fall in May?”
- “Which customers are driving our growth?”
- “Where are we furthest off budget?”
- “What are payroll costs per head in the development team?” In preparation
- “Will our cash last until the end of the year?” In preparation
The answer shows what it is based on
Above the commentary are the findings it was produced from; it also states how many figures were checked. You can see in advance, word for word, what the language model receives. In the check, a figure that you write into the question yourself does not count as supported.
Caveats come first
If the balance sheet check does not balance, if posted accounts are not assigned to any line or if the comparison is missing, the commentary says so first. If the cost centres have not been given their function, it states the share that can be split into COGS, S&M, R&D and G&A.
Your figures stay on the server
The language model is Mistral Small 3.2 from the French developer Mistral AI. It runs on the ReportNow! server in the EU, where your data is also held. Your figures do not leave it for the commentary, and they are not used to train models; Mistral AI receives no data. The AI commentary is switched off until the tenant administrator enables it. In doing so, they also decide whether the model receives posting texts. Without the level “also postings with text”, it receives customer names only as pseudonyms. An external model provider would only be added if it had first been named in the data processing agreement.
The same figures for different readers.
The planned documents are aimed at different recipients, but are all to be produced from the same figures as the reports in the application. What management reads will then match what the bank receives.
Internal reporting
Management, heads of department, advisory board, shareholders’ meeting.
Equity investors
Existing investors in ongoing reporting, and the next financing round, where the first question is about the quality of the figures.
Debt and grants
Banks, covenants, loan negotiations, reports on the use of grants.
External requirements
Management report, going concern forecast, documents for the audit of the annual financial statements.
See a commentary on your own figures.
In the demo we generate an AI commentary on the financial or sales report, or the results of operations, financial position and net assets, using a data extract of yours if you wish. The demo takes 30 minutes, and there is nothing you need to prepare.