# Financial review

Open the **Financial** workstream under **Project → Workstreams**. Use it to review the financial evidence and the buyer’s working analysis together.

## Confirm the evidence scope

Before comparing figures, check the entity or deal scope, period, currency, and reporting basis. Use **Review file scopes** to inspect assignments and **Scope missing** to find files that still need a scope decision.

A consolidated statement and a subsidiary statement can cover overlapping activity. Do not add them together simply because both appear in the project. Likewise, a monthly period and a year-to-date period are not interchangeable.

The financial workstream displays sections when relevant evidence or working data is available. An absent metric can mean missing or unresolved input; it should not be read as zero.

## Review the financial picture

Use the available statements, diagnostics, and source links to investigate:

- revenue and margin movements;
- cash conversion and receivables or payables aging;
- customer and supplier concentration;
- covenant, related-party, tax, and other financial issues;
- gaps in reporting quality or period coverage.

Open the underlying file when a number or interpretation matters to the decision. Keep reported amounts, extracted observations, and buyer adjustments distinguishable.

## Work through the schedules

| Schedule | Review focus |
| --- | --- |
| **Earnings bridge** | Reported earnings, adjustments, and the basis for maintainable EBITDA |
| **Working capital peg** | The reference period, target peg, currency, and rationale |
| **Debt-like items** | Which obligations belong in the buyer’s value bridge and why |
| **Purchase-price bridge** | How enterprise value and adjustments lead to the buyer’s price view |
| **Returns scenarios** | Entry assumptions, growth, margins, financing, and exit assumptions |

With the required write permission, use the schedule’s edit or review control to accept or amend its working values. Record the rationale and confirm the scope before saving. A buyer override is a review decision; it should not be presented as the original source amount.

## Handle uncertainty explicitly

When a schedule lacks a required input, supply supported evidence or a clearly identified assumption. Check for overlapping adjustments, inconsistent signs, currency mismatches, and unsupported denominators before using a calculated total.

Turn missing support into a [task or request](/docs/working-as-a-team/external-requests/) with the relevant evidence attached. Revisit the working analysis when updated source files arrive.

## Prepare the handoff

Use the **QoE pack** in [Outputs](/docs/reporting-and-closing/generating-reports/) for the project’s financial narrative. Use the financial sheets in [Excel exports](/docs/reporting-and-closing/excel-exports/) for working papers. Ask [Colabra AI](/docs/running-your-practice/ai-copilot/) for a custom model or memo when the analysis needs a different structure.