---
name: board-reporting-package-builder
description: Build a clear, decision-oriented board reporting package from financials and business updates. Use this skill whenever a user needs a board report, a board deck narrative, an investor board package, or says 'build our board deck', 'prep the board package', or 'what do I send the board'. Trigger whenever performance and strategic updates need to become a package a board can review and act on.
---

# Board Reporting Package Builder

## What this does and why it matters
Board packages often bury the signal: too much data, not enough judgment, and no clear asks. This skill structures a board package that leads with the story and the decisions needed, backs it with the right metrics, and respects the board's time, so meetings are spent on strategy rather than reading numbers aloud.

## Inputs to gather
1. The reporting period and the key financials and KPIs.
2. The wins, the challenges, and what is at risk.
3. The decisions or approvals needed from the board.
4. Strategic updates (hiring, product, market, fundraising).
5. Prior targets or guidance, for comparison.

## Method

### 1. Open with a CEO summary
A short narrative that gives the board the state of the business, the two or three things that matter this period, and what you need from them. The board should get the picture from page one.

### 2. Report performance against plan
Key metrics versus target and prior period, each with brief context. Show the trend, not just the point. Boards care about trajectory and whether the plan is on track.

### 3. Be honest about challenges
Surface risks and misses directly. Boards lose confidence in reports that only show good news, and a well-framed problem with a plan builds trust.

### 4. Frame the decisions
State clearly what requires board input or approval, with the context and your recommendation, so the meeting produces decisions.

### 5. Keep strategic updates crisp
The handful of strategic developments that matter, without operational noise.

### 6. Put detail in an appendix
Full financials and supporting data go at the back, so the main package stays readable.

## Output format
ALWAYS use:

# Board Package: [Company] | [Period]
## CEO summary (state of the business + what we need from you)
## Performance vs plan (metric | actual | target | prior | note)
## Wins
## Challenges and risks (with plans)
## Decisions and approvals needed (with recommendation)
## Strategic updates
## Appendix (full financials and detail)

## Anti-patterns to avoid
- A data dump with no narrative or judgment.
- Only good news, no honest risks.
- No clear asks, so the board cannot add value.
- Operational minutiae crowding out strategy.

## Guardrails
This structures and presents information the user provides; it is not financial or investment advice. Do not compute or alter figures not given, and preserve the user's numbers exactly. Flag any inconsistency you notice rather than adjusting silently.

## Example
A board package opens with a three-point CEO summary flagging a revenue miss and a hiring decision, shows KPIs against plan with trend context, frames the hiring approval with a recommendation, and moves full statements to the appendix.