excel-variance-analyzer

Analyze budget vs actual variances in Excel with drill-down and root cause analysis. Use when performing variance analysis or explaining budget differences. Trigger with phrases like 'excel variance', 'analyze budget variance', 'actual vs budget'.

Quality

—

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

—

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Passed

No known issues

Quality

Content

72%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is lean and well-structured with a clean reference pointer, but the instruction steps are abstract and lack executable detail in the body, and the workflow omits validation checkpoints for batch data operations. Pulling key formulas into the body and adding verification steps would raise the weaker dimensions.

Suggestions

Inline a minimal executable formula example (e.g., the variance and materiality-flag formulas) in the Instructions so the body is copy-paste actionable rather than deferring everything to the reference.

Add an explicit validation/verification step to the workflow (e.g., confirm categories align and check for div/0 errors before generating the waterfall), since this involves batch data operations.

Reference the error-handling table from within the workflow steps so recovery guidance is connected to the step where each error can occur.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is lean with no padding or explanation of concepts Claude already knows (no definition of variance, no library tutorials); each section earns its place. Not score 2 because there is no unnecessary explanation to tighten.	3 / 3
Actionability	Instructions like "Import budget and actual data into comparison template" and "Apply materiality thresholds for flagging" are directional but not copy-paste executable; the actual formulas live in the reference file rather than the body. Not score 3 because the body itself lacks executable code/commands, and not score 1 because guidance is concrete and points to executable templates.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	A clear five-step sequence is present, but there are no validation checkpoints or validate-fix-retry loops for these batch/data operations. Not score 3 because verification steps are missing (capping at 2 per batch-operation guidance), and not score 1 because the steps are clearly sequenced.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Well-organized sections with a clearly signaled, one-level-deep reference ("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/variance-formulas.md"), which exists as a real bundle file. Not score 2 because content is appropriately split and navigation is clear rather than monolithic or inline-heavy.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Description

100%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is strong: it states concrete capabilities, provides explicit 'Use when' triggers with natural phrasing, answers both what and when, and occupies a clear niche. It uses third-person imperative voice throughout with no fluff.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	"Analyze budget vs actual variances in Excel with drill-down and root cause analysis" names several concrete actions (variance analysis, drill-down, root cause) rather than vague language. Not score 2 because it lists multiple specific actions, not just a domain with partial actions.	3 / 3
Completeness	It explicitly answers what ("Analyze budget vs actual variances...") and when ("Use when performing variance analysis or explaining budget differences"). Not score 2 because the 'Use when' trigger is explicit, not merely implied.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Trigger phrases "excel variance", "analyze budget variance", "actual vs budget" are natural terms a user would actually say. Not score 2 because it gives several common variations rather than a single keyword.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The budget-vs-actual variance niche with Excel-specific triggers is clearly distinguishable and unlikely to fire for unrelated skills. Not score 2 because the triggers are specific to a narrow domain rather than overlapping with general spreadsheet skills.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 12 Passed

Validation

87%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
allowed_tools_field	'allowed-tools' contains unusual tool name(s)	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

Repository: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills
Commit: 2cafb23

Reviewed: 2 days ago

Table of Contents

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