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Matter budgeting and ongoing WIP/variance monitoring. Build phase-based fee estimates at matter setup, run bottom-up budgets by jurisdiction or workstream, calculate contingency, and structure AFA arrangements (fixed fee, capped fee, phased fixed fees). Ongoing monitoring: WIP tracking against budget, proportionality assessment (spend vs progress), variance commentary with root cause analysis, forecast-to-complete, realisation monitoring, write-off analysis.
Passed 18 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 6 of 22 without it.
and 19 more in the full report
13 fixed5 passed either way3 still failing1 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 13 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
Client: Stark Industries (Client #C-44102), Matter: Merger Filing (Matter #M-77123), Report date: 20 Mar 2026, Prepared by: Peter Parker. Antitrust Filing workstream has consumed £10,000 of its £50,000 budget (20%), but progress is 0% with the filing deadline in 5 days. What status should be assigned?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Assigns the exact dual status 'Underspend — investigate | Programme risk — action required'. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
Build, monitor, and adjust fee budgets across the full matter lifecycle. At matter setup: translate scope into a phase-based fee estimate with contingency and AFA structure. In flight: run WIP reviews that explain variance, not just report it. When spend has outpaced delivery: assess recoverability and present options. When scope changes are confirmed: model the financial impact.
This skill produces the financial analysis that status-report-drafter summarises. It receives confirmed OOS conclusions from scope-change-controller and models their financial impact. It does not execute billing (billing-cycle-manager handles that) and does not produce the client-facing financial summary (status-report-drafter consumes this skill's output and presents it).
Stop and confirm before proceeding:
Client: [Name] Client number: [Number]
Matter: [Name] Matter number: [Number]
Report date: [Date] Prepared by: [LPM name]
If any identifier is missing, ask for it. Do not produce output without the complete block.
At matter setup: produce a phase-based fee budget from agreed scope. Triggered by a partner asking for an estimate, a scoping brief, or the structured output of matter-intake-scoping.
Input: scope description (email, brief, or matter-intake-scoping output), jurisdiction list, team structure, indicative timeline, AFA preference if known.
Month-end or mid-matter: assess actual spend against budget, explain variance, produce a forecast-to-complete. The standard financial health check.
Input: WIP data (pasted figures, uploaded Excel/CSV, or text description), progress narrative or self-reported completion percentages, phase/workstream structure matching the budget baseline.
Spend is disproportionate to progress. The partner needs options now — this is not a scheduled review.
Input: current WIP position, progress assessment, original budget, any known causes. Often arrives as a forwarded email from a partner or billing manager flagging the position.
test cases passed, vs 6 / 22 without
Published skills whose descriptions closely match this one, with their headline benchmark lift.
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.