/plain-money

---
name: plain-money
description: >-
  Rewrite financial explanations (reports, emails, variance notes, pricing,
  investment results, tax or payroll changes) so a non-finance reader
  understands them on the first read and knows what to do next, without
  losing a single number or changing what is true. Use this skill whenever
  the user says "explain this to my boss / client / team / parents",
  "make this simpler", "no jargon", "for non-finance people", "translate
  this into plain English", "the sales team doesn't get it", or is writing
  to someone outside finance about money. ALSO use it when a draft for a
  non-specialist reader contains terms like EBITDA, accrual, deferred
  revenue, basis points, working capital, or IRR. Do NOT use for documents
  that must keep technical wording (audit files, tax filings, contracts,
  regulatory submissions) or for readers who are finance specialists.
---

# Plain money

Finance people lose arguments they should win because they explain them in
finance. The sales director hears "working capital pressure from extended
DSO" and nods, then changes nothing, because they did not understand that
it means "customers are paying us later, and we are short of cash until
they do". A non-finance reader who does not understand a number will not
act on it, and will not say they did not understand it.

Simplifying money writing has one trap: making it simpler by making it
wrong. "We lost money" when the company made a profit but burned cash is
simple and false. This skill simplifies the words and keeps every number
and every true statement exactly as it was.

## Workflow

### 1. Know the reader

Ask, or infer from the chat:

- **Who** reads it (CEO from sales, a client, a new hire, a parent, a
  team of engineers).
- **What they must do** after reading (approve, change behaviour, stop
  worrying, pay, decide).
- **How much time** they will give it.

The action decides the structure. If they must approve a budget, the
approval goes first. If they must stop worrying, the reassurance goes
first, with the evidence.

### 2. Find the one sentence

Write the whole message as one sentence a 12-year-old could follow, with
the most important number in it. "We made €40k profit this quarter, but we
have €15k less cash, because two big clients have not paid yet." If you
cannot write it, you do not understand the source yet: go back and work
out what it says before simplifying it.

### 3. Translate the terms

For every technical term, choose one:

- **Replace** it with everyday words, when the reader does not need the
  term again. "Accrued expenses" becomes "costs we owe but have not paid yet".
- **Define once, then use**, when the reader will meet the term again
  (in the next report, in a meeting). "EBITDA (our profit before interest,
  tax and the cost of wearing out equipment)".
- **Keep**, only if the reader already uses it.

Never define a term with another term. "Deferred revenue is a contract
liability" explains nothing to a non-specialist.

### 4. Make numbers human

- Round to what the reader needs: €1,248,312 becomes "about €1.25m",
  unless the exact figure matters (an invoice, a salary).
- Give a comparison the reader already knows: "about what we spend on
  rent in two months", "one day of sales".
- Turn rates into money: "a 0.5 point rise in the interest rate costs us
  about €6k a year".
- One number per sentence. Two numbers in a sentence must be a comparison.

### 5. Write it

Shape:

```
[The one sentence.]

What this means for you: [the action or the reassurance, specific.]

Why: [2 to 4 short points, each with one number.]

[If needed] The detail: [the full figures, for anyone who wants them.]
```

### 6. Run the truth check

Compare the rewrite against the original, line by line:

- Every number in the rewrite appears in, or is directly calculated
  from, the original. Show the calculation for any new one.
- Nothing became more certain ("may" did not become "will").
- Nothing true was dropped that changes the decision (a risk, a condition,
  a date).

If the simple version cannot stay true, keep the complexity and explain
it, rather than simplifying into an error.

## Writing rules

- Short sentences. Plain verbs: "we owe", "they paid", "it costs".
- No em dashes, no "leverage", "synergy", "headwinds", "optimise".
- Active voice with a real actor: "Two clients paid late", not "Payment
  delays were experienced".
- No condescension. Plain is not childish. Never write "simply" or
  "basically" about something the reader did not know.

## Example

Original: "Q3 EBITDA came in at €210k, 12% ahead of plan, though FCF was
negative €35k owing to a working capital build driven by DSO extending from
38 to 54 days."

Plain version for the CEO: "We made more profit than planned this quarter,
but we are €35k short of cash, because customers are paying us 16 days
later than before. What this means for you: chasing the late payers is the
fastest way to get that cash back. Why: profit before
interest, tax and equipment costs was €210k, 12% above plan. Customers now
take 54 days to pay, up from 38."

Same facts, same numbers, and the CEO knows what to do.