Comment on financial statements

Ask and answer questions on statement values, resolve threads when a number is explained, and find open threads in the Review panel.

Use comments to ask about a reported number and keep the answer next to it. A comment opens a thread on one statement cell, such as an account’s September actual or its variance against the budget. Reviewers reply on the same thread and resolve it when the number is explained, so the discussion stays with the value instead of in email or a spreadsheet.

Where you can comment

Comments work in the Actuals view of the P&L, Functional P&L, Balance Sheet, custom reports, and Cash Flow. On the Cash Flow, use the Monthly, Quarterly, or Half-yearly view; the Summary view has no comments.

Action	Who can do it
Read comments	Anyone who can open the statement
Comment, reply, resolve, or reopen	Anyone in the workspace, including viewers
Edit a comment	Its author
Delete a comment	Its author or an administrator
Comment or resolve through an AI client	Users whose AI client connection has write access; viewer accounts connect read-only

Before you begin

• Open the statement with the period, entities, dimension filters, and transaction categories you want to discuss. These choices are part of what a comment refers to.
• To comment on a variance, add the comparison with Compare first: a plan, Previous period, or Same period last year.

How a comment attaches to a number

A comment belongs to a number, not to a screen position. Control records the row, the period, the entities, dimension items, counterparty, and transaction categories of the cell, and whether the comment is about the actual or a comparison. The thread appears wherever the same number appears.

The comment is on	Where the thread appears
An account row	Every layout that shows the same group account with the same scope, for example another P&L layout or a custom report
A group, formula, or cash flow row	Only that layout
A plan comparison column	Only while the same plan is compared
A Previous period or Same period last year column	That comparison while it is shown; otherwise the actual value of the period, marked comparison not shown
A Balance Sheet balance in Period-end balance	Any column that ends on the same month: the month itself, its quarter, or a year-to-date column ending that month
A quarter, half-year, year, or year-to-date column of activity	Only a column covering the same months. A comment on Q3 does not show on July, August, or September

Period-end balance and Period change show different numbers on the Balance Sheet, so a comment written in one view does not appear in the other.

Add a comment

1. Open the statement, for example .
2. Right-click the value cell and choose Comment…. You can also select the cell and press ⌥⌘M on a Mac or Ctrl+Alt+M on Windows.
3. Type your question or explanation in Comment on this number….
4. Select Comment, or press ⌘Enter or Ctrl+Enter.

The cell gets a yellow marker in its top-right corner, and the count on the Review button goes up by one. Other people who have the statement open see the new thread without reloading.

The popover heading shows the row and the column you commented on. Each thread carries a badge for what it is about: Actual, vs previous period, vs same period last year, or vs followed by the plan’s name.

Reply, resolve, or reopen a thread

1. Select a cell with a yellow marker, or right-click the cell and choose Comments (n).
2. Type in Reply… and select Reply. When the cell has several open threads, select Reply on the thread you mean first.
3. Select Resolve when the question is answered or the number is corrected.

A resolved thread’s marker disappears from the grid, and the thread shows Resolved by and the name of the person who resolved it. Select Reopen to open it again. A reply to a resolved thread, for example from an AI client, reopens it too.

To raise a separate question on the same cell, type it and select Start new thread instead of Reply.

To change your own comment, hover over it and select the pencil icon; edited comments show (edited). Select the bin icon to delete a comment. Deleting a thread’s only comment deletes the thread.

If the number changed after the thread was opened, the thread shows The value changed since this thread was opened with the old and new values and the currency the comment was written in. Comments are not tied to the display currency, so check that currency before treating the number as changed.

Find comments in the Review panel

Select Review above the statement. The panel lists the threads for the statement’s period range, most recently active first.

Tab	What it lists
In view	Open threads on cells of the current view. Select one to scroll to its cell and open it.
Elsewhere	Open threads for the period that the current view does not show, for example because of other filters, period mode, row levels, or a plan that is not compared. Select one to open the view it was written in.
Resolved	Resolved threads for the period.

Turn on Show resolved on the grid to keep grey markers on cells whose threads are resolved.

A thread written against a plan that was later deleted shows Plan deleted in the panel. It no longer appears on any grid; read it and resolve or reopen it in the panel.

Comments from an AI client

An AI client connected through Control’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) server can read and write the same threads. Its comments are saved under the name of the person who connected the client and are labelled via MCP.

Tool	What it does
list_statement_comments	Lists threads with their cell, period, comparison, status, the value when the thread was opened, and the comments with their authors. It can filter by kind of value (activity, balance, or cash flow), layout, period, status, group account, or plan.
add_statement_comment	Replies to a thread, or opens a new thread on an account or layout row for a period, compared with nothing, the previous period, the same period last year, or a plan.
resolve_statement_comment	Resolves a thread, or reopens it.

A thread that an AI client opens on a comparison sits on the variance (Δ) cell of that comparison. Writing needs a connection with write access; see Choose AI client access and permissions.

Limits

• Some cells cannot take comments. The popover says why when you open one: header and total rows, allocation rows, currency translation adjustment (CTA) rows, Unallocated rows, elimination and CTA columns, entity columns while eliminations are split out, plan columns where the plan has no value, and open months that show plan values.
• Comments are not available with an advanced dimension filter, or when the dimension filter matches items from several dimensions. On the Cash Flow, that means selecting items from more than one dimension.
• A comment can be up to 4,000 characters. The row and column labels are saved when the thread is opened.
• Control does not send notifications for comments, and a name typed in a comment does not notify that person. Tell reviewers which statement, period, and comparison to open.
• Comments are not included in statement exports. An AI client can read them with list_statement_comments.
• When a period has a very large number of threads, the panel shows only the most recently active ones. Narrow the period to see older threads.

Verify the result

• The commented cell shows a yellow marker, and the thread appears under In view in the Review panel.
• After you resolve a thread, the marker disappears, the Review count goes down, and the thread moves to Resolved.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Resolution
A thread you expected is not on the grid	Open Review and check Elsewhere. Select the thread to open the view it was written in, with its filters, period mode, and comparison.
A plan comment disappeared	Compare the same plan again with Compare. A plan comment shows only while that plan is compared.
Comment… is missing from the right-click menu	The column takes no comments, for example an open month that shows plan values or the Cash Flow Summary view. Use a month that shows actuals, or a grid view.
The popover says the cell cannot be commented	Comment on the account row instead of the header or total, or remove the advanced dimension filter.
A Balance Sheet comment is gone	Switch back to the view it was written in: Period-end balance or Period change.

Next steps

• Drill down from a financial statement to explain a value before you comment on it.
• Review budget variances with comments through an AI client.
• Explain budget values and attach source files so reviewers can see why the plan has its numbers.