Build a Skill

Who this is for. Anyone with SmartResearch access: analysts, managers and finance leads. Access. Included for everyone at an organization whose subscription covers SmartResearch, whatever their role. No permission needs to be assigned. See the Roles and Access Reference.

The skill builder is a conversation rather than a form. You describe the workflow, and it drafts the skill around your answers.

Before you begin

Decide what you would ask if you were doing the analysis by hand. Only a name and purpose are required, so a single clear sentence is enough to start.

Build a skill

1. In the sidebar, select Skills.

2. Select + Create skill.

   The builder opens on Create a skill. To return without saving, select ← Back to skills.

3. Describe the workflow in a sentence or two.

   The builder asks what workflow you keep repeating and offers worked examples, such as Flag vendors whose spend jumped more than 30% month-over-month, Give me a weekly cash position with next week’s bills due, and Summarize AR aging by customer with anything over 60 days.

4. Answer each follow-up question in the message box, or select one of the options offered.

   The box prompts Answer here, or pick an option above.

5. Check the rail on the right as it fills in.

6. Select Save skill.

   The skill is added to the Personal tab of the catalog. To leave without saving, select Close.

Figure 1. The builder. The conversation is on the left; the skill takes shape in the rail on the right.

Progress rail

The rail is headed Your skill takes shape here and shows an em dash against any section not yet filled. A filled section gets a tick and a short count, for example 2 phrases, 3 set, 4 steps or Table, so you can see what is already answered without reading back through the conversation.

Table 1. Rail sections

Because only About is required, a usable skill can come from one sentence. Fill the optional sections when you need the result to be reproducible in a particular shape.

The builder carries the standing caution that SmartResearch can make mistakes. Read the drafted steps in the rail before you save.

Build on a template

Starting from a template opens the same builder with the template already loaded. The builder says so, so that you do not mistake the content for your own. It opens with a line such as This started from our 13-week cash forecast template, so what is in the rail right now is our default content, not something you wrote. Every section is yours to change.

It then lists the shape the template arrives with, one line per section, and asks which part you want to work on first. Answer in the message box, or select one of the options it offers, such as Keep the purpose or Skip to triggers. Skipping a section keeps the template value rather than clearing it.

Editing a saved skill works the same way. The header reads Edit skill instead of Create a skill, and the rail opens already filled.

Figure 2. A skill opened from a template. The progress rail is in the middle, the skill summary on the right.

The skill summary

The panel furthest right shows the skill as it currently stands. It is a preview of what gets saved, not another form, and it updates as you answer.

Table 2. What the summary shows

Read the steps here before saving. They are the part SmartResearch drafts for you, and the part most worth checking.

Example

A weekly cash forecast, built from one sentence.

Table 3. One skill, end to end

Only the first row was required. The rest make the result arrive in the same shape every week, which is the point of saving it as a skill rather than asking again.

Related information

• For more information, see Skills.