Tear Sheet

Financial Tear Sheet Generator

Generate audience-specific company tear sheets by pulling live data from S&P Capital IQ via the S&P Global MCP tools and formatting the result as a professional Word document.

Style Configuration

These are sensible defaults. To customize for your firm's brand, modify this section — common changes include swapping the color palette, changing the font (Calibri is standard at many banks), and updating the disclaimer text.

Colors:

• Primary (header banner background, section header text): #1F3864
• Accent (signature section highlights): #2E75B6
• Table header row fill: #D6E4F0
• Table alternating row fill: #F2F2F2
• Table borders: #CCCCCC
• Header banner text: #FFFFFF

Typography (sizes in half-points for docx-js):

• Font family: Arial
• Company name: 18pt bold (size: 36)
• Section headers: 11pt bold (size: 22), Primary color
• Body text: 9pt (size: 18)
• Table text: 8.5pt (size: 17)
• Footer/disclaimer: 7pt italic (size: 14)
• Per-template overrides are specified in each reference file's Formatting Notes.

Company Header Banner:

• The header is a navy (#1F3864) banner spanning the full page width with company name in white.
• Below the banner, key-value pairs MUST be rendered in a two-column borderless table spanning the full page width. Left column: company identifiers (ticker, HQ, founded, employees, sector). Right column: financial identifiers (market cap, EV, stock price, shares outstanding). Each cell contains a bold label and regular-weight value on the same line (e.g., "Market Cap $124.7B"). Do not left-justify all fields in a single column — this wastes horizontal space and looks unprofessional. The two-column spread is the single most important visual signal that distinguishes a professional tear sheet from a default document.
  • Implementation: Create a 2-column table with borders: none and shading: none on all cells. Set column widths to 50% each. Place left-column fields (ticker, HQ, founded, employees) as separate paragraphs in the left cell. Place right-column fields (market cap, EV, stock price, shares outstanding) in the right cell. Each field is a single paragraph: bold run for the label, regular run for the value.
  • The specific fields in each column vary by audience — see the reference file's header spec. The principle is always: spread across the page, not clumped left.
• Do not use a bordered table for the header key-value block. Bordered tables are reserved for financial data only.
• Key metrics in the header (market cap, EV, stock price) should be displayed as inline key-value pairs, not in a separate bordered table.

Section Headers:

• Each section header gets a horizontal rule (thin line, #CCCCCC, 0.5pt) directly beneath it to create clean visual separation between sections.
• Render the rule as a bottom border on the header paragraph itself — do not insert a separate paragraph element for the rule. A separate paragraph adds its own before/after spacing and causes excessive whitespace below section titles.
• Implementation: In docx-js, apply a bottom border to the section header paragraph via paragraph.borders.bottom = { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: "CCCCCC" }. Do not use doc.addParagraph() with a separate horizontal rule element. Do not use thematicBreak. The border must be on the heading paragraph itself with 0pt spacing after, so the rule sits tight against the header text.
• Spacing: 12pt before the header paragraph, 0pt after the header paragraph, 4pt before the next content element.

Bullet Formatting:

• Use a single bullet character (•) for all bulleted content across all tear sheet types. Do not mix •, -, ▸, or numbered lists within or across tear sheets.
• Synthesis/analysis bullets (Earnings Highlights, Strategic Fit, Integration Considerations, Conversation Starters): indented block-style formatting with left indent 360 DXA (0.25") and a hanging indent for the bullet character. These should be visually offset from body text — they're interpretive content and should look distinct from data tables and prose paragraphs.
• Informational bullets within relationship sections: standard body indent (180 DXA), no hanging indent.
• Do not apply left-border accents to any bullet sections. Left-border styling renders inconsistently in docx-js and creates visual artifacts. Use indentation and text size differentiation to distinguish signature sections instead.

Tables (financial data only):

• Header row: Table Header Fill (#D6E4F0) with bold dark text
• Body rows: alternating white / Table Alternating Fill (#F2F2F2)
• Borders: Table Border color (#CCCCCC), thin (BorderStyle.SINGLE, size 1)
• Cell padding: top/bottom 40 DXA, left/right 80 DXA
• Right-align all numeric columns
• Always use ShadingType.CLEAR (never SOLID — SOLID causes black backgrounds)

Layout:

• US Letter portrait, 0.75" margins (1080 DXA all sides)

Number formatting:

• Currency: USD. Use millions unless company revenue > $50B (then billions, one decimal). Label units in column headers (e.g., "Revenue ($M)"), not in individual cells.
• Table cells: plain numbers with commas, no dollar signs. Example: a revenue cell shows "4,916" not "$4,916". The column header carries the unit.
• Fiscal years: actual years (FY2022, FY2023, FY2024), never relative labels (FY-2, FY-1).
• Negatives: parentheses, e.g., (2.3%)
• Percentages: one decimal place
• Large numbers: commas as thousands separators

Footer (document footer, not inline): Place the source attribution and disclaimer in the actual document footer (repeated on every page), not as inline body text at the bottom. The footer is exactly two lines, centered, on every page:

• Line 1: "Data: S&P Capital IQ via Kensho | Analysis: AI-generated | [Month Day, Year]"
• Line 2: "For informational purposes only. Not investment advice."
• Style: 7pt italic, centered, #666666 text color
• This footer text must be identical across all tear sheet types for the same company. Do not vary the wording by audience.
• This footer is required on every tear sheet, every audience type, every page. Do not omit it.

Component Functions

You MUST use these exact functions to create document elements. Do NOT write custom docx-js styling code. Copy these functions into your generated Node script and call them. The Style Configuration prose above remains as documentation; these functions are the enforcement mechanism.

const docx = require("docx");
const {
  Document, Paragraph, TextRun, Table, TableRow, TableCell,
  WidthType, AlignmentType, BorderStyle, ShadingType,
  Header, Footer, PageNumber, HeadingLevel, TableLayoutType,
  convertInchesToTwip
} = docx;

// ── Color constants ──
const COLORS = {
  PRIMARY: "1F3864",
  ACCENT: "2E75B6",
  TABLE_HEADER_FILL: "D6E4F0",
  TABLE_ALT_ROW: "F2F2F2",
  TABLE_BORDER: "CCCCCC",
  HEADER_TEXT: "FFFFFF",
  FOOTER_TEXT: "666666",
};

const FONT = "Arial";

// ── 1. createHeaderBanner ──
// Returns an array of docx elements: [banner paragraph, key-value table]
function createHeaderBanner(companyName, leftFields, rightFields) {
  // leftFields / rightFields: arrays of { label: string, value: string }
  const banner = new Paragraph({
    children: [
      new TextRun({
        text: companyName,
        bold: true,
        size: 36, // 18pt
        color: COLORS.HEADER_TEXT,
        font: FONT,
      }),
    ],
    shading: { type: ShadingType.CLEAR, color: "auto", fill: COLORS.PRIMARY },
    spacing: { after: 0 },
    alignment: AlignmentType.LEFT,
  });

  function buildCellParagraphs(fields) {
    return fields.map(
      (f) =>
        new Paragraph({
          children: [
            new TextRun({ text: f.label + "  ", bold: true, size: 18, font: FONT }),
            new TextRun({ text: f.value, size: 18, font: FONT }),
          ],
          spacing: { after: 40 },
        })
    );
  }

  const noBorder = { style: BorderStyle.NONE, size: 0, color: "FFFFFF" };
  const noBorders = { top: noBorder, bottom: noBorder, left: noBorder, right: noBorder };
  const noShading = { type: ShadingType.CLEAR, color: "auto", fill: "FFFFFF" };

  const kvTable = new Table({
    rows: [
      new TableRow({
        children: [
          new TableCell({
            children: buildCellParagraphs(leftFields),
            width: { size: 50, type: WidthType.PERCENTAGE },
            borders: noBorders,
            shading: noShading,
          }),
          new TableCell({
            children: buildCellParagraphs(rightFields),
            width: { size: 50, type: WidthType.PERCENTAGE },
            borders: noBorders,
            shading: noShading,
          }),
        ],
      }),
    ],
    width: { size: 100, type: WidthType.PERCENTAGE },
  });

  return [banner, kvTable];
}

// ── 2. createSectionHeader ──
// Returns a single Paragraph with bottom border rule
function createSectionHeader(text) {
  return new Paragraph({
    children: [
      new TextRun({
        text: text,
        bold: true,
        size: 22, // 11pt
        color: COLORS.PRIMARY,
        font: FONT,
      }),
    ],
    spacing: { before: 240, after: 0 }, // 12pt before, 0pt after
    border: {
      bottom: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: COLORS.TABLE_BORDER },
    },
  });
}

// ── 3. createTable ──
// headers: string[], rows: string[][], options: { accentHeader?, fontSize? }
function createTable(headers, rows, options = {}) {
  const fontSize = options.fontSize || 17; // 8.5pt default
  const headerFill = options.accentHeader ? COLORS.ACCENT : COLORS.TABLE_HEADER_FILL;
  const headerTextColor = options.accentHeader ? COLORS.HEADER_TEXT : "000000";

  const cellBorders = {
    top: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: COLORS.TABLE_BORDER },
    bottom: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: COLORS.TABLE_BORDER },
    left: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: COLORS.TABLE_BORDER },
    right: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: COLORS.TABLE_BORDER },
  };

  const cellMargins = { top: 40, bottom: 40, left: 80, right: 80 };

  function isNumeric(val) {
    if (typeof val !== "string") return false;
    const cleaned = val.replace(/[,$%()]/g, "").trim();
    return cleaned !== "" && !isNaN(cleaned);
  }

  // Header row
  const headerRow = new TableRow({
    children: headers.map(
      (h) =>
        new TableCell({
          children: [
            new Paragraph({
              children: [
                new TextRun({
                  text: h,
                  bold: true,
                  size: fontSize,
                  color: headerTextColor,
                  font: FONT,
                }),
              ],
            }),
          ],
          shading: { type: ShadingType.CLEAR, color: "auto", fill: headerFill },
          borders: cellBorders,
          margins: cellMargins,
        })
    ),
  });

  // Data rows with alternating shading
  const dataRows = rows.map((row, rowIdx) => {
    const fill = rowIdx % 2 === 1 ? COLORS.TABLE_ALT_ROW : "FFFFFF";
    return new TableRow({
      children: row.map((cell, colIdx) => {
        const align = colIdx > 0 && isNumeric(cell)
          ? AlignmentType.RIGHT
          : AlignmentType.LEFT;
        return new TableCell({
          children: [
            new Paragraph({
              children: [
                new TextRun({ text: cell, size: fontSize, font: FONT }),
              ],
              alignment: align,
            }),
          ],
          shading: { type: ShadingType.CLEAR, color: "auto", fill: fill },
          borders: cellBorders,
          margins: cellMargins,
        });
      }),
    });
  });

  return new Table({
    rows: [headerRow, ...dataRows],
    width: { size: 100, type: WidthType.PERCENTAGE },
  });
}

// ── 4. createBulletList ──
// items: string[], style: "synthesis" | "informational"
function createBulletList(items, style = "synthesis") {
  const indent =
    style === "synthesis"
      ? { left: 360, hanging: 180 }   // 360 DXA left, hanging indent for bullet
      : { left: 180 };                 // 180 DXA, no hanging

  return items.map(
    (item) =>
      new Paragraph({
        children: [
          new TextRun({ text: "•  ", font: FONT, size: 18 }),
          new TextRun({ text: item, font: FONT, size: 18 }),
        ],
        indent: indent,
        spacing: { after: 60 },
      })
  );
}

// ── 5. createFooter ──
// date: string (e.g., "February 23, 2026")
function createFooter(date) {
  return new Footer({
    children: [
      new Paragraph({
        children: [
          new TextRun({
            text: `Data: S&P Capital IQ via Kensho | Analysis: AI-generated | ${date}`,
            italics: true,
            size: 14, // 7pt
            color: COLORS.FOOTER_TEXT,
            font: FONT,
          }),
        ],
        alignment: AlignmentType.CENTER,
      }),
      new Paragraph({
        children: [
          new TextRun({
            text: "For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.",
            italics: true,
            size: 14,
            color: COLORS.FOOTER_TEXT,
            font: FONT,
          }),
        ],
        alignment: AlignmentType.CENTER,
      }),
    ],
  });
}

Usage in generated scripts:

1. Copy all functions and constants above into the generated Node.js script
2. Call createHeaderBanner(...) instead of manually building banner paragraphs and tables
3. Call createSectionHeader(...) for every section title — never manually set paragraph borders
4. Call createTable(...) for all tabular data — financial summaries, trading comps, M&A activity, relationship tables, funding history, etc. Pass { accentHeader: true } for M&A activity tables (IB/M&A template). For non-numeric tables (e.g., relationships, ownership), the function still works correctly — it only right-aligns cells that contain numeric values.
5. Call createBulletList(items, "synthesis") for earnings highlights, strategic fit, integration considerations, and conversation starters
6. Call createBulletList(items, "informational") for relationship entries
7. Pass createFooter(date) to the Document constructor's footers.default property

What these functions eliminate:

• Black background tables (enforces ShadingType.CLEAR everywhere)
• Separate horizontal rule paragraphs under section headers (enforces border.bottom on the paragraph itself)
• Bordered key-value tables in headers (enforces borders: none)
• Inconsistent bullet styles (enforces • character only)
• Missing footers (provides the exact footer structure)

Workflow

Step 1: Identify Inputs

Gather up to four things before proceeding:

1. Company — name or ticker. If only a ticker, resolve the full company name with an initial query (e.g., use the company info tool).
2. Audience — one of four types:
   • Equity Research — for buy-side/sell-side analysts evaluating an investment
   • IB / M&A — for bankers profiling a company in transaction context
   • Corp Dev — for internal strategic teams evaluating an acquisition target
   • Sales / BD — for commercial teams preparing for a client meeting
3. Comparable companies (optional) — if the user has specific comps in mind, note them. Otherwise the skill will identify peers from S&P Global data. This matters for Equity Research, IB/M&A, and Corp Dev tear sheets.
4. Page length preference (optional) — defaults vary by audience (see below), but the user can override.

If the user doesn't specify an audience, ask.

Step 2: Read the Audience-Specific Reference

Read the corresponding reference file from this skill's directory:

• Equity Research → references/equity-research.md
• IB / M&A → references/ib-ma.md
• Corp Dev → references/corp-dev.md
• Sales / BD → references/sales-bd.md

Each reference defines sections, a query plan, formatting guidance, and page length defaults.

Step 3: Pull Data via S&P Global MCP

First: Create the intermediate file directory:

mkdir -p /tmp/tear-sheet/

Use the S&P Global MCP tools (also known as the Kensho LLM-ready API). Claude will have access to structured tools for financial data, company information, market data, consensus estimates, earnings transcripts, M&A transactions, and business relationships. The query plans in each reference file describe what data to retrieve for each section — map these to the appropriate S&P Global tools available in the conversation.

After each query step, immediately write the retrieved data to the intermediate file(s) specified in the reference file's query plan. Do not defer writes — data written to disk is protected from context degradation in long conversations.

Query strategy: Each reference file includes a query plan with 4-6 data retrieval steps. These are starting points, not rigid constraints. Prioritize data completeness over minimizing calls:

• Always pull 4 fiscal years of financial data, even though only 3 years are displayed. The fourth (earliest) year is needed to compute YoY revenue growth for the first displayed year. Without it, the earliest year's growth rate will show "N/A" — which looks like missing data, not a design choice.
• Execute the query plan as written, using whichever S&P Global tools match the data needed.
• If a tool call returns incomplete results, try alternative tools or narrower queries. For example, if company summary doesn't include segment detail, try the segments tool directly.
• If a data point isn't returned after a targeted retry, move on — label it "N/A" or "Not disclosed."
• Never fabricate data. If the tools don't return a number, do not estimate from training knowledge.

User-specified comps: If the user provided comparable companies, query financials and multiples for each comp explicitly. If no comps were provided, use whatever peer data the tools return, or identify peers from the company's sector using the competitors tool.

Optional context from the user: Listen for additional context the user provides naturally. If they mention who the acquirer is ("we're looking at this for our platform"), what they sell ("we sell data analytics to banks"), or who the likely buyers are ("this would be interesting to Salesforce or Microsoft"), incorporate that context into the relevant synthesis sections (Strategic Fit, Conversation Starters, Deal Angle). Don't prompt for this information — just use it if offered.

Private company handling: CIQ includes private company data, so query the same way. However, expect sparser results. When generating for a private company:

• Skip: stock price, 52-week range, beta, stock performance, consensus estimates, trading comps
• Lean into: business overview, relationships, ownership structure, whatever financials are available
• Note "Private Company" prominently in the header

Step 3b: Calculate Derived Metrics

After all data collection is complete and intermediate files are written, compute all derived metrics in a single dedicated pass. This is a calculation-only step — no new MCP queries.

Read all intermediate files back into context, then compute:

• Margins: Gross Margin %, EBITDA Margin %, FCF Margin %, Operating Margin %
• Growth rates: YoY revenue growth, YoY segment revenue growth, YoY EPS growth
• Efficiency ratios: FCF Conversion (FCF/EBITDA), R&D as % of Revenue, Capex as % of Revenue
• Capital structure: Net Debt (Total Debt − Cash & Equivalents), Net Debt / EBITDA
• Segment mix: Each segment's revenue as % of consolidated total revenue (use consolidated revenue as denominator per Data Integrity Rule 8)

Validation (moved from Arithmetic Validation): During this calculation pass, enforce all arithmetic checks:

• Margin calculations: Verify EBITDA Margin = EBITDA / Revenue, Gross Margin = Gross Profit / Revenue, etc. If the computed margin doesn't match the raw numbers, use the computation from raw components.
• Growth rates: Verify YoY growth = (Current − Prior) / Prior. Don't rely on pre-computed growth rates if you have the underlying values.
• Segment totals: If showing revenue by segment, verify segments sum to total revenue (within rounding tolerance). If they don't, omit the total row rather than publishing inconsistent math.
• Percentage columns: Verify "% of Total" columns sum to ~100%.
• Valuation cross-checks: If you show both EV and EV/Revenue, verify EV / Revenue ≈ the stated multiple.

If a validation fails: attempt recalculation from raw data. If still inconsistent, flag the metric as "N/A" rather than publishing incorrect numbers. Quiet math errors in a tear sheet destroy credibility.

Write results to /tmp/tear-sheet/calculations.csv with columns: metric,value,formula,components

Example rows:

metric,value,formula,components
gross_margin_fy2024,72.4%,gross_profit/revenue,"9524/13159"
revenue_growth_fy2024,12.3%,(current-prior)/prior,"13159/11716"
net_debt_fy2024,2150,total_debt-cash,"4200-2050"