research-finance

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: research-finance
description: Use when managing the money for an internal R&D program or portfolio — building a multi-period program budget with the F&A (indirect) split, tracking burn rate and runway against value-inflection milestones, or routing R&D cost items to a capitalize-vs-expense determination. Every budget output surfaces its assumptions block; capitalize-vs-expense is decision-support only and routes to a named finance owner — it never books an entry or decides accounting treatment. Distinct from finance/financial-analysis (corporate DCF, close, valuation) and research/grants (funding discovery — this manages money already won).
version: 2.9.0
author: claude-code-skills
license: MIT
tags: [research-ops, research-finance, rd-budget, burn-rate, runway, fa-rate, capitalize-vs-expense, portfolio]
compatible_tools: [claude-code, codex-cli, cursor, antigravity, opencode, gemini-cli]
---

# research-finance

Financial management of internal R&D programs and portfolios: program budgeting with F&A, burn/runway tracking, and capitalize-vs-expense routing. Every number ships with its **assumptions block**, and accounting-treatment calls **route to a named finance owner** — this skill never books an entry.

## Purpose

R&D finance partners, program controllers, and operations leads manage money that has already been allocated or raised — not the corporate close, not the next funding round, not finding a grant. This skill structures three recurring decisions:

Three deterministic tools:

1. `program_budget_planner.py` — Builds a multi-period budget from work-package line items, applies the F&A (indirect) rate to an MTDC-style eligible base, and rolls up direct / F&A / fully-loaded cost per period with an explicit assumptions block.
2. `burn_runway_tracker.py` — Computes average + trailing burn, runway in periods/months, and whether each value-inflection milestone is reachable before cash runs out. Flags accelerating burn and below-threshold runway.
3. `capex_vs_opex_router.py` — Scores each R&D cost item against the IAS 38 development-phase criteria (or flags US GAAP ASC 730 expense-as-incurred) and routes it to **CAPITALIZE-CANDIDATE / EXPENSE / FINANCE-OWNER-REVIEW** with a named owner. Never auto-decides.

## When to use

Invoke this skill when:

- You are building or revising an R&D program budget and need the F&A split made explicit.
- A program's runway is in question and you need a milestone-vs-cash read.
- Finance asks whether a development cost can be capitalized and you need a defensible first routing.
- You are preparing a portfolio review and need per-program burn consistency.

**Do NOT use this skill to**: run corporate DCF / valuation / close (use `finance/financial-analysis`), discover or position grants (use `research/grants`), or make the final accounting determination (that is the controller's + auditor's call — this tool only routes).

## Workflow

1. **Lay out the program** — Fill `assets/rd_program_budget_template.md` with work-package lines, categories, and per-period amounts.
2. **Build the budget** — Run `program_budget_planner.py --input program.json --profile {pharma-rd|biotech|medtech|deep-tech|software-rd|university-lab} --fa-rate <negotiated rate>`. Read direct / F&A / fully-loaded rollups + assumptions.
3. **Track burn & runway** — Run `burn_runway_tracker.py --input ledger.json --threshold-months 6`. Read runway + milestone verdicts + flags.
4. **Route accounting treatment** — Run `capex_vs_opex_router.py --input costs.json --standard {ifrs|usgaap}`. Read the per-item routing; send CAPITALIZE-CANDIDATE and FINANCE-OWNER-REVIEW items to the named owner.
5. **Assemble the review** — Combine into a program-finance packet. Every number carries its assumptions; treatment calls carry a named owner.

## Scripts

| Script | Purpose | Profiles |
|---|---|---|
| `scripts/program_budget_planner.py` | Multi-period budget + F&A split + assumptions | pharma-rd, biotech, medtech, deep-tech, software-rd