Where Did Budget Meet Reality? Line by Line

How it works

For every line item the analysis sums the budget and the actual (handling repeated rows), then computes the dollar variance (actual minus budget) and the percentage variance against the budgeted amount. Each line is classified as over budget, under budget, or on budget when it falls within plus or minus 1% of plan. Lines are ranked by the absolute size of their dollar swing, and each line's share of the total absolute variance shows where the money actually moved.

Use it whenever you have a budget and matching actuals by line item — the monthly or quarterly close, a departmental spend review, or any plan-vs-actual comparison.

Not for a single blended total with no line items, and not a forecast or a driver-based variance bridge — it explains the period that happened, not the one ahead.

What data do you need?

A budget-vs-actual table, one row per line item. For example, a departmental expense budget:

Minimum 3 rows · Best with 10-300 line items across a budget period

What's in the report?

Standard-library analysis: the core FP&A variance report straight from a budget-vs-actual table. Map a line item (account, category, or department), its budgeted amount, and its actual amount, and get the dollar variance and percentage variance for every line, each classified as over / under / on budget, the biggest swings ranked by dollar impact, and each line's contribution to the total variance. Whether a swing is favorable depends on whether the line is revenue-like or cost-like, so the report stays neutral and reports direction and size — you make the favorability call.