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Variance Analysis Template: Budget vs Actual vs Forecast

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Track three versions of the numbers.

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Build a variance analysis workbook that compares budget, actuals, and forecast. Business: [BUSINESS_TYPE]. Line items: [LINE_ITEMS]. Periods: [PERIODS]. Spreadsheet app: [SPREADSHEET_APP]. Audience: [AUDIENCE].

Use this worked example as the model for the report layout and the reasoning:
Line: Software subscriptions. Budget 4,000, actual 5,200, forecast 5,000. Variance to budget = actual minus budget = +1,200 (30 percent) unfavorable for a cost. Variance to forecast = +200 (4 percent). Explanation: a price rise of 15 percent plus 4 extra seats. Action: negotiate annual pricing; remove unused seats. Sign rule: for revenue, actual above budget is favorable; for costs, actual above budget is unfavorable.

Design: tabs for budget, actuals, forecast, and variance report. Provide formulas for variance amount and percent, a favorable/unfavorable flag that respects the sign rule, year-to-date totals, and a materiality threshold (for example more than 10 percent and more than 500) that triggers a required explanation in a commentary column. Add conditional formatting rules, a summary section showing the five largest variances, a bridge from budget to actual by category, a chart, and a monthly process checklist. Include ten rows of sample data and the expected results. Mark where signs often go wrong.

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Line: Software subscriptions. Budget 4,000 | Actual 5,200 | Forecast 5,000.
Variance to budget = actual - budget = +1,200 (30%), unfavorable (cost above budget). Variance to forecast = +200 (4%), within materiality (threshold: more than 10% and more than 500).
Commentary: price rise of 15% plus 4 extra seats. Action: negotiate annual pricing; remove unused seats.
Revenue sign rule: actual above budget is favorable; cost sign rule: actual above budget is unfavorable.
Summary tab: five largest variances by amount; bridge from budget 100,000 to actual 108,400 by category; conditional formatting highlights cells beyond threshold.
Sample check: totals in the variance tab equal total actual minus total budget.

• variance
• forecast