Overview
The budget variance analysis is accessible through the Reports view. It offers a classic comparison of actual performance against the budget for the last closed month, year-to-date, and the full fiscal year. Additionally, there is an option to include a forecast, providing an updated outlook on your business’s performance for the full fiscal year.Basics
Update last close
After completing the month-end closing process, update the last close setting to indicate your accounting system’s most recently closed month. This tells Francis which months’ actuals need to be included in the actuals column in the budget variance analysis.Specify your budget version
Once the last close is updated to define which actuals are included in the variance analysis, it is necessary to specify the saved version that is considered the budget for the purpose of the analysis. This budget version serves as the reference point for variance analysis in both the last closed month and year-to-date periods.The budget version would typically be the mutually agreed upon start-of-year budget. However, you might want to compare two reforecasts against each other, in which case the budget selection simply serves as the baseline for comparison in your variance analysis.