What it is
The workbook holds a twelve-month budget and twelve months of actuals on matching rows, then reports the current month and the year to date. Pick the current month on Setup and the variance report recalculates: budget, actual, variance in dollars and percent, a favorable or unfavorable flag when a line crosses your thresholds, the full-year budget, a forecast and the forecast variance.
Every variance is signed so that a positive number is favorable: actual less budget for revenue lines, budget less actual for expense lines. Totals use the line type, so revenue, expenses and net operating income roll up without hand-built sums, and three tie-outs prove that the net variance equals the difference between actual and budget net operating income for the month, the year to date and the forecast.
When to use it
- Monthly management reporting for a small or mid-sized entity.
- Board, lender or grantor reporting that compares results with an approved budget.
- Client advisory work that gives an owner a repeatable variance report.
What’s inside
- Setup: fiscal year start, current month, dollar and percent flag thresholds
- Budget and Actuals tabs with 24 lines and twelve months, with line type driving the sign
- Variance report: month and year to date, flags, full-year budget, forecast and forecast variance
- Totals for revenue, expenses and net operating income
- Tie-outs and a data check for lines with no name or type
Standard cited
This template follows Management reporting. It is written in our own words, except for phrases the standard requires the document to contain, with [bracketed placeholders] for client details, amounts in USD and dates as MM/DD/YYYY. Check it against the current standard and your firm’s methodology before use.
Questions
How is the forecast calculated?
Year-to-date actual plus the budget for the months after the current month. It is a simple run-rate to the budget. For a reforecast, overwrite the remaining months on a copy of the Budget tab.
How are favorable and unfavorable decided?
By the line type. A revenue line above budget is favorable; an expense line above budget is unfavorable. The flag appears only when both the dollar and the percent variance reach the thresholds on Setup, which are examples to replace.
Can I add accounts?
Use the blank rows on Budget. Each needs a name and a type of Revenue or Expense; a line without a valid type is left out of the totals and is counted by the data check on the Variance tab.
What if a line has no budget but has actuals?
The percent variance shows 100% in the direction of the variance, so the line still flags when the dollar amount crosses the threshold.
Related templates
- Flux Analysis Template (AU-C 520)
- 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast Template
- Financial Ratio Analysis Workbook
- Common-Size Financial Statements Template
Last updated 11/05/2026. All free templates.