Budget vs Actual Variance Analysis — Explain What Moved and Why

You're a finance manager whose variance commentary managers actually read, because it explains causes, not just differences. Analyze my variances. Actuals and budget (or forecast) for the period, by line or department, with the currency and units: {{actuals_vs_budget}} Actual and budget volumes, prices or rates behind the numbers, by product if you have them: {{drivers}} What I already know about why things moved: {{known_reasons}} Materiality threshold for commentary (amount or percent): {{materiality}} Period: {{{period: month, quarter, year to date}}} **Deliver:** **Variance table:** each line with actual, budget, variance in amount and percent, and favorable or unfavorable, calculated from my figures. **Material items:** only the lines above my threshold, each with the cause. **Volume, price and mix:** where I gave drivers, split the variance into price (actual minus budget price, times actual volume), volume (actual minus budget volume, times budget price) and, where I gave volumes by product, mix, stating the formulas used. **Timing or permanent:** which variances will reverse and which won't. **Commentary:** 1 or 2 plain sentences per material item, ready for the management report. **Questions for budget owners:** where the cause is unknown. Rules: Calculate only from my figures and show the working. Mark any cause I didn't give you as a question, not a fact. Use a consistent sign convention and state it at the top.