Variance as a subtraction
Budget versus actual is the most-argued report in finance. The argument is never the arithmetic; it is the mapping between two key systems. Land the plan on the ledger’s own keys and May reads in one line: under by 3,650.00, two overs, named.
◆ May operating spend, against planunder overall, with both overs named.
| Account | Budget | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6100 · Travel | 230,000.00 | 214,380.00 | 15,620.00 |
| 6200 · Software | 380,000.00 | 389,210.00 | -9,210.00 |
| 6300 · Facilities | 400,000.00 | 402,760.00 | -2,760.00 |
| Operating spend | 1,010,000.00 | 1,006,350.00 | 3,650.00 |
The actuals column is the same three rows the trial balance proves and the payables credit covers exactly. Under overall by 3,650.00, over on software and facilities: a sentence, straight from a subtraction, with every figure drillable to journal lines. Sample values are illustrative, never client data.
◆ The owned answerplan as a fact on the star’s own keys.
Plan lines land as one more fact on the GL star, keyed by the same accounts and worktags as the journals, at whatever grain the plan was made. Variance is then a join, re-forecasts are new dated plan versions, and the mapping argument retires because there is no mapping.
- GL
- General ledger, the books this module lands and proves.
- plan line
- One budgeted amount on the ledger’s own keys.
- variance
- Budget minus actual; a subtraction when keys match.
- mapping spreadsheet
- The bridge two key systems require; the anti-pattern.
- plan version
- A dated re-forecast, kept beside the original.