Once a budget is established, one of the main financial tasks for the operations or support manager is to explain variances between actual performance and the budget.
Rarely does life work out exactly according to budget. Any large company, and most others, will require managers to review and explain any variances on the budget variance report.
Format for the Budget Variance Report
Budget variance reports, sometimes known as monthly operating reports or departmental reports, are created from the general ledger system and have rows of statistics, revenues and expenses. The titles will be listed in a column down the left side, or sometimes in the middle of the report.
Across the top are column titles for actual results, along with budget, budget variance, percent variance and sometimes last year. It is common to have both current period (month) and year to date information, abbreviated YTD.
The body of the report will contain the numbers associated with row and column titles. For instance, most departments will have a line for supplies. A simple row may show:
Actual_____Budget_____Variance______Percent
$900______$1,000______$100_________10%
,
This shows that although $1,000 was budgeted, only $900 was spent, leaving a variance of $100, which is 10%. The percent is computed by dividing the variance by the budget, not the actual amount.
The variance is referred to as a positive or favorable variance, since it is better that actual be lower than budget for expenses. When expenses are greater than budget, it is known as a negative or unfavorable variance. Report formats and terminology vary by company, so consult your finance department for specifics.
Explaining the Variances
It is generally a requirement that managers prepare an explanation for variances to finance and administration. Thresholds for reporting vary by company, but they usually consist of a combination of variance and percent.
A typical threshold is 10% and $5,000, although this may differ substantially for larger departments. Using this as an example, the supply expense above would not require an explanation.
The percent variance is 10%, but the dollar variance is only $1,000. This eliminates the need for unnecessary work in researching and identifying small variances. Similarly, if an item was off budget by $10,000, but was off a small percent, there would be no need for explanation. Some companies only require an explanation if there is a negative variance.
If the variance meets both conditions, the manager needs to research and explain why. It may be things have changed from the budget. Volume may have changed increased, or there may have been unexpected price increases.
The manager should be the best judge of what differs from the budget. If the budget was prepared by someone else, consult any notes there may be. If there are none, the manager’s opinion is still likely to be better than an accountant’s.
Creating a sensible, well-documented budget provides for better explanations of variances. Detailed, accurate explanations demonstrate credibility to administration.
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