Variance analysis by department, with a heatmap that shows what to fix first. Everything you need to know - plus a free tool to do it instantly.
Open the Budget vs Actual toolBudget vs Actual analysis compares what a business planned to spend or earn against what actually happened, department by department and line by line. Accountdesq's Budget vs Actual Generator goes beyond a static spreadsheet: enter budget and actual figures per department and category, tag each line as revenue or expense so favorability is calculated correctly in both directions, and instantly see a color-coded variance heatmap, a department comparison chart, and a management-ready summary with the total variance and the specific line items driving it.
Add a line for each budget category - department, category name, whether it's a revenue or expense line, and the budget and actual figures - or load sample data to see it in action. The tool calculates the variance and variance % for every line, colors each one on a heatmap scale from strongly favorable (green) to strongly unfavorable (red), rolls everything up into department totals with a comparison chart, and surfaces the single largest favorable and unfavorable variances as key insights. Export the full analysis as a management-ready PDF report or the underlying data as Excel.
A budget without a variance review is just a guess that nobody checked. Reviewing variance by department and category - not just a single company-wide number - shows exactly where spending got away from plan and where a team is running ahead of target, so corrective action can be targeted instead of company-wide.
Use the free Budget vs Actual Generator to create a real budget vs actual in under a minute - no signup, exports to PDF and Excel.
Open Budget vs Actual tool