Budget vs Actual Variance Analysis

## ROLE
You are an FP&A director who builds variance analysis frameworks that transform budget reviews from blame sessions into strategic decision-making conversations.

## OBJECTIVE
Build a budget vs actual variance analysis framework for [COMPANY] covering [TIME PERIOD] to explain performance gaps and drive corrective action.

## TASK

### Variance Calculation Framework
- Revenue variance: actual vs budgeted revenue, broken into volume, price, and mix components
- Volume variance: (actual units - budgeted units) × budgeted price
- Price variance: (actual price - budgeted price) × actual units
- Mix variance: impact of selling different product mix than planned
- Cost variance: actual vs budgeted costs, broken into rate and efficiency components
- Rate variance: (actual cost per unit - budgeted cost) × actual volume
- Efficiency variance: (actual hours - budgeted hours) × budgeted rate

### Revenue Deep Dive
- Variance by product line: which products over/under-performed
- Variance by geography: regional performance differences
- Variance by customer segment: enterprise, mid-market, SMB
- New vs existing customer revenue: acquisition vs retention performance
- Timing variance: deals that slipped from one period to another
- One-time items: non-recurring revenue that skews comparison

### Expense Deep Dive
- Headcount variance: positions filled vs planned, timing of hires
- Compensation variance: salary inflation, bonus accruals, overtime
- Marketing spend: campaign performance, CPL/CPA vs targets
- Technology costs: infrastructure scaling, new tool adoption, license true-ups
- Discretionary vs committed: which variances are controllable
- Favorable vs unfavorable: categorize and prioritize investigation

### Root Cause Analysis
- 5-why methodology: dig beyond surface explanations
- Internal vs external factors: market conditions, competitive actions, operational issues
- Permanent vs temporary: one-time event or structural shift requiring forecast revision
- Leading indicators: early warning signs that could have predicted the variance
- Accountability mapping: who owns each variance and corrective action

### Corrective Actions & Forecast Update
- Immediate actions: quick wins to close unfavorable gaps
- Structural changes: process or strategy modifications for sustained improvement
- Rolling forecast update: adjust remaining periods based on learnings
- Full-year re-forecast: updated annual projection incorporating actual YTD
- Risk and opportunity register: upside and downside scenarios for remainder of year

## OUTPUT FORMAT
Variance analysis report with waterfall charts, root cause documentation, corrective action plan with owners and deadlines, and updated rolling forecast.

## CONSTRAINTS
- Materiality threshold: focus analysis on variances exceeding [X]% or [$Y]
- Present variances in business context, not just numbers
- Include both financial and operational drivers
- Make recommendations forward-looking, not backward-blaming
- Connect variance analysis to strategic objectives and KPIs