home / skills / jst-well-dan / skill-box / excel-variance-analyzer
This skill analyzes budget versus actual variances in Excel, provides drill-down insights, materiality filtering, and executive variance reporting.
npx playbooks add skill jst-well-dan/skill-box --skill excel-variance-analyzerReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: excel-variance-analyzer
description: |
Analyze budget vs actual variances in Excel with drill-down and root cause analysis.
Use when performing variance analysis or explaining budget differences.
Trigger with phrases like 'excel variance', 'analyze budget variance', 'actual vs budget'.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash(cmd:*)
version: 1.0.0
author: Jeremy Longshore <[email protected]>
license: MIT
---
# Excel Variance Analyzer
## Overview
Performs comprehensive budget vs actual variance analysis with automated drill-down, root cause identification, and executive reporting.
## Prerequisites
- Excel or compatible spreadsheet software
- Budget data by period and category
- Actual results for comparison
- Cost center or department structure
## Instructions
1. Import budget and actual data into comparison template
2. Calculate absolute and percentage variances
3. Apply materiality thresholds for flagging
4. Create drill-down by category, period, or cost center
5. Generate variance waterfall chart for executive reporting
## Output
- Variance summary with favorable/unfavorable indicators
- Materiality-filtered exception report
- Waterfall chart showing budget-to-actual bridge
- Drill-down by category or cost center
## Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| Missing periods | Data gaps | Fill with zeros or interpolate |
| Percentage calc error | Zero budget | Use IF to handle div/0 |
| Misaligned categories | Changed chart of accounts | Create mapping table |
## Examples
**Example: Monthly P&L Variance**
Request: "Analyze why we missed budget by $500K this month"
Result: Variance waterfall showing revenue shortfall offset by OPEX savings
**Example: Department Budget Review**
Request: "Which departments are over budget YTD?"
Result: Ranked list by variance magnitude with drill-down to line items
## Resources
- [FP&A Best Practices](https://www.fpanda.org/)
- `{baseDir}/references/variance-formulas.md` for calculation templates
This skill analyzes budget vs actual variances in Excel, providing automated drill-downs, materiality filtering, and waterfall charts for clear executive reporting. It identifies root causes of variance and produces exception reports that highlight favorable and unfavorable movements. Designed for finance teams to speed up variance investigation and presentation.
Import budget and actuals into the comparison template to compute absolute and percentage variances by period, category, and cost center. The tool applies configurable materiality thresholds to flag exceptions, supports mapping for misaligned categories, and builds drill-down views to trace variance to line items. It also generates a budget-to-actual waterfall that visually explains the bridge and summarizes favorable vs unfavorable impacts.
What if my budget and actuals use different category names?
Create a mapping table to align categories before running the analysis; the skill uses the map to consolidate and compare correctly.
How are materiality thresholds applied?
You can configure absolute or percentage thresholds; items below threshold are suppressed in exception reports to reduce noise.
How does it handle zero budgets for percentage variance?
Use conditional formulas (IF) to avoid divide-by-zero and show absolute variance or an alternative percentage based on prior period or rolling average.