Free Template

Budget vs Actual Report Template

A clean, two-page budget vs actual report showing monthly and year-to-date performance against the approved budget. Includes percentage and absolute variances, trend charts, and space for management commentary on material deviations.

What's included

Everything in this template

  • Monthly and year-to-date budget vs actual comparison
  • Absolute (£) and percentage (%) variance columns
  • Prior year comparison for trend context
  • Management commentary section for material variances
  • Department-level drill-down tabs

Template preview

See the structure

fx=(Actual - Budget) / ABS(Budget) * 100
Account
Budget
Actual
Var %
Revenue
£780k
£797k
+2.2%
COGS
(£312k)
(£307k)
+1.6%
Gross Profit
£468k
£490k
+4.7%
OpEx
(£198k)
(£204k)
-3.0%
Net Income
£270k
£286k
+5.9%

Step by step

How to use this template

1

Enter the approved budget

Import or type the approved annual budget, broken down by month. This is your baseline for comparison.

2

Enter monthly actuals

After each month-end close, enter actual figures. The template calculates variances and updates the YTD view.

3

Review variance highlights

Focus on line items with variances exceeding your materiality threshold. The template colour-codes favourable (green) and unfavourable (red) variances.

4

Add commentary for material items

Write a brief explanation for each material variance: what caused it, whether it is a timing or permanent variance, and any corrective action.

Watch out

Common mistakes to avoid

Comparing monthly actuals to an annual budget without proper monthly phasing

Not distinguishing between timing variances (will reverse) and permanent variances (will not)

Reporting variance without actionable commentary — numbers without narrative are not useful

Related templates

You might also need

Reporting

Variance Analysis Template

A structured variance analysis template that compares actual results to budget for every P&L line item. Includes absolute and percentage variance, RAG status indicators, price/volume decomposition for revenue, and commentary fields for explanations. For a step-by-step guide, read [Building Your First BvA Report](/blog/building-first-bva-report), and learn [how to set smart variance thresholds](/blog/budget-variance-thresholds). Use the [budget variance calculator](/tools/budget-variance-calculator) alongside this template, and see a fully annotated [variance report example](/examples/variance-report-example) for best-practice formatting.

View template
Reporting

Board Report Template

Generate a professional board-ready financial report with P&L summary, key performance indicators, budget vs actual analysis, and structured commentary sections. Designed to save finance teams hours of slide-building and number-crunching each month.

View template
Budgeting

Annual Operating Budget Template

A comprehensive full-year operating budget covering revenue, cost of goods sold, and departmental operating expenditure. Pre-built formulas calculate gross margin, EBITDA, and net income automatically. Designed for finance teams who need a clean, auditable starting point for annual planning. For tips on running an efficient budget cycle, see [Budget Season Survival Guide](/blog/budget-season-survival-guide). Pair this template with the [budget variance calculator](/tools/budget-variance-calculator) for automated BvA tracking, and review a worked [annual budget example](/examples/annual-budget-example) to see realistic UK figures.

View template

Build this in Grove FP in minutes

Import this template directly into Grove FP and start planning. No credit card required.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions