Budget & Variance Analysis
Plan your spending by account, then compare real numbers against the plan throughout the year. Catch overspending before it becomes a problem.
Setting Up a New Budget
A budget in BizBooks Pro is a named spending plan tied to a fiscal year. You decide how much you expect to earn and spend in each account, and the system measures your actual performance against those targets.
- Navigate to Budgets from the sidebar
- Click Create Budget
- Give the budget a Name (e.g., "2026 Operating Budget" or "Q2 Marketing Plan")
- Select the Fiscal Year this budget covers
- Click Next to proceed to the period and amount entry screen
Choosing Your Period
BizBooks Pro supports three budgeting intervals:
| Interval | Columns Shown | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 12 columns (Jan–Dec) | Detailed tracking with seasonal variation |
| Quarterly | 4 columns (Q1–Q4) | High-level planning with less data entry |
| Annual | 1 column (Full Year) | Simple targets when monthly detail is unnecessary |
Select your interval during budget creation. The entry grid adjusts automatically to display the correct number of columns.
Filling In Amounts
The budget entry screen lists every income and expense account from your chart of accounts. For each account, enter the dollar amount you plan to earn or spend in each period.
- Income accounts: Enter the revenue you expect to receive
- Expense accounts: Enter the amount you plan to spend
- Leave a cell blank or enter zero for accounts where no activity is expected
The grid shows running totals at the bottom of each column and a row total on the right side so you can see the full picture as you type.
Saving Your Budget
Click Save Budget when you have finished entering amounts. BizBooks Pro stores the data and makes it available for variance analysis immediately. You can return to edit amounts at any time before the period closes.
Once saved, the budget appears in your budget list with its name, fiscal year, and status (Draft or Active). Mark a budget as Active to designate it as the official plan used in variance reports.
Running the Variance Report
The variance report compares your budgeted amounts against actual figures pulled directly from your general ledger.
- Go to Budgets and select the budget you want to analyze
- Click View Variance Report
- Choose the Date Range to compare (a single month, a quarter, or year-to-date)
- The report generates instantly, showing budgeted, actual, and variance columns for every account
Reading the Variance Table
Each row in the variance report represents one account and displays three key columns:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Budget | The amount you planned for that period |
| Actual | The real amount recorded in the ledger |
| Variance | The difference (Actual minus Budget) |
Color Coding
BizBooks Pro color-codes variance cells so you can scan the report quickly:
- Green — Favorable variance. For income accounts, actual exceeds budget. For expense accounts, actual is below budget.
- Red — Unfavorable variance. For income accounts, actual is below budget. For expense accounts, actual exceeds budget.
- Gray — No meaningful variance (within a configurable threshold, default 5%)
Managing Budgets
From the budget list, you can perform several actions on existing budgets:
- Edit: Update amounts for any period that has not yet closed
- Duplicate: Copy an existing budget to use as a starting point for the next year or an alternative scenario
- Set Active: Designate which budget is the primary plan for variance reporting
- Delete: Remove a draft budget that is no longer needed (active budgets must be deactivated first)
- Export: Download the budget as a CSV file for sharing with stakeholders or importing into a spreadsheet