Result
Variance in money
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This calculation is for informational purposes only and does not replace advice from a qualified professional. Formulas and rates may not fit your exact situation — double-check the figures before making decisions.
How it is calculated
Variance in money = actual − budget. Variance in percent = variance in money ÷ budget × 100%. A positive variance means actual exceeded plan, a negative one means actual came in below plan.
Whether a variance is 'good' depends on what's being measured: for a revenue line, a positive variance (actual above plan) is usually good news, while for an expense line it means overspending. The calculator computes variance the same way for any line item — interpreting the sign is up to you based on the line's type.
Variance in percent is more useful for comparing line items of different scale: overspending by $5,000 can be trivial for a line with a $1M budget and critical for one with a $10,000 budget — the percentage immediately shows the scale of the variance relative to plan.