Produce a structured budget variance analysis from actual vs
Budget Variance Analysis Skill
Produce a structured budget variance analysis from actual vs budget figures. Use when asked to analyse budget variances, explain underspend or overspend, write a variance commentary, or investigate why actuals differ from plan.
--- name: budget-variance-analysis description: "Produce a structured budget variance analysis from actual vs budget figures. Use when asked to analyse budget variances, explain underspend or overspend, write a variance commentary, or investigate why actuals differ from plan. Produces a categorised variance table with root cause analysis and management commentary." --- # Budget Variance Analysis Skill Produces a complete variance analysis from numbers through to root cause explanation and management commentary. ## Required Inputs - **Actuals and budget figures** (paste as table or describe line by line) - **Period** (month / quarter / YTD) - **Materiality threshold** (e.g. £10k or 5%) - **Known reasons for variances** (if any) - **Audience** (CFO / board / management / auditor) ## Output Structure
Overview
Produces a complete variance analysis from numbers through to root cause explanation and management commentary.
Manual install (npx, ZIP)
Claude Code
npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill budget-variance-analysis -g -a claude-codeClaude Code (manual)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tar.gz/f6ca79348c55 \
| tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=2 pm-claude-skills-f6ca79348c55/skills/budget-variance-analysisWindows (PowerShell)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/af9cc942621383ebf97f/budget-variance-analysis.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\budget-variance-analysis.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\budget-variance-analysis.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -ForceClaude.ai / desktop
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Budget Variance Analysis Skill
Produces a complete variance analysis from numbers through to root cause explanation and management commentary.
Required Inputs
- Actuals and budget figures (paste as table or describe line by line)
- Period (month / quarter / YTD)
- Materiality threshold (e.g. £10k or 5%)
- Known reasons for variances (if any)
- Audience (CFO / board / management / auditor)
Output Structure
1. Variance Summary Table
| Line Item | Budget | Actual | Variance £ | Variance % | F/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | |||||
| Cost of Sales | |||||
| Gross Profit | |||||
| Opex | |||||
| EBITDA |
F = Favourable | A = Adverse
2. Material Variance Commentary
For each variance above threshold:
[Line item] — £[amount] F/A ([%])
- Root cause: [Specific explanation — not "timing" without detail]
- Permanent or timing? Will this reverse next period?
- Management action: What is being done
- Forecast impact: Does this change full-year outlook?
3. Top 3 Variances Requiring Attention
Ranked by materiality and strategic significance.
4. Forecast Revision
Does the full-year forecast need updating? State revised expectation and key assumptions.
5. Executive Summary
3-4 sentences of management commentary suitable for a board pack.
Quality Checks
- All variances above threshold explained
- Root causes specific (not vague)
- Favourable/Adverse correctly labelled
- Forecast impact stated for material variances
Anti-Patterns
- Do not explain a variance as "timing" without specifying which period it will reverse into and what amount is expected
- Do not label a favourable variance on a cost line without checking whether it is due to underspend, delayed spend, or reduced activity — the cause determines whether it is genuinely good news
- Do not omit variances below the materiality threshold entirely — note them collectively so the reader knows they exist and were reviewed
- Do not present a variance analysis without a forecast impact statement for material items — historical variances without forward implications are incomplete
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Write a variance analysis for these actuals vs budget: [paste]"
- "Explain why we are over budget on [cost line]"
- "Write the variance commentary for our finance review"
- "Produce a budget vs actual analysis for Q[N]"
| 1 | |
| 2 | name budget-variance-analysis |
| 3 | description "Produce a structured budget variance analysis from actual vs budget figures. Use when asked to analyse budget variances, explain underspend or overspend, write a variance commentary, or investigate why actuals differ from plan. Produces a categorised variance table with root cause analysis and management commentary." |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | # Budget Variance Analysis Skill |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Produces a complete variance analysis from numbers through to root cause explanation and management commentary. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ## Required Inputs |
| 11 | **Actuals and budget figures** (paste as table or describe line by line) |
| 12 | **Period** (month / quarter / YTD) |
| 13 | **Materiality threshold** (e.g. £10k or 5%) |
| 14 | **Known reasons for variances** (if any) |
| 15 | **Audience** (CFO / board / management / auditor) |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ## Output Structure |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ### 1. Variance Summary Table |
| 20 | |
| 21 | | Line Item | Budget | Actual | Variance £ | Variance % | F/A | |
| 22 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| |
| 23 | | Revenue | | | | | | |
| 24 | | Cost of Sales | | | | | | |
| 25 | | Gross Profit | | | | | | |
| 26 | | Opex | | | | | | |
| 27 | | EBITDA | | | | | | |
| 28 | |
| 29 | F = Favourable | A = Adverse |
| 30 | |
| 31 | ### 2. Material Variance Commentary |
| 32 | |
| 33 | For each variance above threshold: |
| 34 | |
| 35 | **[Line item] — £[amount] F/A ([%])** |
| 36 | **Root cause:** [Specific explanation — not "timing" without detail] |
| 37 | **Permanent or timing?** Will this reverse next period? |
| 38 | **Management action:** What is being done |
| 39 | **Forecast impact:** Does this change full-year outlook? |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ### 3. Top 3 Variances Requiring Attention |
| 42 | Ranked by materiality and strategic significance. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | ### 4. Forecast Revision |
| 45 | Does the full-year forecast need updating? State revised expectation and key assumptions. |
| 46 | |
| 47 | ### 5. Executive Summary |
| 48 | 3-4 sentences of management commentary suitable for a board pack. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | ## Quality Checks |
| 51 | [ ] All variances above threshold explained |
| 52 | [ ] Root causes specific (not vague) |
| 53 | [ ] Favourable/Adverse correctly labelled |
| 54 | [ ] Forecast impact stated for material variances |
| 55 | |
| 56 | ## Anti-Patterns |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [ ] Do not explain a variance as "timing" without specifying which period it will reverse into and what amount is expected |
| 59 | [ ] Do not label a favourable variance on a cost line without checking whether it is due to underspend, delayed spend, or reduced activity — the cause determines whether it is genuinely good news |
| 60 | [ ] Do not omit variances below the materiality threshold entirely — note them collectively so the reader knows they exist and were reviewed |
| 61 | [ ] Do not present a variance analysis without a forecast impact statement for material items — historical variances without forward implications are incomplete |
| 62 | |
| 63 | ## Example Trigger Phrases |
| 64 | "Write a variance analysis for these actuals vs budget: [paste]" |
| 65 | "Explain why we are over budget on [cost line]" |
| 66 | "Write the variance commentary for our finance review" |
| 67 | "Produce a budget vs actual analysis for Q[N]" |
| 68 |
Details
- Updated
- Sep 23, 2026
- License
- MIT
- Stars on the repo
- ★ 1,395
- Checked
- Source
- mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills ↗
- Creator
- mohitagw15856 · 193 listings
Made with budget-variance-analysis
Budget Variance Analysis Skill — Galaxy 3D — fly through all 1170 skills as a glowing constellation you orbit and click into (from the mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills README)
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