Budget against actual, and the monthly commentary

the monthly review is on Monday. The Budget Variance Report shows each department's numbers, but someone still has to write why each line moved, for the department heads and Diane Whitaker, the founder.

You are

Ellen Brooks, Controller at Aurora Components.

The situation

the monthly review is on Monday. The Budget Variance Report shows each department's numbers, but someone still has to write why each line moved, for the department heads and Diane Whitaker, the founder.

Here you ask for the figures and a first draft of the commentary. You check it against the ledger before it goes out.

> Dynocortex explains your company's own figures and who decides. It does not give tax, legal, credit or investment advice; for those, ask a qualified adviser.

Step by step

Each step as it looks in the demo installation, on Aurora Components (Demo).

  1. Open Dynocortex → Chats and ask

    "How did each department do against budget last month and year to date?"

    Budget against actual, and the monthly commentary, step 1: Open Dynocortex → Chats and ask:

  2. Ask

    "Write the commentary for the monthly review: what moved, why, and the choices for each line, with who decides."

    Budget against actual, and the monthly commentary, step 2: Ask:

  3. Open Accounting → Journal Entry and filter Entry Type to Credit Card Entry. In the Ask panel beside it, ask

    "What did we spend on the company card last month, and on what?"

    Budget against actual, and the monthly commentary, step 3: Open Accounting → Journal Entry and filter Entry Type to Credit Card Entry. In the Ask panel beside it, ask:

  4. Check one line of the commentary yourself: open Accounting → General Ledger for that account and cost center, as the answer suggests, and see that the reason given matches the entries.

    Budget against actual, and the monthly commentary, step 4: Check one line of the commentary yourself: open Accounting → General Ledger for that account and cost center, as the answer suggests, and see that the reason given matches the entries.

What a good answer contains

  • Each department's budget, actual and variance for last month and for the year to date, from the Budget Variance Report, in USD for Aurora Components, with the period stated.
  • Marketing over its budget for the year: the agency's invoices (Marlow Marketing Studio) add up to more than the marketing budget, by an amount it shows with the arithmetic. The other lines (salaries, payroll taxes, rent, utilities, insurance) are within their budgets, which were set a little above the year's plan.
  • For each line that moved, the reason found in the records (which invoices or journal entries), not a guess. Where no reason is in the records, it says so.
  • The choices for the review, each in the company's own figures, and who decides: the department's head for its own spending, Ellen for the budgets, Diane Whitaker, the founder, for anything above everyone's limit. A choice, not a verdict.
  • The card: last month's statement total and what was on it (fuel for the vans, the office software subscriptions, office and shop supplies), each with its account and department, from the Credit Card Entry.
  • A note to check the commentary against the General Ledger before it is sent.

What the full product does beyond the demo

The Executive drafts the review pack each month on a schedule, sends each department head their own lines, and keeps the owner's decisions from the meeting.

Answers are worded afresh each time, so yours will read differently. The demo company is made up, and its data goes back to the start every night.

Try it on the demo company

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