Budget versus actual and the monthly close
A finance team replaced a spreadsheet close with a Power BI model that ties budget, actual, and the operating P&L back to the general ledger.
- Close time
- 3 days
- from 8
- Variance to budget
- +2.1%
- example
- Accounts modeled
- Full COA
- hierarchy
- Manual rework
- Removed
- per cycle
Illustrative scenario · example figures
Result
The monthly close moved from a week of spreadsheet rebuilding to a governed report finance trusts and explains from.
The challenge
Budget versus actual lived in a workbook that broke every time the chart of accounts changed, so finance spent the first week of each month rebuilding it instead of explaining variances.
What we built
We built a governed model over the ERP general ledger, mapped budgets and the account hierarchy once, and delivered a close dashboard with variance analysis down to the cost center.
- A governed P&L model tied to the general ledger.
- Budget versus actual with variance down to the cost center.
- A close checklist and a report that reconciles to finance.
Outcomes
- The close runs on a report, not a fragile workbook.
- Variances explained on day two, not day seven.
- One P&L finance and operations both read.
Where the data came from
Data is drawn from the systems the operation already runs on and delivered in the client’s own tenant.
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