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KadmoonBusiness Intelligence
Analytics · Finance

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.

Power BIMicrosoft FabricSemantic modelDataflows
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

Dynamics 365 FinanceSQL ServerExcel budgetsSharePoint

Data is drawn from the systems the operation already runs on and delivered in the client’s own tenant.

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