Budget vs. actuals
Find the story behind the variance.
Trace variances to their source, prepare commentary and stage the next forecast for your team to review.
Reported customer result
7 days → 1 day
From variance analysis to a staged forecast roll-forward
The work before Billow
Variances flagged in Planful had to be traced through NetSuite, attributed to vendors and programs, written up and reconciled with department heads. The roll-forward could only start after that work was finished. A full week went into pivot tables, ledger searches and preparing the handoff to the CFO.
How Billow handles it
From the source documents to work your team can review.
- 1
Bring actuals and budget together
Billow reads actuals from NetSuite and the budget from Planful, then works through the accounts that breach the variance threshold.
- 2
Explain the underlying drivers
For each variance, Billow traces the cause and drafts commentary with sources by program and department. Your FP&A team reads the findings and edits where it disagrees.
- 3
Stage the forecast roll-forward
The same trigger carries the changes into next month’s forecast. Programs running ahead are reforecast upward, and timing differences are redistributed for review.
What you get back
- Budget-versus-actuals analysis
- Draft variance commentary
- Supporting sources by program and department
- Staged forecast roll-forward
Where your team steps in
Your FP&A team reviews the explanations and forecast changes. Billow prepares the analysis; your team applies its judgment.
“The agent does the digging, gives me draft commentary attached. I'm not Ctrl+F'ing through the GL anymore.”