Improve your Forecast Reporting - Integrate your Forecast Details!

Nearly all businesses spend considerable time and effort in preparing an annual budget or forecast.  Generally, time spent in looking forward at what is expected to happen is a good thing, for a variety of reasons.

The problem with Budgets or Forecasts is that at some point you compare it with actuals.

Excellent, all good...or is it?

So, from the above picture, should a user be happy that things are going to plan? Revenue down, but operating costs down, slightly higher maintenance bit overall profit up.  Looks ok, right?

Well, it could be ok, or it could be not.  The main issue is that this picture alone doesn't tell you context - are those variances simply timing differences (ie, actions that were done at a different time to the budget) or permanent (ie actions that weren't forecast/budgeted at all).

Being a high level view, another issue is that large offsetting variances in a line item net off.  So, in operating costs, significant overruns in salaries might be offset by lower materials costs (due to poor accruals.

What is a business to do?