finance-variance-analysislisted

# Finance Variance Analysis ## Purpose Explain a variance — actual vs. plan, actual vs. prior period, or actual vs. forecast — with decomposition (volume / price / mix / FX / timing), driver attribution, run-rate impact, and management-voice commentary. The deliverable supports management review, board reporting, MD&A drafting, and forecast-revision decisions. ## Scope Constraints - Produces the variance bridge, decomposition, and commentary; does not revise the forecast (handoff to finance-forecast-update once available) and does not produce SEC disclosure language (handoff to finance-disclosure-language for MD&A drafting). - Operates on closed actuals — does not opine on whether close-cycle accruals are correctly stated (handoff to finance-reconciliation if a balance is suspect). - Does not score the forecast process itself; this is a backward-looking analysis. ## Inputs - Actual results for the period (revenue, gross profit, opex, EBITDA, or the line items in scope) - Plan / budget figures for the same period (with version identifier — AOP, latest forecast, prior year) - Prior-period actuals for the same line items (period-over-period basis) - Source identifiers and timestamps for each data set (system, report, run timestamp) - Volume, price, and mix detail at the SKU / customer / segment grain where available - FX rates (period actuals, plan rates) for multi-currency entities - Materiality threshold for driver call-outs (per firm policy — typically the lower of $X o