Budget vs Actual
Plan vs reality, category by category — variances computed and colour-coded as you type.
| Category | Type | Budget | Actual | Variance | Variance % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.00 | — | |||||
| ₹0.00 | — | |||||
| ₹0.00 | — | |||||
| ₹0.00 | — | |||||
| Total | ₹0.00 | ₹0.00 | ₹0.00 |
Green = favourable (under-spent on expenses, over-achieved on revenue); red = unfavourable. Data saves automatically in this browser.
What is a budget vs actual report?
A budget vs actual report puts your plan for a period next to what really happened, line by line, and shows the gap in rupees and in percent. Each line is a category such as sales, rent, salaries or marketing. It is the simplest form of budget variance analysis and the core of monthly management accounts. You do not need a full accounting system to run one, only a budget figure and a total from your books for each line.
Most small businesses set a rough monthly budget for a few big lines, such as staff, rent, raw material, power and marketing, and lose sight of it by the third week. Reviewing budget against actual every month catches drift early: an electricity bill that has risen three months running, a marketing spend that overran without extra sales, or a sales shortfall that will squeeze next month's cash. Lenders reviewing a working capital limit also tend to compare your projections with actual results, so the monthly habit saves a scramble later.
Suppose your July budget had sales of ₹5,00,000 and marketing of ₹20,000, and the actuals came in at ₹4,60,000 and ₹25,000. The sales variance is ₹4,60,000 − ₹5,00,000 = −₹40,000, or −8.0%, shown in red because revenue fell short. The marketing variance is ₹25,000 − ₹20,000 = +₹5,000, or +25.0%, also red because spending went over. Rent budgeted at ₹40,000 and paid at ₹40,000 shows zero variance in grey.
Features of the budget vs actual tool
Live variance and variance %
Variance is actual minus budget, and variance % divides it by the budget. Both recalculate on every keystroke.
Revenue-aware colours
Each row is marked as expense or revenue, so overspending turns red while beating a sales target turns green.
Pull actuals from expenses
With workspace access, the Actual column fills from your Expense Tracker totals by category, and categories not yet on the sheet are added as new rows.
Your own categories
Rename the starter rows, add as many lines as you need and delete the ones you don't use.
CSV export
Download the sheet with a favourable Yes or No column and a total row, ready for Excel, Google Sheets or your CA/CPA.
Saves as you type
The sheet stays in this browser between visits, so you can fill in actuals as the month goes on.
How to use the free budget vs actual tool
- 1Type the period you are reviewing, for example July 2026, as a label for the sheet.
- 2Start from the ready rows for Sales, Rent, Salaries and Marketing, and tap Add row for other categories such as electricity or raw material.
- 3Set each row's Type to Expense or Revenue, so the tool knows whether going over budget is good or bad.
- 4Fill in the Budget and Actual columns. Variance and variance % calculate as you type, green for favourable and red for unfavourable.
- 5If a Setu business workspace is set up in this browser, tap Use workspace on the banner and then Pull actuals from expenses to fill the Actual column from your Expense Tracker entries, grouped by category.
- 6Tap Export CSV to download every named row with its type, budget, actual, variance, variance % and a favourable yes or no column, plus a total line.
Tips for a useful monthly variance review
- Name rows exactly as the Expense Tracker categories, such as Rent, Salaries or Electricity, with the same capitalisation, so pulled actuals land on the right row; a row renamed Shop rent gets a separate Rent row added instead
- Pull actuals first and make manual corrections afterwards, because pulling again overwrites the Actual figure on every matching row
- Read the total row with care: it adds revenue and expense rows together and shows any total above budget in red, so on a mixed sheet judge each line rather than the grand total
- Base each month's budget on the same month last year, adjusted for known changes such as a rent increase, a new hire or a festival season
- Budget a bill that covers two months, such as a bimonthly electricity bill, in the month you expect to pay it, so an empty month and a double month don't show as false variances
- Note one line of explanation for every red row, such as a price rise, a one-off repair or a timing difference, so next month's budget improves
Frequently asked questions
The difference between actual and budgeted amounts (actual − budget). For expense rows a positive variance means overspend; for revenue rows it means you beat the plan.
Big ones in money terms and big ones in percentage terms — a 2% miss on your largest cost can matter more than a 40% miss on a tiny one. Look at both columns.
Monthly is the standard rhythm — soon enough to correct course, spaced enough for real data. The tool keeps one sheet in this browser, so export a CSV before you overwrite a month's figures to keep a record.
No. The period box is a label only. Pulling actuals totals every expense saved in your Setu Expense Tracker for each matching category, whatever its date. If you record expenses across several months, check that month's total in the Expense Tracker and type the actual by hand, or the pulled figure will cover all months together.
Variance % = (actual − budget) ÷ budget × 100. An electricity budget of ₹12,000 with an actual bill of ₹13,800 gives ₹1,800 ÷ ₹12,000 × 100 = 15.0%, shown in red because it is an expense row. When a row has no budget, the percentage cannot be calculated and shows a dash, though the rupee variance still appears.
Yes. Set each row's Type to Revenue or Expense. The colour logic flips for revenue rows: actual above budget shows green and below shows red, while for expense rows it is the other way round. Rows added with Add row, and new categories brought in by pulling actuals, start as Expense, so switch the type for any extra income line such as catering or online orders.
The tool holds one sheet at a time. A simple routine is to export the CSV at month end, then update the period label and figures for the next month. The file is always named budget-vs-actual.csv and does not include the period label, so rename it with the month to build a month-by-month record you can compare in Excel or Google Sheets.