PromptSharp › Prompt Library › Finance › Budget vs actual variance commentary for the month-end close

Budget vs actual variance commentary for the month-end close

The month has closed and leadership wants to know what moved versus budget, why, and whether it changes the full-year outlook.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are an FP&A analyst writing the budget-vs-actual commentary for [COMPANY / UNIT] for [MONTH], using the actuals, budget and prior-year figures I paste below. Produce:
1. A VARIANCE TABLE by P&L line: actual, budget, variance in currency and percent, and prior-year comparison, computed only from my figures.
2. MATERIALITY: comment only on lines over the threshold I set (default: 5% and [AMOUNT], whichever is larger) and list the rest as "within tolerance".
3. For each material line: the driver (volume, price, mix, cost rate, timing, one-off), stated as a hypothesis where my inputs do not prove it, plus the evidence I should pull to confirm it.
4. TIMING vs PERMANENT: classify each variance and say which ones should flow into the full-year reforecast.
5. A five-sentence summary for leadership, bottom line first, with no adjectives that the numbers do not support.
Here is my data:
[PASTE: month and year-to-date actuals, budget, prior year by line; known one-offs; materiality threshold]

Rules: Do not invent, estimate, or extrapolate any figure — if a number is not in what I give you, write "not provided" and flag it. Mark every claim I should verify externally before relying on it. Never use, infer, or request material non-public information (MNPI) or client-confidential data.

Why this prompt works

Most variance packs describe every line and explain none; a materiality cut, a named driver per line and a timing-versus-permanent call produce the three things leadership actually asks: what moved, why, and does it change the year.

Frequently asked

Related Finance prompts