REPORTING & ANALYSIS · ORIGINAL EXERCISE
The budget variance
Find total actual spending minus total planned spending.
This quest practices Budget variance using a fictional business dataset. Read the sheet below, then enter the interactive quest to write and check your formula.
| Category | Planned | Actual | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 2400 | 2400 | Ops |
| Software | 900 | 1120 | IT |
| Marketing | 1800 | 2150 | Sales |
| Travel | 700 | 480 | Sales |
| Training | 600 | 450 | HR |
| Supplies | 350 | 410 | Ops |
Hints to get you started
- Total each spending column.
- Positive variance means actual spending exceeded plan.
- Subtract the B total from the C total.
Show the worked solution
=SUM(C2:C7)-SUM(B2:B7)Keeping variance direction consistent makes a budget report easier to interpret.
Make the skill stick
After solving the task, explain what each reference does and why the formula answers the business question. Try the workbook download inside the quest to practice in your own spreadsheet app.
Explore the rest of this region →