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Xero budget vs actual report: compare results with your budget every month

A budget vs actual report puts what happened next to what you planned, account by account, with the difference in money and as a percentage. It's the quickest way to see which lines are off track.

Sample Budget vs Actual report for a demo company, as sent by Reportpost
A sample Budget vs Actual for a demo company, as Reportpost sends it.

What it shows

  • Actual income and expenses for the period, from the Profit and Loss
  • The budgeted amount for each account over the same months
  • The variance in money and as a percentage, with gross and net profit against budget

A budget is only useful if someone looks at it every month. If the comparison lands in the inbox of whoever is responsible for the budget a few days after month end, once the books are in, the conversation is about the handful of lines that moved, not about finding the spreadsheet.

Where to find it in Xero

In Xero, the Budget Variance report (Reporting > All reports) compares actuals with a budget.

Settings worth knowing

  • In Xero: which budget to compare with, the date range or a set period such as last month, tracking filters, and accrual or cash basis
  • Budgets themselves are set up in Budget Manager: there's one overall budget, and you can add more budgets, with or without a tracking category

Things to watch out for

  • If no budget is set up for the months in the period, there is nothing to compare with.
  • Accounts with actuals but no budget show a budget of zero, so their whole amount appears as variance.
  • Variance is actual minus budget, so a positive number on an expense line means you spent more than planned. Xero colours each variance green or red to show whether it's favourable.

Getting it by email on a schedule

Xero can't email reports on a schedule, so the usual routine is to export the report and attach it by hand. Reportpost compares the Profit and Loss for your period with the overall budget from Budget Manager, matched account by account. It works on whole months: last month, last quarter, the financial year to date, the last financial year or the last 12 months. Only the overall budget is used for now; other budgets, including tracking budgets, aren't supported yet. Choose weekly, every two weeks, monthly or quarterly, and the recipients. You can try the demo without connecting Xero.

Related: Free tool: fill the Xero budget import template and The Xero Budget Summary report and Sending monthly management accounts.

Other Xero reports

Xero reportProfit and LossWhat the Xero Profit and Loss report shows, where to find it, the settings that matter (comparisons, tracking, cash or accrual) and how to email it every month.Xero reportBalance SheetWhat the Xero Balance Sheet report shows, where to find it, comparison and tracking options, and how to send it to directors or lenders each month.Xero reportAged Receivables SummaryWhat the Xero Aged Receivables Summary (aged debtors) shows, how to read the ageing columns, key settings and how to get it emailed every week.Xero reportAged Payables SummaryWhat the Xero Aged Payables Summary (aged creditors) shows, its ageing and grouping options, common gotchas, and how to have it emailed before each payment run.Xero reportBank SummaryWhat the Xero Bank Summary report shows (cash received and spent per bank account), its options and gotchas, and how to send it automatically each week or month.Xero reportTrial BalanceWhat the Xero Trial Balance shows, its comparison and grouping options, the gotchas, and how to send it to your accountant at month end.Xero reportExecutive SummaryWhat the Xero Executive Summary includes (cash, profit, balance sheet and key ratios), its options and limits, and how to email it every month.Xero reportBudget SummaryWhat the Xero Budget Summary report shows, how budgets are set up in Budget Manager, and how to send the budget summary on a schedule.Built from your Xero dataCash Flow Statement (indirect)Xero only has a direct-method cash flow statement. How the indirect method works and how Reportpost builds one from your Xero data and emails it.Xero reportUnpaid InvoicesHow to get a list of unpaid invoices from Xero (Aged Receivables Detail), what it shows, and how to have the list emailed every week.Xero reportInvoices RaisedHow to list the invoices raised in a period in Xero (Receivable Invoice Summary or Detail), the options and gotchas, and how to email the list automatically.Xero reportDraft InvoicesHow to keep track of draft invoices in Xero, why they matter at month end, and how to have a list of drafts emailed to you so nothing is left unapproved.Xero reportUnpaid BillsHow to get a list of unpaid bills from Xero (Aged Payables Detail), what it shows, and how to have the list emailed to you the day before each payment run.

Next month's pack could send itself.

Reportpost emails your Xero reports on a schedule, as PDF, Excel or CSV. 14 days free, no card.

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