Build a Dynamic Budget vs Actuals Dashboard on Excel (Variance Analysis)

Create a budget vs actuals dashboard on Excel for variance analysis.
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In this video you'll learn how to build a dynamic budget vs actuals Excel dashboard from scratch. This type of model is also known as a variance analysis, where you can determine how much of a difference there is between your budget and your actual amounts. While we focus on a personal finance budget, this is also applicable to a company's internal budget.
To make this dynamic, we use data validation to select the month. Then, we use INDEX MATCH to find the budget for a specific month and line item, and SUMIFS to find the actuals for a specific month and line item.
In case you want to add more items to your actuals, you can do so using the actuals tab. Using the SUMIFS function, any new inputs should automatically be updated on the dashboard.
Lastly, to make the dashboard visually pleasing, we create conditional formatting for the variances using IF conditions, and column & pie charts for the visually comparing the difference.
To follow along, you can download the excel file for this video which contains the budget information, the actuals information, and the dashboard.
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Chapters:
0:00​ -​ Building a dynamic model
7:54​ - Variance Analysis
10:25 - Conditional Formatting
13:26​ - Charts & Visuals
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[@KenjiExplains]

👉 Sign up to The Daily Upside here: bit.ly/3jzBzIW

[@joviestera710]

HI Kenji, Thanks for sharing this awesome video (VA - Actual v Budget). How could I access your course with more Finance & Accounting Reports Models? Thanks

[@ajm12321]

Thank you so much for starting this, Kenji. You have no clue how much you are helping me with Excel everyday. Thank you thank you thank you! ❤️

[@bchizzle8094]

Great vids - love your content. I really like how you build them all from scratch so we can see the shortcuts that all the pros use as well.

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad you like them!

[@ademolaorolu5930]

Simply, straightforward, concise, and precise. Thank you, Kenji!

[@KenjiExplains]

Thank you for watching! Don't wanna waste people's time :)

[@paulcompetente4329]

Love your contents bro👌 really love how straight forward, clean and how comprehensive they are. I'm a fan of your work, keep it up✊

[@KenjiExplains]

Really appreciate the comment Paul! thanks for taking the time :)

[@anthonymukundi8604]

Thanks for putting this together. This is very helpful.

[@ubaydahalzaim]

Thanks Kenji You are awesome, you are master at what you do, and I can catch up the idea from first time. Big thanks

[@muhammadalbikasim8478]

Love your content. Very applicative as I work in finance & accounting dept. You got nu subs bro!

[@sherlinejeanbaptiste9443]

This is one of the best Video I have seen. You did a great job in that file.

[@user-tr6ti8jg8g]

Thanks mate Kenji, it did help me building my company budget vs actuals. Appreciate it!!

[@galiyatvlogs3323]

Love to see your content its really means a lot

[@anv.4614]

Great lesson. Thank you, Kenji.

[@mindyourown6320]

Awesome video, I really enjoyed it having terrible flu rn I was able to get all information, informative and very easy to follow step by step

[@ibrahimabellabah3042]

Great video, thanks for your perspective and intellect.

[@vickyk2588]

Realky helpful Kenji .. i learnt a few new things like shortcuts and index fornula as well as use of text formula a bit better

[@hunterburns]

Splendid boss!!! Keep it up and keep giving us more important stuff just like this ahead 💖💖💖

[@KenjiExplains]

Thanks! More to come hopefully :)

[@dominatorgaming2980]

Very informative video, I like your video, and what you are teaching is practical since I also use this in my work.

[@maimisa]

Great Insights and Thanks for the Video....

[@joym.2370]

wow easy to follow thanks kenji!

[@joyiheasimuo1459]

Thank you, thank you, thank you !!! Fantastic videos.

[@czache]

Really helpful and explanation is easy to understand

[@Mazefvlog]

Interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing

[@SceptiCbullseye]

Exactly what i needed!!!

[@sanjidasarker6547]

Very helpful vdo Thank you I was searching for this

[@michaelquach7046]

Love the today function and conditional formatting!

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad you like it!

[@naclnaclnacl]

great content it really helps familiarise with different excel functions

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad to hear that!

[@bpisan]

This is great. My Budget spreadsheet is very similar using a "actual" sheet and the variance dashboard but I start a new one every month, I've never figured out how to stretch it out for a year. Will be incorporating these UPGRADES for sure. Also, love your presentation style - boom-boom-boom. No fluff. Get-er-done!

[@KenjiExplains]

Thanks for the awesome comment! Yeah don't wanna waste your time :)

[@bpisan]

@@KenjiExplains Hey - Curious on your thoughts on this. In my current budget sheet, since I start a new once every month, it's easy to use the expense sheet to also work as a checkbook registry to know current balance at the bank and project future balance once I spend all the budgeted expenses. Do you have any thoughts on how to incorporate something similar into your version?

[@DD-kr8dm]

@@KenjiExplains Help us to sort-out the different years as well. please.

[@okinedobenedict2453]

Great video brother, its super helpful, so excel could do this, wow

[@viniciusconograi5343]

Thanks for the videos helping out a lot!

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad you like them!

[@alibouhaddou5233]

Great tutorial, thank you so much!

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@richsmolenski5345]

Great easy to understand video

[@dominatorgaming2980]

No time waste only to the point this is what today’s audience want to see 👍👍👍👍👌👌👌

[@kamalraj2050]

This is a absolutely sweet video

[@carmengloriamansilla7478gkj]

que excelente ayuda! mil gracias desde Rancagua-Chile

[@montylmontealto]

Great video, Kenji. More power. :)

[@angelclarke1942]

great explanation!

[@samuelkim4683]

Hi Kenji, Thank you for this tutorial!

[@KenjiExplains]

thanks for the comment Samuel!

[@samuelkim4683]

@@KenjiExplains I implemented it today at work. I showed them your video and where i got the idea from :) thank you again, boss

[@muhammadtariqkhan6467]

thank you so much ... Keep it up sir.. i have learnt INDEX MATCH AND SUMIF At once . thanks

[@daniel-kr3xh]

Hi Kenji, great vid - I was wondering if this 'comparison' graphing could be done where there is a CHOOSE used in the data? i.e. could I have a graph comparing multiple scenarios without typing each set of resulting values out as you have in the budget vs analysis?

[@martinaleksandersen2635]

Great video!

[@user-ms7jb3wy8p]

Hey Bro, your teaching is so impressive, subscribing your channel for more information, thanks a lot.😊

[@sylvanaadusei8801]

Thank you. This is very helpful.

[@KenjiExplains]

You're very welcome!

[@DietricWilliams]

Nice. For the variance I would use the IF statement so that I can keep the formulas consistent down the column. For example, =IF(D3>C3,C3-D3,D3-C3)

[@Deivid8525]

very cool and useful, thanks

[@KenjiExplains]

Glad it was helpful!

[@thinkexcelmedia5048]

Thanks This was very useful for me and will apply in my job as finance officer

[@KenjiExplains]

Awesome!

[@moneyspiderapp]

For years, I used to use excel and google sheets to budget and forecast my finances. This year, I released an app that does it for me with minimal maintenance. Give Money Spider and Money Spider Lite a try on Android.

[@willzinner8813]

nice vid as always sir dont stop

[@KenjiExplains]

More to come!

[@crayons793]

My favorite is autosum. Very underrated.

[@nothinghere4520]

Amazing!

[@ali8bilal]

Brilliant 👏

[@Abby-gv2vg]

Thank you so much Kenji! You are a genius! Can you make some cash flow forecasting template too? Thanks again!

[@Kamalotfy8701]

Thank you thank you ❤

[@user-tu2dv9mx7j]

I am from Viet Nam country, So I thank you for your videos.

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

astounding upload Kenji Explains. I smashed the thumbs up on your video. Maintain up the superior work.

[@KenjiExplains]

haha love to hear it! Thanks for the comment :)

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

@@KenjiExplains no problem at all. always happy to support my fellow content creators. i am looking forward to improving on my own current video format i have uploaded and, in the future, trying to create content as good as yours in the long term.

[@newbieexcel94]

Love this channel ..

[@KenjiExplains]

Thanks!

[@mathew9665]

I've built a number of budget vs actual reports - I would suggest, firstly using full contiguous data both for the budget and actual - then create a simple data model and pivot report - this can be built to be fully automatically updated If you have your data in segments like shown here, it makes it more manual and time consuming I do love the visual style however

[@mamonaislam6646]

Please make a video for budget and forecasting of an NPO . Thanks

[@sambagnokane6756]

Really love your content Kenji! I just secured an internship this summer because of your video. I learnt a lot. Please keep it up. Also, do you have any suggestions about how I should behave during the internship? Should I ask a lot of questions or be prepared with everything? The position is within an accounting firm in Nyc. Looking forward to your reply!

[@KenjiExplains]

That's awesome to hear congratulations!!! Regarding your questions, I think it's good to ask questions (shows you're passionate) and you'll learn a lot more than if you're just quietly sitting on the sidelines. Also, you come across as more humble than somebody who thinks they know it all...hope this is helpful! Best of luck with the internship :)

[@AliAsghargohar]

Hi! Good work

[@geegab5178]

Fantastic.

[@charlesjohnzerna6028]

Hi Kenji, thanks for this video man it sures help a lot. Quick question is there a way on how I could calculate the total ACTUAL savings instead of just showing how much you save per month?

[@ExcelTemplatesSolutions]

Very nice

[@liamwilliams8586]

Love your style and pace is perfect. How to use these keyboard shortcuts on a Mac?

[@aratipatil1061]

It’s little fast you have to reduce speed. Except speed the video is informative. Thank you for sharing.

[@valerievicari251]

This is great!! I completed this exact budget vs actual but did not realize at the time the issue I now have with being able to keep my notes. For example, I need to be able to use this same format but each month have my notes per line item. How do I create notes for each month and have it change to the appropriate month along with the data when I use the drop down.

[@kumaranshuaki]

Hey Kenji, Can you please create dashboard for warehouse inventory analysis......It will be a great help for us. Want to know consumption patterns of consumables with help of Excel, ageing analysis report. Need one complete video on that topic.

[@Ahmeda56]

thank you 😇

[@ahmedal-khadouri2354]

Amazing,, Could you please do a dynamic annual budget for startup company video ? Thanks. Keep it up

[@KenjiExplains]

Noted thank you for the suggestion!

[@bunthoeurn_official]

so good

[@afrozaakter6111]

Nice video

[@hemihong4664]

Hi Kenji, thanks for great video, i want u to make a video talking about Data analyst and Mart document and do the report use by pivot and vlook up. please.

[@i123456987654]

yay another video...don't forget to say to like and subscribe at the end

[@Rivers93Kg]

and in the begining

[@KenjiExplains]

hahahah hope you don't mind...helps out with the algorithm!

[@mohammadshafeeq3471]

Could you please do a series on Financial Modelling Basic to Advanced

[@Chuulip]

Love the content but unless one is already a little more advanced in excel (at which point one probably knows all this already) it's impossible to follow, especially with the amount of shortcuts. A beginner doesn't need to know these, a beginner needs to understand what they are doing there. I've been studying excel for a while so I was only a little lost. It was very helpful for me thank you!

[@faseehhashmi9847]

Magic Man..!!

[@JamieElgie]

So much more easily done with a pivot table.

[@arpandoshi9878]

Subscribed

[@jp9249]

That’s it’s freaking awesome 😎, Do you the spreadsheet available?

[@KenjiExplains]

Thanks! It's in the description

[@ClassyNapkins]

I subscribed just because of your sheer knowledge of shortcuts 🤯

[@michaelfoxbrass]

Thank you, Kenji. Any guidance you might suggest for capturing and adding income and spending from an external file would be helpful. I can download my banking statements - and creating a system for automatically labeling them by payer (income by provider) or vendor (spending by category) would be awesome. It would seem that creating a lookup table by amount entered (recurring or variable payments/deposits) or by name would be the trick.

[@DrAmgadSquires]

I like using Power Query for automatically importing, cleaning and formatting data from external files to then be analyzed. You can also merge tables (queries) to carry out the lookup function, or you could do it the regular way on the table produced by Power Query. Note you need a Windows version of Excel to use Power Query, as it's not yet available on Mac :'-( There are plenty of good videos about Power Query on KZbin.

[@hieracity]

I follow that showing Utilities as unfavorable $28 makes more sense but when looking at the % change, it goes from 25% change to -20% change. I follow the mathematical change but conceptually, is it right to say that my variance is off by 25% or 20%? Especially since on the income side we are using Actual as the base whereas in the Expense you are using Budget as the base. Thanks!

[@authenticreviewerjeddah4272]

Great work thank you, one question how can i add also the organization’s in the excel ? for example i want to know the spend of each org in a month for an item.. thank you ..

[@mochamadreza2411]

Hello there Kenji, nice video Kenji, really useful and helpful. Can you do another video on how to shows multiple month on the dashboard? It would be really nice to know how to do that. Thankyou in advance!

[@KenjiExplains]

Thank you! Check out this video I made here for a more advanced budget dashboard: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqCWpIJ8o95oftU

[@mochamadreza2411]

@@KenjiExplains Ohhh sorry, didn't realize you've uploaded a new video. Thankyou anyway Kenji! I will definitely watch that video

[@skirolf]

Very nice xls file you ender up with. What about add a sheet with all the records pr category? How do you solve that?

[@shijicsam6043]

Hi, Kenji. If possible can u make a video in Company Annual Budget vs Actual variance dashboard like this

[@designerdeck4042]

great video, just having some issues replicating your examples on my own sheet. Would you be able to help if I sent you my file?

[@fme205]

nice ❤❤

[@MariaGarcia-gv8hj]

*When it comes to investing, I'm so ignorant about it, I hereby ask; What's your say or thought for anyone with over $20k looking for the best ways to make good returns off it? I will appreciate any help here on how to do this*

[@MariaGarcia-gv8hj]

@Lucy Bernardi Interesting, I've always been fascinated with investing and I need to start now. Could you possibly give more information on your Investment Professional and how I can reach out to her?

[@KrishnaShah-hp7su]

I love ur videos so much and the way u explain tough formulas is just aswesome. Could u pls make a video on LBO Model, M&A Model, and videos on Financial Analysis or valuation of a Co . It would be so helpful If u choose to make detail videos on above mentioned topics and more excel shortcuts as bcos of ur structured, effective Excel videos I would be able to successfully Land a job in an IBs. Thanks in Advance. May Narayana bless you!

[@markatoe7074]

Great

[@golamkibria466]

Would you please share the row data spreadsheet so that we can practice accordingly?

[@wd7056]

Have you found a good automated way to do this for personal P&L/BS, and but also showing gross income and gross taxes paid? All normal tools just grab net pay from bank activity

[@sininv1]

hi can u show how to display selecting 3 years and month and category? thanks

[@user-re5wr7oz9l]

Great content, but it just feels like I'm in a F1 race.

[@user-wv7rh5fu3s]

Hi, love the video and your quick shortcuts to help put it together, but your Var.% at 9:52mins are confusing. Surely for Utilities, a budget of 112 and spend of 140 is a 25% overspend (not a 20% overspend as your spreadsheet shows)?

[@cuqier5889]

5:31, i wonder how it would be done with those common accounting representations via codes with instruction (which code responds to which thing on other sheet page) and dispersed version of variables for SUMIF without months names repeating itselfs. Another Match or Index?

[@ektahajare6987]

Hello Kenji , Thank you so much for starting this is very helpful , I'm working on this Excel sheet but I'm getting error when using index match its showing #N/A how to resolve this error?

[@yasirbinmusleh4931]

same problem with me

[@dhaval1489]

index Match & Sumif I would prefer Filter & Sum(Filter), simpler and cleaner

[@salvadorquieju2001]

¿Por qué en la columnda "actual" me da como resultado 0, si sigo las formulas correctamente?

[@nasirumar007]

Heey... Amazing video, especially with the short cuts. Are you FMVA?

[@KenjiExplains]

Thank you! Sorry not sure what that means haha??