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Row/Column Reports · Track 2 · Tutorial 2 of 6

Add variance and formula columns

Calculated columns turn a list of figures into an answer: how far from budget, and in which direction, and how large each line is against revenue. Build them once in a column set, and every report that uses the set has them.

You will needRights to manage reports in Your Group, and a budget loaded for Oct-2026.
By the endA Month vs budget column set with Actual, % of revenue, Budget, Variance and % of budget columns, applied to the Management P&L.

1Add the period columns

  1. Open Reports → Column Sets, click Add Column Set, and name it Month vs budget.
  2. Add a System Period column, Current Month, Movement Actual, labelled Actual.
  3. Add Month % Revenue, Movement Actual, labelled % of revenue.
  4. Add Current Month, Movement Budget, labelled Budget.

Month % Revenue shows each row as a percentage of the month’s revenue, so revenue itself reads 100%.

2Add the variance

  1. Choose Formula / Variance as the Column Type, label it Variance, and choose Variance as the Expression Type.
  2. Under Build Variance, choose Actual from - select an existing column -, click −, and choose Budget.
  3. Click Add Column.
The Management P&L for Oct-2026 with columns Actual, % of revenue, Budget, Variance and % of budget: Revenue 400,000, 100.00%, 420,000, (20,000), 95.24; Direct costs 240,000, 60.00%, 250,000, 10,000, 96.00
Each line against revenue (1), the variance (2), and actual as a percentage of budget (3).

A Variance column flips the sign on accounts that normally carry a debit, such as costs. Actual less budget then reads positive when it is good news on every row: revenue 20,000 under budget shows (20,000), direct costs 10,000 under budget show 10,000.

3Add a formula column

  1. Add another Formula / Variance column, labelled % of budget, with the Expression Type Formula.
  2. Under Build Formula, choose Actual, click /, choose Budget, click *, and add the fixed value 100.
  3. Click Add Column, then Create Set.

A Formula column works the result out as written, on every row, with no sign change. Revenue of 400,000 against a budget of 420,000 shows 95.24.

4Use the set

  1. Choose the set as the Management P&L’s Period, under Column Set, and click Save, then View.

Check

For each row, Variance is Actual less Budget, positive when the row did better than budget. % of budget is Actual divided by Budget times 100. Revenue’s % of revenue is 100%.

5If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
The variance has the opposite sign on costsIt is a Formula column. Choose Variance as the Expression Type.
Budget and the calculated columns are emptyNo budget is loaded for the month. Load it.
% of budget shows 0.95The formula is missing * 100. Add it, or read the figure as a ratio.

Want more detail? See the documentation

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