P&L – Variance vs Last Year and Budget

What is a Profit & Loss Variance Report with Expandable YTD columns? Profit & Loss Variance Reports are considered essential month-end reports and are often used by executives and the finance team to analyze the components that drive profitability. Key functionality in this type of report automatically provides a presentation-quality layout with account-level detail and traffic lights that highlight important variances. Each of the year-to-date columns can be expanded to see each individual month from the beginning of the year until the current period. You will find an example of this type of report below.

Purpose of Profit & Loss Variance Reports Companies and organizations use Profit & Loss Variance Reports to analyze revenues, expenses and profitability, and to easily detect variances versus the same period last year and when compared to the budget. When used as part of good business practices in a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Department, a company can improve its ability to interpret monthly financial results, as well as, reduce the chance that significant revenue or expense-related performance issues goes undetected.

Who Uses This Type of Report? The typical users of this type of report are: Board Members, Executives and Department Managers. Other Reports Often Used in Conjunction with Profit & Loss Variance Reports Progressive Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Departments sometimes use several different Profit & Loss Variance Reports, along with balance sheets, cash flow reports and other management and control tools.

Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Acumatica, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional xFP&A solutions.

This Solver planning template connects directly to your ERP data via the Solver Data Warehouse, enabling near real-time analysis with minimal setup. Designed for QuickStart deployment, it can be activated rapidly so your team can focus on analysis and decisions — not data preparation.

What is the P&L – Variance vs Last Year and Budget in Solver? The P&L – Variance vs Last Year and Budget is a pre-built xFP&A planning template in Solver that allows finance and business teams to submit planning data directly in Solver, with automatic roll-up to consolidated budget and forecast models.

Who uses this Solver planning template? Cfos, fp&a managers, and budget owners rely on this Solver planning template to streamline the budget and forecast submission process. It replaces disconnected spreadsheets with a single, controlled input point that feeds directly into consolidated models.

Where does the data come from? Data is sourced automatically from your ERP system through the Solver Data Warehouse, which integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and other leading ERP solutions. Once connected, the template updates in near real-time with no manual data entry required.

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