Detailed KPI Variance Report

What is a Detailed KPI Variance Report?

KPI reports are considered monitoring tools and are often used by executives and managers to track the company’s performance in strategic areas. Key functionality in this type of report displays both financial and statistical metrics (many are not visible in the example below). The columns show a variety of data including actual year-to-date, 12 month’s rolling, budget, forecast and variances. You will find an example of this type of report below.

Purpose of Detailed KPI Variance Reports

Companies and organizations use Detailed KPI Variance Reports to see all key performance metrics in a single report. When used as part of good business practices in a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Department, a company can improve its control, and speed up top-level analysis, as well as, reduce the chances that managers miss information because they have to navigate through too many reports and dashboards to get a good picture of performance.

Detailed KPI Variance Report Example

Here is an example of a Detailed Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Variance Report with financial and statistical metrics.

Detailed KPI Variance Report Example

Detailed KPI Variance Report Example

You can find hundreds of additional examples here.

Who Uses This Type of Report?

The typical users of this type of report are: Executives and Managers.

Other Reports Often Used in Conjunction with Detailed KPI Variance Reports

Progressive Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Departments sometimes use several different Detailed KPI Variance Reports, along with financial reports, operational reports, dashboards 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 corporate performance management (CPM/EPM) solutions.

What Tools are Typically used for Reporting, Planning and Dashboards?

Examples of business software used with the data and ERPs mentioned above are:

  • Native ERP report writers and query tools
  • Spreadsheets (for example Microsoft Excel)
  • Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools (for example Solver)
  • Dashboards (for example Microsoft Power BI and Tableau)

Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Cloud Solutions and More Examples

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