use-cases/budget-vs-actuals-review.md +60 −0 added
1---
2name: Review budget vs. actuals
3tagline: Turn plan, actuals, and close notes into a variance workbook.
4summary: Give Codex a budget, actuals export, and close notes, then ask it to
5 map actuals to plan, calculate variances, flag reconciliation issues, and
6 separate supported explanations from open finance questions.
7skills:
8 - token: $spreadsheets
9 description: Inspect spreadsheet inputs, clean and map rows, create variance
10 tables, and produce reviewable workbook outputs.
11bestFor:
12 - Month-end reviews that compare budget plans with actual spend exports.
13 - Finance teams preparing leadership commentary from GL, spend, or department
14 actuals.
15 - Workbooks where category mapping, tie-outs, and unsupported explanations
16 need review.
17starterPrompt:
18 title: Review budget vs. actuals
19 body: >-
20 Use $spreadsheets to update the budget vs. actuals review from the attached
21 files.
22
23
24 Compare actuals to plan, map actuals to the right budget categories,
25 summarize the major variances, and prepare a clean review view as an
26 editable .xlsx workbook.
27
28
29 Preserve the raw inputs, use formulas for dollar and percentage variance
30 calculations, and flag categories that do not map cleanly instead of forcing
31 a match. Use account type to determine favorable or unfavorable variance:
32 revenue above plan is favorable, while expense above plan is unfavorable.
33 suggestedEffort: medium
34relatedLinks:
35 - label: Agent skills
36 url: /codex/skills
37---
38
39## Introduction
40
41If you're working on a budget and want to review the variances or inspect any issues, Codex can help you create a fully functional review workbook you can work with.
42
43Attach the budget plan, actuals export, and close notes, then ask Codex for an editable review workbook. Codex can preserve the raw inputs, map actuals to plan, calculate variances, and create a summary view you can inspect in the thread.
44
45## Create the review workbook
46
47
48
491. Attach the budget plan, actuals export, and close notes, or provide exact file references along with the source.
502. Run the starter prompt and ask for an editable `.xlsx` workbook.
513. Open the workbook in Codex. Expand it into the full-screen view to inspect the raw inputs, mappings, variance formulas, and summary tab.
524. Continue in the same thread to fix category mappings, add department cuts, or draft the finance summary.
53
54
55
56If the source files are in a connected app, mention the exact files or folder. Avoid asking Codex to search a broad Drive or workspace when the review should use specific finance sources. When the workbook appears in the thread, open it in Codex and expand it full-screen to review the raw inputs, mappings, variance formulas, and summary tab before asking for revisions.
57
58## Check the variances
59
60Before sharing the workbook, ask Codex to audit the categories, formulas, and variance explanations.