Budget vs. actuals (BvA) – Runway Help Center

Before we begin

To get your forecasted budget and your actuals, you’ll first need to build a Model in Runway.

Once you’ve set up your Model, you can see the live, current data in your Main Scenario. These are your actuals, calculated using your actual Formulas.

The Main Scenario also shows projected values calculated using your forecast Formulas. You can take a fixed Snapshot of these, at a specific time in the future, to create your budget.

Let’s get started.

1. Prepare your budget

Move the Last Close date of your model to just before the beginning of your budget cycle. For example: if your budget is for the calendar year 2024, move the Last Close date to December 2023. All values before the Last Close date will now be calculated from your actual Formulas, instead of your forecast Formulas.

Adjust your data to mirror your forecasted budget. Any changes you make will create a new draft Scenario. (Read more here.)

Once you’ve finalized your budget, merge your draft into the Main Scenario. Click Review + Merge in top right corner to merge your changes into the Main Scenario.

Next, take a Snapshot as discussed in the next section.

2. Take a Snapshot to save your budget

A Snapshot is a record of your Main Scenario at a specific point in time. You can use it to create a fixed set of projected values for your budget.

To take a Snapshot, click on the history icon in the top navigation bar.

Click on Recent versions , the first tab in the menu, to see a complete list of changes made to your Main Scenario.

Click the star icon next to a change to take a Snapshot of it. We’ll copy values from the starred state of your Main Scenario and auto-direct you to the Snapshots tab.

Give your new Snapshot a unique name that can be referenced across Runway. That’s it, your budget is now ready.

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The version history only lists changes made to the Main Scenario. Edits made to other scenarios are not included here. Once a scenario is merged into the Main Scenario, the action will be recorded as having Committed a layer.

3. Prepare your actuals

While your budget is a Snapshot at a specific point in time, your actuals are the current values flowing in from your Main Scenario.

Let’s make sure your actuals are accurate. Remember to complete this step before moving on to comparing, especially if it’s been a while since you took a Snapshot to save your budget.

Move your Last Close date to the end of the time period you want to consider.

For example: if you want to create a BvA comparison for Jan, Feb, and March, set your Last Close to March. In your Main Scenario, the values from Jan through March will now be calculated from your actual Formulas, instead of your forecast Formulas.

4. Compare your budget with actuals

You can create a table to look at the difference, or make a line chart to visualize it.

Here’s how you can create a table:

Go to any Driver grid block on a page in Runway, and click Customizeon top right.

Select Compare.

Choose the Snapshot you want to use as your budget. Your actuals will be automatically pulled from your Main Scenario.

You can choose to show or hide Variance and Variance %.

You can also select a date range by clicking the Customize button.

By default, if the value from the Main Scenario exceeds the value in the budget Snapshot, Variance and Variance % will be green. They’ll be red if it’s the opposite. To change the colors, just set a goal for your Driver to be below 0.

Next, let’s make a chart:

Go to a Driver chart block on a page in Runway, and click Customizeon top right.

Select Compare.

Choose the Snapshot you want to use as your budget. It’ll get plotted on a line chart, along with your actuals.

Hover over the name of your Driver on your new chart, and click Show Legend to differentiate between your actuals (Main Scenario) and your budget (Snapshot).

If you want to change the date range for your chart, you can do that by clicking the Customize button again.

FAQ

What’s the difference between a Scenario and a Snapshot?

A Scenario is a parallel universe for your model. Think of it as a live, active space for testing new ideas or imagining different future outcomes without impacting your main Model. Read more about Scenarios here.

A Snapshot, on the other hand, is a static picture of your Main Scenario frozen at a specific point in time.

Can I save a Snapshot from a Custom Scenario instead of the Main Scenario?

You can only take a Snapshot of your Main Scenario.

To capture changes made in a Custom Scenario, you’ll need to merge that Custom Scenario into your Main Scenario. Once you’ve merged, go ahead and take a Snapshot to create a budget.

Which visualizations can I use for my BvA?

You can use a table or a combined line chart to compare budget vs actuals. In the future, we’ll support more chart types for BvA.

How do I edit a saved Snapshot?

Snapshots can’t be edited, but they can be deleted. To replace the budget you’ve used in your BvA, just create a new Snapshot and update your table or chart by selecting this new budget.

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