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Wooble FastTrack · Level 2: Applied

Budget vs actual variance analysis practice

Budget vs actual, at Kathputli DigitalSimulation

September closed off budget. Work out by how much from a real ledger, and tell the board which variances are timing, recurring or one-time.

  • You're the AI-enabled Data & Finance Analyst
  • About 75 minutes, no timer
  • 7 days to hand in
  • Checked the moment you hand in
  • Free
Join the track

Free. Level 2 opens once you pass 2 Level 1 problems. Start at Level 1.

The situation

Anand IyerCFO, Kathputli Digital

Hi, and welcome to finance!

September's books closed this morning, and the board pack goes out on Friday. The board asks the same thing every quarter: are we on budget, and if not, will it last?

For September I need:

  • How far revenue and expenses were from budget.
  • Our operating profit for the month.
  • How far the quarter's expenses (July to September) were from budget.

And for every expense account our policy says to explain (it's in the handbook), tell me what kind of variance it is: timing (money budgeted for another month), recurring (our run rate has changed) or one-time (it won't happen again).

Careful with the ledger: it has accruals and their reversals, client credit notes, and bills we booked in October for September.

Use any tools you like, AI included. Then write the paragraph I'll paste into the board pack: what happened, and what it means for the rest of the year.

Thanks, Anand

When you start, you get Kathputli Digital's handbook and your own data: the same story as everyone else's, with different records, so your answers are yours alone.

What you hand in

  1. 1Revenue variance: September's revenue less its budget (negative if below) (in whole rupees)
  2. 2Expense variance: September's expenses less their budget (negative if below) (in whole rupees)
  3. 3Operating profit: September's revenue less September's expenses (in whole rupees)
  4. 4Quarter's expense variance: July to September expenses less their budget (in whole rupees)
  5. 5Variances: A table with two columns, account_code and nature, uploaded as a CSV or pasted.
  6. 6Your working: The spreadsheet, SQL or notebook that produces your answers, as a link anyone can open.
  7. 7A note to Anand: 200 words at most.
  8. 8How you used AI: Your prompts or the chat, if you used it.

Your figures and your variances are checked against your own data the moment you hand in. The pass mark is 70 of 100, and September's expense variance must be right. Hand in as often as you need; every hand-in is counted.

What passing earns

  • A step to your AI-enabled Data & Finance Analyst · Level 2 badge: 1 of the 2 passes it needs, and the next level opens with it.
  • A badge page that anyone can check, which you can add to LinkedIn as a certification.
  • A project on your Wooble profile made from your hand-in, when you choose to add it.
  • 50 points for the pass.
  • Finish every level for the track certificate: Wooble FastTrack Certified: AI-enabled Data & Finance Analyst.

Level 2 opens once you pass 2 Level 1 problems.

More in Level 2