Sales management · Forecasting and budgeting
Compare the month's actuals with the budget line by line, then decide what to do.
A budget vs actual variance review compares what each sales line really earned or cost with what the budget said, and records why they differ. It covers the variance table, the cause codes, the action log and the point at which a miss means the budget itself must be redrawn.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A budget vs actual variance review compares what each sales line really earned or cost with what the budget said, and records why they differ. It covers the variance table, the cause codes, the action log and the point at which a miss means the budget itself must be redrawn.
A textile trader in Surat closes the books on the 10th and finds that the July budget for the sales team was missed by nine lakh rupees. Nobody can say whether prices fell, whether volume fell, or whether a distributor's credit note landed a month late. The owner nods, says work harder, and the same conversation happens again in August.
A variance review is the hour that stops that conversation. The accountant pulls actuals from the accounts software, the sales head explains each gap in one word, and the owner decides what happens next. Three people, one sheet, one sitting.
It replaces the quarter-end surprise. It sits beside the forecast, which looks forward, and beside the spend-cut decision, which you only reach when the review shows a line that cannot be defended.
Where this sits
Topic 10 of 14 in sales management: forecasting and budgeting. Estimating sales and spend for the next period and checking against actuals.
- The topic before
- Quotas and targets
- The topic after
- Territory management
If you want this done for you
Stop marketing and sales from competing for the same rupee of budget.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Set the flag line before you look at numbers”
Agree in advance that any line off budget by, say, ten percent or by a fixed rupee amount gets discussed, and the rest do not. Without a flag line the meeting drifts to whatever the owner noticed first, which is rarely the largest gap.
“A variance has one of five causes”
Volume, price, mix, timing or a one-off. A scheme settlement paid late is timing and needs no action. A lost dealer is volume and needs a visit. Writing the cause on every flagged line is what turns a table into a decision.
“Separate GST from revenue first”
Budgets are set on sales net of tax, but invoices and some Tally exports carry it. If the two are compared as they stand, every line looks fine or every line looks wrong, and nobody trusts the sheet afterwards.
“Two misses in a row means the budget is wrong”
One bad month is noise. The same line adrift in the same direction for two periods says the assumption behind it has failed. Redrawing the budget then is honest; defending the old one costs credibility with the team.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
Actuals against budget table
One row per revenue and expense line, with columns for budget, actual, variance in rupees, variance in percent, month and year to date. The accountant fills it from the cost-centre report.
Result: Finished when every line ties back to the ledger total and the owner can find any line in under a minute.
Cause codes
A column beside each flagged line holding one of volume, price, mix, timing or one-off, plus a sentence from the sales head naming the account or product behind it.
Result: Finished when no flagged line has a blank or the word 'market' as its cause.
Action log
Each flagged line gets one decision: no action, corrective action with a named person and a date, switch on the contingency plan, or re-forecast. The owner signs it.
Result: Finished when every action has a name and a date next to it.
Re-forecast note
A one-page revised budget raised only when a line has missed in two periods running, with the changed assumption written at the top.
Result: Finished when the new figures replace the old in the sheet the team opens each month.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How often should we hold this review?
Our accountant is outside. Does that work?
What if we never wrote a proper budget?
Should reps see the variance sheet?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of forecasting and budgeting
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.