Variance
The difference between a planned or expected financial figure and the actual result, expressed in dollars or as a percentage.
What is Variance?
Variance is the gap between what you planned and what happened. If you budgeted $50,000 for payroll and spent $54,200, the variance is $4,200 unfavorable (8.4% over plan).
Variances appear across every financial category: payroll, tools, revenue, hiring timelines. A favorable variance means you spent less or earned more than planned. An unfavorable variance means the opposite.
Not all variances require action. A one-time conference expense over budget differs from payroll consistently running 10% high. The goal is to identify structural variances early and understand their runway impact.
Why it matters
Budgets without variance tracking are wish lists. Variance closes the feedback loop between planning and reality.
For growing businesses, payroll and tool variances are the most common sources of runway compression. Catching a 15% tool overspend in month one prevents a crisis in month six.
Formula
Variance = Actual - Plan Variance % = (Actual - Plan) / Plan × 100
How RunwayCal helps
RunwayCal tracks variance by category with severity ratings, drill-down to individual line items, and founder notes on each variance.
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See where plans met reality
RunwayCal shows budget variance by category with severity ratings and drill-down detail.
Track variance → Start free