Excel Trick for Budget vs. Actual Comparison



Case Study: Indicate “Automatic Status” based on whether Actual Production exceeds/equals/trails the Budgeted Production. Sample provided in Picture 1.

Application Areas: Budget vs. Actual Comparison, Variance Analysis

Techniques required for Solution:

(A) Nested IF statement
(B) Symbol-based Font – Wingdings 3
(C) 3 times Conditional Formatting.

[Picture 1]

Solution Step 1: Nested IF Statement to get answer as: 

“p” (if Actual > Budget),
“tu” (Actual = Budget) and
“q” (Actual < Budget)

 

Solution Step 2: Convert the resulting answer (p, tu,q) in Font – Wingdings 3. This will change the presentation to symbols.

Solution Step 3: Select the solution (“Status”) > Home tab > Conditional Formatting.

p – Format to Font Color Green;
tu – Format to Font Color Orange;
q – Format to Font Color Red

Note: Conditional formatting has to be applied 3 times.

. Click Here to download -  Excel Sample File

· Watch CA. Rishabh Pugalia’s Videos on Advanced Excel – Click Here

· Attend his 1-day workshop on “Advanced Excel for Data Analytics and MIS Reporting” in New Delhi on 20th April 2013 – Click Here


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