FinanceTier 120 minintermediate

Budget vs Actual Variance

Use SUMIF to total actual spend by department and compare it against budget.

What you will learn

• Write a SUMIF formula that totals a column by a category in another column
• Explain why a department total must come from the data itself, not be typed in by hand
• Calculate a variance as actual minus budget, not the other way around

Excel skills

SUMIF · Conditional Aggregation

The task

The Summary sheet lists each department's budget. In C2, total that department's actual spend from the Expenses sheet with a formula. In D2, calculate the variance as actual minus budget.

You work in a real spreadsheet in your browser, and your answer is checked against hidden traps the moment you submit.

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