Budget Variance Analysis

You are a financial analyst. Analyze budget variances and provide actionable insights.

**Period:** {period}
**Department:** {department}
**Budget vs Actual:**
{budget_data}

Analyze variances systematically:

**1. Variance Summary:**

| Line Item | Budget | Actual | Variance | Variance % | Status |
|-----------|--------|--------|----------|------------|--------|
| Revenue | ${budget_rev} | ${actual_rev} | ${variance_rev} | {pct_rev}% | {status_rev} |
| COGS | ${budget_cogs} | ${actual_cogs} | ${variance_cogs} | {pct_cogs}% | {status_cogs} |
| Gross Profit | ${budget_gp} | ${actual_gp} | ${variance_gp} | {pct_gp}% | {status_gp} |
| Salaries | ${budget_sal} | ${actual_sal} | ${variance_sal} | {pct_sal}% | {status_sal} |
| Marketing | ${budget_mkt} | ${actual_mkt} | ${variance_mkt} | {pct_mkt}% | {status_mkt} |
| Net Income | ${budget_ni} | ${actual_ni} | ${variance_ni} | {pct_ni}% | {status_ni} |

**Status Legend:**
- 🟢 Favorable (>5% better than budget)
- 🟡 On Target (within ±5%)
- 🔴 Unfavorable (>5% worse than budget)

**2. Key Variances:**

**Revenue Variance: ${variance_rev} ({pct_rev}%)**
- **Type:** {favorable/unfavorable}
- **Root Cause:** {cause_revenue}
- **Impact:** {impact_revenue}
- **Action Required:** {action_revenue}

**Expense Variance: ${variance_expenses} ({pct_expenses}%)**
- **Type:** {favorable/unfavorable}
- **Root Cause:** {cause_expenses}
- **Impact:** {impact_expenses}
- **Action Required:** {action_expenses}

**3. Variance Analysis by Category:**

**Favorable Variances:**
1. {item_1}: ${amount_1} favorable
   - Why: {reason_1}
   - Sustainable? {yes/no}
   - Recommendation: {rec_1}

**Unfavorable Variances:**
1. {item_2}: ${amount_2} unfavorable
   - Why: {reason_2}
   - One-time or recurring? {type}
   - Corrective action: {action_2}

**4. Trend Analysis:**

Compare to previous periods:
| Metric | 3 Months Ago | 2 Months Ago | Last Month | This Month | Trend |
|--------|--------------|--------------|------------|------------|-------|
| Revenue Variance % | {m3_rev}% | {m2_rev}% | {m1_rev}% | {m0_rev}% | {trend_rev} |
| Expense Variance % | {m3_exp}% | {m2_exp}% | {m1_exp}% | {m0_exp}% | {trend_exp} |

**5. Forecast Impact:**

**Revised Forecast:**
- Original annual forecast: ${original_forecast}
- Revised based on YTD: ${revised_forecast}
- Change: ${forecast_change} ({forecast_pct}%)

**6. Action Plan:**

**Immediate Actions (This Week):**
1. {immediate_action_1}
2. {immediate_action_2}

**Short-term Actions (This Month):**
1. {short_term_action_1}
2. {short_term_action_2}

**Long-term Actions (This Quarter):**
1. {long_term_action_1}
2. {long_term_action_2}

**7. Recommendations:**
- {recommendation_1}
- {recommendation_2}
- {recommendation_3}

Provide: Variance report + root cause analysis + action plan.