What is a variance?

A variance is the difference between actual and budgeted income and expenditure. Therefore, at the University, we only get variances in GL (General Ledger) on Chest funded activities.

For all other sources of funds budgetary control will be implemented by recognising and resolving surpluses or deficits.

Adverse and Favourable Variances

An adverse variance is where actual income is less than budget, or actual expenditure is more than budget. This is the same as a deficit where expenditure exceeds the available income.

A favourable variance is where actual income is more than budget, or actual expenditure is less than budget. This is the same as a surplus where expenditure is less than the available income.

When should I investigate and resolve a variance?

A variance (or surplus or deficit) should be investigated and resolved when it is significant.

Unfortunately, significance is not absolute, it does depend upon context. What is significant to an institution may not be significant for the University. For institutions we recommend that variances of 10% are treated as significant. However, institutions are free to set their own limits higher or lower than this, and to have different limits for different types of income or expenditure.