#Variance Analysis

Variance analysis is the convenient ritual of hunting down the chasm between budgets and actuals, stocking excuses for your boss. It involves drowning in tables and charts until you proudly declare “the cause is the field” as a triumphant conclusion. Mastery of numerical sleight-of-hand is prized more than truth, with rumors that crafting discrepancies is easier than finding them. Esteemed as the holy grail of accounting, it delivers easy justice over accuracy and upholds a culture where nobody ever takes blame. Use it wrongly and the analyst becomes the largest variance, a delicious irony.