Variance Report

Quickly compare costs between any Milestone estimate, budget, or running total with the Variance Report.

A Variance Report is used to compare any two values (Estimate, Budget, or Running Total) from the same or different Milestone. The Variance Report is an excellent tool for tracking trends in cost changes over time.

It presents this information with an Estimate Chart and/or a summary list of costs and Items. This report is different from others as it is generated with step-by-step instructions. Once the desired report is generated, it can be saved and shared with the team.

Running a Variance Report

There are two places to run a Variance Report. Either open the Reports page and launch the report generator by clicking the Start Report button or open the Milestones page and click the Variance Report hyperlink in the upper right corner.

Create the report by following these three steps:

1. Select which Milestones, values (Estimate, Budget, Running Total), and dates to compare.
   
2. Select the Units of Measure to be displayed in the report. 
   
3. Select your view settings (chart, list, or both), category grouping, variance display (show or hide zero variances), and Item cost display (show or hide detailed Item costs).
   

Filtering the Report

The Variance Report can be filtered by any category in the project. This filter will apply to both the chart and the list sections of the report. 

Adding Notes

After running a Variance Report it is common that you will need to add notes to each line item that has a significant cost change to explain why costs changed. To add notes to a Variance Report, follow these steps:

1. Run the Variance Report
2. Save the report
3. Hover over the right-hand side of the list section of the report and click the left arrow button above the notes column
4. Hover next to the row you want to add a note to and click the Add a note button
5. Enter a comment and click Add or press Enter on your keyboard