Budget vs Actuals, Updated the Moment the Ledger Moves
No export, no paste. Budget vs actuals reads straight from your general ledger, so every department sees where they stand today, not last month.
Illustrative product view
What budget vs actuals does
Budget vs actuals in Fintra is a live report, not a monthly reconciliation project. Because the budget and the general ledger sit in the same system, every posted transaction updates variance immediately, at the account and department level.
- Department and account-level variance, updated as actuals post
- AI-drafted variance explanations for lines that move outside a set band
- Drill-down from a variance straight to the transactions behind it
- Side-by-side comparison against multiple budget versions
Core capabilities
| Capability | What it does | What it replaces |
|---|---|---|
| Live variance | Compares plan to GL actuals continuously | Monthly export-and-paste reports |
| Drill-down | Traces a variance to its source transactions | Asking accounting for backup detail |
| AI explanations | Drafts a plain-English reason for material variances | Manual variance commentary |
| Threshold alerts | Flags lines moving outside a set percentage band | Discovering surprises at month-end |
How it works
From posted transaction to explained variance
- 1
Set your bands
Choose the variance percentage that should trigger a flag, per department or account.
- 2
Actuals post
Every GL transaction updates budget vs actuals automatically - no batch refresh.
- 3
AI drafts the why
Lines outside the band get a drafted explanation, traced to the transactions that moved it.
- 4
Owner confirms
The department owner edits or approves the explanation before it is shared upward.
Governed variance reporting
AI drafts variance commentary; it does not publish it. AgentFence policy keeps explanation drafting separate from anything that touches the ledger, and the SentriAI audit trail records who approved which explanation and when.
Frequently asked questions
How current is budget vs actuals in Fintra?
As current as your ledger. Because budget vs actuals reads directly from posted GL transactions, there is no batch refresh or export step - a bill posted this morning shows up in variance this morning.
Can each department see only their own variance?
Yes. Department owners see their own budget vs actuals and can drill into the transactions behind any variance, while finance sees the rolled-up company view. Both are the same live numbers, just scoped differently.
Does AI just guess at variance explanations?
No. AI traces a flagged variance to the actual transactions that caused it and drafts an explanation grounded in those transactions - it is reviewed and edited by the department owner before anyone downstream sees it.
Can I compare actuals against more than one budget version?
Yes. Fintra keeps prior approved budget versions, so you can compare actuals against the original plan and the latest reforecast side by side, rather than losing the original baseline once a reforecast is approved.
Stay in the loop
One practical finance briefing a week - new guides, checklists, and benchmarks.
See variance the day it happens
Start free, no card required. Connect your ledger and watch budget vs actuals update itself.
Talk to us