Budget vs. Actual report

The Budget vs. Actual report compares the amounts in a budget with the income and spending you recorded, category by category. Use it to find the categories that are over or under budget and to see how the budget is performing overall.

Open the report

You can open the report from the Reports menu or from the Budgets tab.

• From the Reports menu, select Budget, then select Budget vs. Actual.

• On the Budgets tab, select Budget Report.

The report opens on the budget you viewed most recently and covers the Year to Date period.

Choose the budget, period, and interval

Three pop-up menus at the top of the report control what it shows.

• Budget: Choose the budget to compare against your income and spending.

• Period: Choose the dates the report covers. Periods under Current Budget move with today’s date, so a saved report stays current. Each year submenu, such as 2026, offers fixed periods for that year: the full year, each half year, each quarter, and each month. Only years with budget amounts appear.

• Interval: Choose None to show one set of columns for the whole period. Choose Month, Quarter, or Half Year to show a set of columns for each interval, followed by a Total set for the whole period.

Note: Full Year compares 12 months of budget amounts with the transactions recorded so far, so expense categories often appear under budget. For a like-for-like comparison, use Year to Date.

Read the report

The report lists the categories in your budget under Income and Expenses, followed by a Net row that shows income minus expenses. Budgeted transfers into an account appear under Income. Budgeted transfers out of an account and loan payments appear under Expenses. Categories that aren’t in the budget don’t appear, so the report’s totals won’t match your spending reports.

Each set of columns shows these values:

• Budget: The amount budgeted for the period.

• Actual: The income or spending recorded during the period.

• Variance: The difference between the Budget and Actual amounts. A green amount with a plus sign means the category did better than planned. A red amount with a minus sign means it did worse.

• Variance (%): The variance as a percentage of the Budget amount. A dash appears when the Budget amount is zero.

To collapse or expand a group or category, select the arrow next to its name.

Note: For a period that covers part of a month, such as Month to Date, the Budget column uses the full monthly amount. The Budget column also excludes rollover amounts.

Parent categories and total rows

When a parent category has two or more budgeted subcategories, its figures appear in a total row below them, such as Total Food & Dining. If the parent category has its own budget amount, its figures cover the whole category, including subcategories that aren’t in the budget. As a result, a total row can differ from the sum of the rows above it.

View the transactions behind an amount

Select any amount in the Actual column to open the transactions that make up that amount.

Filter the report by category

You can limit the report to specific categories, transfers, and loan payments. The report filters by category only because it uses the accounts in the selected budget.

1. In the report toolbar, select Edit.

2. On the Categories tab, select Include only transactions with selected categories.

3. Select the items you want to include and clear the ones you want to leave out.

4. Select OK.

The totals and the Net row update to match the rows that remain.

Save, print, and export the report

The report toolbar works the same way it does in other reports. A saved report keeps its budget, period, interval, and category filter.

When the report has nothing to show

If your file has no budget, the report shows a message with a Create a Budget button. If your budget doesn’t cover the current year, the report offers to open the budget so you can add amounts for this year, or to show the last year the budget covers.