The difference between a revenue or cost item in the flexible budget and the same item in the static planning budget.
Activity variance
A report showing estimates of what revenues and costs should have been, given the actual level of activity for the period.
Flexible budget
A management system in which actual results are compared to a budget. Significant deviations from the budget are flagged as exceptions and investigated further.
Management by exception
The difference between the actual revenue for the period and how much the revenue should have been, given the actual level of activity.
Revenue variance
The difference between the actual amount of the cost and how much the cost should have been, given the actual level of activity.
Spending variance
A budget created at the beginning of the budgeting period that is valid only for the planned level of activity.
Planning budget