A Financial Planning and Budget Monitoring System built in Excel with VBA, created to centralize financial projections, control expenses, and monitor real vs. planned performance. The solution delivers automation, precision, and real-time visibility to financial operations.
Keywords: Excel budget control, financial planning Excel, Excel automation, budget tracking spreadsheet, forecasting dashboard Excel.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- Project: Financial Planning and Budget Monitoring
- Development Tools: Excel + VBA
- Timeline: 4 business days
- Impact: 70% faster monthly closings; +35% accuracy in forecasting
- Industry: Corporate Finance & Business Management
- Departments Impacted: Finance, Planning, Accounting, Management
THE DEVELOPMENT STORY
Before automation, the company’s budget management process relied on multiple static spreadsheets with manual consolidation. This created versioning issues, inconsistent data, and long closing cycles.
We developed a dynamic Excel system that unifies all cost centers into one file, automates monthly budget updates, and compares planned vs. actual expenses. Through VBA routines, data import and consolidation now happen with a single click.
A dashboard summarizes revenue, expenses, and deviations by category, department, and period. Finance teams can easily adjust forecasts, visualize trends, and identify where costs are exceeding expectations.
The result: faster closings, more accurate planning, and a culture of financial transparency.
DASHBOARDS & FEATURES
- Multi-Center Input Sheets: Budget and actuals by department.
- Automated Consolidation: VBA macros that merge all cost centers.
Dashboard Visuals:
- Real vs. Planned Graphs
- Expense Breakdown by Category
- Deviation Indicators (Δ%)
- Forecast Accuracy Metrics
Scenario Analysis: Compare baseline, revised, and final budgets.
Validation Rules: Prevents missing or duplicate entries.
Monthly Closing Automation: Generates updated summaries automatically.
KEY POINTS SUMMARY
- Consolidates all cost centers in a single model.
- 70% faster monthly closing process.
- +35% accuracy in forecast tracking.
- Real-time visualization of deviations.
INDUSTRY & IMPACT
- Industry: Finance, Business Management, Accounting
- Departments Impacted: Finance, Planning, Management
Quantified Results:
- -70% time to consolidate
- +35% forecasting accuracy
- 100% visibility across cost centers
TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE
1. Architecture Overview
– Sheets: Input_Budget, Input_Actuals, Consolidated, Dashboard.
– VBA modules for data consolidation and summary refresh.
2. Core VBA Logic:
Sub ConsolidateBudgets()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Sheets(“Consolidated”).Cells.ClearContents
For Each ws In Worksheets
If Left(ws.Name, 6) = “Center” Then
ws.Range(“A2:F100”).Copy _
Destination:=Sheets(“Consolidated”).Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Offset(1, 0)
End If
Next ws
Call UpdateDashboard
End Sub
3. Key Formulas:
– =SUMIFS(Actuals[Value], Actuals[CostCenter], [@Center])
– =Budget – Actual
– =IFERROR((Actual – Budget)/Budget, 0)
4. Dashboard Indicators:
– Total Budget vs. Actuals
– % Deviation
– Forecast Accuracy
5. Future Integrations:
– Power BI connection for multi-year analytics.
– Power Automate for budget approval workflows.
