One of the most common criticisms of non-finance managers, executives, and directors is that they have difficulty understanding financial performance of their own organization. Often variance analysis is overwhelming, confusing, lacking in precision, begging more questions than it answers with superficial explanations. In this course, you will take a deep dive into how you can do variance analysis better. In the process, you will add significant value to management decision making.

Using an audience centric view, you will learn best practices using examples and case studies to improve traditional variance analysis using numbers and descriptive explanations. You will also learn to make variance analysis more visual through charts, graphs and images. Finally, you will explore different structures that help facilitate a conversation about organizational performance. This impactful course is relevant to any financial professional involved in the preparation, reporting, review, or presentation of variance analysis. Honing this skill elevates your own executive presence and the level of influence and persuasiveness inside your organization.

Learning Objectives
  • Explore and adopt an audience-centric mindset when preparing and presenting variance analysis.
  • Discover and apply best practices to variance analysis to elevate clarity and concision.
  • Identify and incorporate a visual sense to variances using charts, graphs, and images.
  • Recognize and structure the analysis to facilitate a conversation about the actions management should take to address variances.
Last updated/reviewed: January 29, 2025
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to Elevating the Value of Variance Analysis2:46
  Course Roadmap1:18
VARIANCE ANALYSIS MINDSET
  Variance Analysis Mindset16:30
  Numerical Descriptive Variance Analysis11:48
  Language of Variance Analysis10:02
  Explanations of Variance11:04
  Examples of Traditional Analysis18:32
  Digits Matter12:06
  Financial Bridge Analysis11:22
VARIANCE ANALYSIS VISUALISATION
  Making Variances Visual8:16
  Graphing Data29:32
  Discovering Insights7:16
  Waterfalls Diagrams9:36
  Imagery9:30
STRUCTURING
  Structuring your Variance Analysis Package12:40
CONCLUSION
  Course Recap10:02
  Bonus Lesson4:26
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Elevating the Value of Variance Analysis3:06:46
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
  Slides: Elevating the Value of Variance AnalysisPDF
  Elevating the Value of Variance Analysis GlossaryPDF
Additional Resources
  Excel ChartXLSX
  Variance Analysis Job AidPDF
REVIEW AND TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam