# Free budget variance analysis Prompt (Finance Teams)

Canonical page: https://aiagentskills.biz/prompts/finance/budget-variance-agent/
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For AI agents: [Markdown version of this page](https://aiagentskills.biz/md/prompts/finance/budget-variance-agent.md) · [llms.txt](https://aiagentskills.biz/llms.txt) Prompt · works in Instinct, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other assistant that reads plain-text files

# Explain budget variances with one free prompt

This page gives you a free, copy-ready prompt for this job (it maintains your approved budget sheet and explains budget-to-actual variance with the source row linked: account, budget, actual, variance, source, explanation), plus the $19 standing-agent version that runs it on repeat without re-pasting rules.

It maintains your approved budget sheet and explains budget-to-actual variance with the source row linked: account, budget, actual, variance, source, explanation. The prompt below is the do-it-yourself version.

[Get the standing agent · $19](https://aiagentskillsbiz.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/d71673ee-45c6-4d64-9a98-c6f9eee55e1a)[Jump to the prompt](#prompt) ✓ Free to copy ✓ No signup ✓ Sample data labeled [Home](/) › [Prompts](/prompts/) › Budget Variance Agent

## The prompt

    Explain this month's budget variances: [paste account, budget, actual rows]. For each line: the variance and an explanation using only this context: [paste what you know]. If the context does not explain a line, mark it NEEDS SOURCE - do not invent a reason.

## What to bring

Explaining variances means hunting through the ledger for what moved, then writing the same overspend paragraph for the fifth month running.

## What a good run returns

Account, budget, actual, variance, source and a written explanation per line, in a Google Sheet in a Finance Budget & Variance Workspace folder.

## Where the free version ends

A prompt runs when you remember to run it, from whatever context you paste, and it forgets the rules between sessions. The [Budget & Variance Agent](/finance/budget-variance-agent/) ($19 one-time) installs this as a standing workflow: fixed evidence rules, a saved output in your own Drive every run, fictional-data testing before real work, and hard stops before anything sends, spends or publishes. More detail on the [budget variance analysis guide](/agents-for/finance/budget-variance/).

## Questions people ask

### Is this prompt really free?

Yes. Copy it, paste it into any capable assistant, bring the inputs listed. No signup, no email gate.

### Which assistants does the prompt work in?

Any capable chat assistant: Instinct, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Hermes, OpenClaw, Town, Muse and others.

### What is the difference between the free prompt and the $19 agent?

The prompt is a one-off: you re-paste the rules every run. The $19 agent is the same job productized - tested setup, saved files, consistent output, standing cycle.

Last updated 13 September 2026 · Reviewed by the AI Agent Skills team.