N
The Global Insight

What is total revenue variance?

Author

Michael Gray

Updated on February 26, 2026

The revenue variance for an accounting period is the difference between budgeted and actual revenue. A favorable revenue variance occurs when actual revenues exceed budgeted revenues, while the opposite is true for an unfavorable variance.

How do you calculate variance in financial statements?

In accounting, you calculate a variance by subtracting the expected value from the actual value to determine the difference in dollars. A positive number indicates an excess, and a negative number indicates a deficit.

How to calculate revenue variance for a business?

For example, if you sell more units at a lower price, you may actually earn more revenue than selling less units at a higher price or vice versa. Reference your actual revenue for the same period. Note units sold and the price per unit earned. Calculate your variance. Subtract your total estimated revenue from your actual revenue.

What happens when your revenue variance is negative?

If the number is negative, you have not met your expected revenue budget. When calculating your revenue variance, it is not always necessary to include units sold in your calculation; however, if your actual figures vary greatly, you may want to analyze the difference between the static budget and actual units sold data.

How do you calculate the variance of a sample?

To calculate variance, start by calculating the mean, or average, of your sample. Then, subtract the mean from each data point, and square the differences. Next, add up all of the squared differences. Finally, divide the sum by n minus 1, where n equals the total number of data points in your sample.

How to calculate sales volume variance ( SVV )?

And finally, Sales Volume Variance (SVV) = Sales Mix Variance + Sales Quantity Variance. These variances are summarized in the following table: Data from XYZ Company with equal Actual CM and Budgeted CM. To determine the relevant variances, we use the column method shown above.