What is the primary function of the Budget Variance Analyzer skill?

It analyzes budget variances by comparing planned budgets against actual expenditures for construction projects, identifying over/under-spends, and generating actionable insights.

What input files are required by the skill?

Planned budget data (CSV format with columns: Category, PlannedAmount, Period) and actual expenditure data (CSV format with columns: Category, ActualAmount, Period).

What outputs does the skill produce?

A variance report in JSON format including variances per category, percentage variances, total variance, and recommendations; optionally, a visualized PDF report.

What tools or libraries does the skill use?

Pandas for data processing, Matplotlib/Seaborn for visualizations, and ReportLab for PDF generation.

What is the expected format of the input CSV files?

CSV files with headers: Category (string), PlannedAmount/ActualAmount (float), Period (string in YYYY-MM format).

Does the skill handle multiple periods?

Yes, it aggregates variances across multiple periods specified in the input data.

What variance threshold triggers a 'high risk' flag?

Variances exceeding 10% are flagged as 'high risk' with recommendations.

OpenClaw skill

budget-variance-analyzer

An OpenClaw skill that analyzes budget variances for construction projects by comparing planned budgets against actual expenditures across defined cost categories. It identifies overruns and underruns, categorizing them by areas such as labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractors. The skill generates concise variance reports highlighting key discrepancies and recommendations.

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How this skill works

Processes planned_budget and actual_spending JSON objects
Matches categories between planned_budget and actual_spending
Computes variance as actual minus planned for each category
Computes percentage as (variance / planned) * 100
Determines status as 'over' for positive variance or 'under' for negative
Assumes 0 for missing categories in planned_budget or actual_spending
Generates variances array with category, planned, actual, variance, percentage, status
Generates summary text describing key variances

When to use it

When comparing actual construction costs against budgeted amounts to identify variances
When generating reports on budget overruns or underruns for construction projects
When processing budget data and expenditure logs to compute percentage variances

Best practices

Configure budget_csv_url and actuals_csv_url with publicly accessible CSV files
Format CSV files with exact columns: department, category, budgeted_amount, period for budget; department, category, actual_amount, period for actuals
Ensure department, category, and period values match exactly between budget and actuals CSVs
Limit CSV file sizes to under 1MB to prevent timeouts
Validate CSV columns and data alignment before invoking the skill

Example use cases

Project Budget Variance Calculation: Computes the difference between planned and actual budgets for a construction project using provided planned_budget and actual_spend inputs.
Category-Level Variance Analysis: Analyzes variances for specific budget categories such as materials, labor, equipment, and overhead based on categorized actual and planned data.
Budget Status Categorization: Categorizes overall project status as under budget, on budget, or over budget using variance_threshold parameter.
Variance Report Generation: Generates a summary report including total variance, percentage variance, status, and category breakdowns for project review.

FAQs

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