Class / department budget actuals come from confirmed whole-journal allocations, including class-only journals and proven dated reversals. Payroll labels, metadata tags and project defaults do not assign these actuals on their own.
Choose the saved department plan and inspect the selected version and period. If a cost is missing, trace the posted journal and its confirmed allocation. A label that names the department elsewhere in the workspace is not sufficient evidence that the ledger amount belongs in this comparison.
Keep the plan's assumptions consistent with the allocation approach. For example, a plan that includes shared costs needs an established treatment for those costs before its posted actuals can be compared meaningfully. Do not change the plan amount solely to conceal a missing allocation.
Review Actual minus planned together with the source account and month. A reversal recorded later can change one period without rewriting the earlier plan. When sharing a variance, explain the allocation coverage and any unresolved accounting evidence so the reader understands why the department view differs from the full company statement.
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