Flux analysis | Blackline
A flux analysis is a way to measure fluctuations in account balances between periods of time. It can be monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on the metric and the intended analysis. It’s most common to run this horizontal analysis for income statement accounts, but it can also be valuable in analyzing balance sheet accounts and conducting balance sheet forecasting to better understand your cash position.
Having a clear view of the fluctuations in your business period over period gives you deep insight into performance. Done well, flux analysis becomes a core driver of data integrity and proactive planning. Here's how you can get the most out of this accounting tool.
As a company grows quickly, it’s critical for business leaders to understand variances in performance each month compared to the last—not just in terms of high-level revenue and expenses, but also at a deeper account level.
A flux analysis, short for fluctuation analysis, does just that.
Flux analysis accounting compares account balances across certain periods of time to provide insight into how a company is doing—and what it could be doing better.
From high-level analysis across all of the payroll to the company’s spend with individual vendors, a flux analysis is a powerful tool for financial analysts who want to support their company’s financial planning and analysis
How does blacklines support
Improve Data Integrity & Support Decision-Making
Accelerate variance analyses with a proactive and continuous approach that doesn’t require waiting for period-end.
Variance Analysis integrates with your ERPs and source systems, securely imports GL and other data, and alerts users to unusual or significant fluctuations for investigation. With information centralized across the enterprise, the right decisions are made on the right information
Increase Visibility & Strengthen Controls
Continuously monitor for risk and ensure the appropriate and timely execution of your internal controls.
Variance Analysis offers real-time dashboards and reports to provide a complete view into the status of every fluctuation requiring explanation. Fluctuations are automatically calculated, and configurable business rules identify unusual activity and route variances to owners for further investigation and explanation.
Reduce Manual Work & Save Time
Significantly reduce the amount of manual work involved in variance analysis and free critical finance and accounting capacity to focus on issue resolution, rather than non-value adding tasks.
Variance Analysis imports balances and activity in real-time and automates calculations to continuously monitor changes and trends. With more timely insights, you can prevent errors and positively impact organizational decisions and performance, faster.
