Here is our budget vs. actual data for [TIME PERIOD]:

[Paste the data — line items, budgeted amounts, actual amounts]

Write a CFO-ready budget narrative that covers:

**1. Executive overview** — Three sentences maximum. What's the headline? Are we over, under, or on track? What's the single most important variance?

**2. Variance analysis** — For every line item where actual differs from budget by more than 10%, explain:
- The size and direction of the variance (dollars and percentage)
- Two plausible explanations for the variance (rank by likelihood)
- Whether this is a one-time event or a trend to monitor

**3. Category patterns** — Group variances into themes. Are the overages concentrated in one department? Is there a pattern (e.g., all people-related costs are up, all marketing spend is down)?

**4. Questions for the finance team** — Five specific questions that the data raises but can't answer. These should demonstrate analytical thinking, not just "why is this number high?"

**5. Recommended actions** — Three concrete next steps, each linked to a specific variance or pattern.

[VERIFY] Every number in your response must come directly from the data I provided. Flag any calculated figure (percentages, totals, comparisons) so I can verify the arithmetic.

Tone: professional, direct, suitable for a board or leadership audience. No jargon that a non-finance executive wouldn't understand.