Flux and variance
Every movement over your threshold, explained before sign-off.
Orion compares each account with the prior period, the same period last year and budget. Movements over the threshold you set are listed for an explanation, with the transactions behind them one click away: the invoices in Atlas, the bills in Cortex, the schedules in Apex, the journals in the GL.
Higher volume on two private-label lines; 61% of the change is units shipped, the rest the October price change from Pinecrest Mills.
How flux runs
Compare, flag, open, explain.
- 01
Compare
Each account against the prior period, the prior year and budget, by entity.
- 02
Flag
Every movement over your dollar or percent threshold, by account type.
- 03
Open
The transactions that moved it, grouped by where they came from.
- 04
Explain
The account's owner writes why; a reviewer accepts it before sign-off.
The detail behind a move
Each movement opens to the records that made it.
| Account | What moved it | Read from |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Invoices, credits and revenue schedules | Apex, Atlas and the GL |
| Cost of goods | Bills, receipts and inventory movements | Cortex and your ERP |
| Payroll | The period's runs by department | Your payroll register or ERP journals |
| Operating expenses | Bills and journals by department | Cortex and the GL |
| Cash | Receipts and payments by week | Atlas, Cortex and the bank |
Thresholds that fit
Material for you, not for a template.
Dollar and percent
Either one, or both, so a small account cannot bury a large move.
By account type
Tighter on revenue and cash, looser where a swing is normal.
By entity
Each entity's own thresholds, in its own currency.
Kept with the period
The thresholds used are stored with the explanations they produced.
What Orion works out, and what is yours
Orion does the arithmetic. People sign.
Orion compares and flags on its own. Every explanation is written and accepted by a person.
Orion matches, ties and calculates on its own, from the records already in your foundation. Every journal posted, every difference written off, every reconciliation signed off and every period locked is a person's decision, recorded with their name. Orion never moves money.
Orion works it out
- Compares every account with prior period, prior year and budget
- Lists every movement over your threshold
- Opens the transactions behind each move
- Keeps each explanation with the period
Always a person
- Writing every explanation
- Accepting an explanation
- Changing thresholds
FAQ
Flux and variance, run end to end.
How does Orion decide which movements need an explanation?
By the thresholds your team sets with us: a dollar amount, a percent, or both, by account type and entity. Every account is compared; only the movements over threshold are listed for an explanation.
Where does the detail behind a movement come from?
From the records in your foundation. Revenue opens to invoices and schedules from Apex and Atlas, costs to bills from Cortex and your ERP, payroll to the period's runs, cash to receipts and payments by week.
Who writes the explanations?
The owner of each account, in Orion, beside the transactions. A reviewer accepts each one, and the period cannot be signed off while a movement over threshold is unexplained.
Does flux compare with budget as well as last period?
Yes. Each account is compared with the prior period, the same period last year and budget. Budget against actual by department has its own view as well.
Are last month's explanations kept?
Yes, with the period, the thresholds used and who wrote and accepted each one. A recurring movement shows last period's explanation beside this one.
Related in Orion
- Budget oversightActual against budget by department and account, with committed spend from Cortex, and every overrun shown before the close.View
- Month-end closeThe close checklist and every task by period, with its owner, its status and the evidence behind it.View
- Period close and sign-offA period closes when the checks pass and the people your company names sign it, and then it is locked.View
- CFO overviewCash, receivables, payables, revenue, the close and budget in one view, read from the records each product already holds.View
See flux work on your own close.
Bring last month's close: the checklist, the reconciliations and the trial balance. We run it through Orion beside your team and show you where it would have tied, and give you an honest answer if the close is slow for a reason upstream that you should fix first.
Your close calendar, chart of accounts, thresholds, reviewers and sign-off order are yours, and they stay yours. Orion is configured to the way your team closes. You are not handing over a playbook or fitting into a template.