Budget vs actual: difference, over/under flag and no divide-by-zero

budget finance

Three formulas to see whether you are over budget, with a safe percent that handles a zero budget.

The problem

You want to see if each category is over budget.

Sample data

Formulas

Difference: =B3-C3                      -> -50 (Food)
Flag:       =IF(C3>B3,"Over","OK")      -> Over
Safe %:     =IF(B5=0,"No budget",C5/B5) -> No budget (Misc)

The third formula stops Misc from showing a divide-by-zero error.

Excel vs Sheets

Same in both.

Tested on sample data by the Cellwise checker (log CW-PL-20261018-42). AI-made: the text, voice and visuals are generated by AI.

Checked before publishing: a check.