Flux analysis
Every variance explained, before anyone asks.
Agents trace each variance over your threshold to the entries behind it and draft the commentary. Errors are caught before sign-off.
Halden Software’s September against August. A sample company, with illustrative figures.
The write-up
Commentary ready before review starts.
No more flux written at midnight.
The agents draft the commentary the night the month ends, so review starts with every variance explained.
Commentary for the CFO, support for the auditors.
What moved and why, with the entries attached. The flux workpaper goes into the close package for your CFO and auditors.
Your threshold, every account.
Choose a dollar amount and a percentage. Every account is compared, and only changes large on both counts need commentary.
- Set by entity or by client
- Every account tested
- Accounts within it marked as passed
Every variance traced to the entries behind it.
The agent reads the entries behind each account that moved and finds the ones that explain it: a renewal, new hires, a new lease.
When it’s a mistake, the fix comes drafted.
Sometimes the explanation is an error, like a renewal expensed in full. The agent drafts the correction with its support, so it never reaches the financials.
Against last month, last year or budget.
The same tracing works whichever comparison your CFO asks for.
Month on month
This month against last, for the close review.
Year on year
This month against the same month last year, for seasonality and growth.
Budget to actual
Actuals against plan, each variance explained the same way.
Questions controllers and firms ask first.
What is flux analysis in accounting?
Flux analysis compares each account’s balance with a prior period and explains every change over a set threshold. The comparison is usually with last month or the same month last year, and it’s how a controller checks the close before signing off.
How do you set a flux threshold?
Most teams use both a dollar amount and a percentage, so only changes that are large on both counts need commentary. You set the threshold, and the agents apply it to every account.
Does the agent only write commentary, or does it check the numbers?
It checks them. Each explanation is traced to the entries behind the variance, and when those entries are wrong, like an annual renewal expensed in full, the agent drafts the correcting entry and sends it for approval.
Can it compare actuals to budget?
Yes. Agents compare each account to last month, the same month last year or your budget, and trace every variance over your threshold to the entries behind it.
Who reviews the flux before it goes to the CFO?
Your team. The agents draft the flux and its commentary before review starts, a second AI checks every entry behind it, and your reviewer approves the explanations and any proposed entries before sign-off.