FP&A · Budget control
Actual vs budget
Monthly budget control for Northwind Shipping (fictional), an 8-vessel fleet of tankers, bulk carriers and offshore supply vessels. Actuals are closed through Sep 2026. All names and figures are synthetic; the structure mirrors a real budget-control model I ran in shipping.
Key figures · YTD Jan 2026
Net hire revenue
USD 3.38M
−0.07M vs budget
EBITDA
USD 0.87M
−0.06M vs budget
EBITDA margin
25.8%
Budget 27.0%
Net result
USD 0.13M
−0.06M vs budget
Fleet utilization
97.2%
Budget 96.8% · 7 off-hire days
TCE per on-hire day
USD 14,026
Budget 14,375
Running cost per vessel-day
USD 3,479
Budget 3,500
G&A as % of revenue
5.9%
Budget 5.8%
EBITDA bridge · From budget to actual
Commentary · Generated automatically from the variances
- ▸YTD Jan 2026: EBITDA missed budget by USD 0.06M (-6.6%), at USD 0.87M against USD 0.93M.
- ▸Charter rates took away USD 0.09M. Tanker rates ran above plan (MT Calypso +0% TCE), partly offset by weaker dry bulk and offshore contracts.
- ▸Off-hire days added USD 0.02M. Main drivers: OSV Gaia (+1 day).
- ▸Running cost added USD 0.01M. Largest overruns: spare parts (USD 0.00M) and certificates & surveys (USD 0.00M).
- ▸Fleet utilization was 97.2% vs 96.8% budgeted; running cost per vessel-day USD 3,479 vs 3,500.
- ▸Full-year outlook: EBITDA USD 9.33M, below the USD 10.24M budget by USD 0.91M, assuming current rate levels, the wage increase and higher lubricant prices persist through December.
Rule-based: the engine ranks the EBITDA bridge drivers, finds the vessels and cost lines behind each one and writes the sentences. The analyst reviews and edits instead of starting from a blank page.
Synthetic data for a fictional company, for illustration only.