A budget is a plan involving revenue and expenses which are forecasted by leaders for future activities. However, it's common for unexpected events to occur. Unanticipated staffing challenges, pandemics, and supply shortages are examples of unanticipated occurrences that impact the budget. Therefore, a nurse leader is responsible for ongoing budget monitoring using various tools to ensure revenue and expenses are balanced. Variance analysis is a method to manage the budget and make needed changes on a concurrent basis