MB - Mark Blog
Over Budget Operations Dashboard

Over Budget Operations Dashboard

Power BIDashboardFinancial
05/27/20

Project Overview

This interactive Power BI dashboard is designed to provide a high-level overview and department-level breakdown of FY2019 government expenditures, focusing on budget vs. actual tracking. It enables financial analysts, operations teams, and department heads to quickly identify budget overruns, monitor spending patterns, and investigate potential issues across various cost centers.

Main Page – Summary View

Key Metric:

The top section highlights a critical KPI: $108.36M Over Budget, representing the total over-expenditure across all departments.

Department Budget Compliance:

Each department is listed with an icon indicating budget status (e.g. ✓ for within budget, ✕ for over budget). Users can select any department for a detailed view.

Tab Navigation:

Below the department list, users can toggle between three analytical views:

  • Expenditures Over Time
  • Expenditures by Fund
  • Expenditures by Expense Type

Project Objectives

  • Automate JSON to structured data conversion
  • Implement robust data cleaning and validation
  • Establish automated data refresh mechanism
  • Ensure data quality and consistency

Each Tab

1. Expenditures Over Time

  • Displays a cumulative line chart comparing Total Budgeted Amount vs. Actual Amount Spent month-by-month.
  • Helps identify time periods where spending spiked or budget thresholds were crossed.

2.Expenditures by Fund

  • A bar chart comparing expenditures across key funding sources (e.g. General Fund, Debt Service).
  • Visualizes discrepancies between planned and actual expenditures per fund.

3.Expenditures by Expense Type

Breaks down actual vs. budgeted amounts across expense categories such as:

  • Salary & Benefits
  • Contractual Services
  • Capital Outlay
  • Transfers & Debt

Department Detail Page (Interactive)

Upon selecting a department, the dashboard navigates to a dedicated detail view with:

  • Line Chart of actual expenditures over time
  • Treemap of division and cost center expenditures
  • Time-animated cost center distribution, allowing users to explore changes month by month

Use Cases:

  • Identify which departments or expense types are consistently over budget
  • Spot seasonal trends or one-off anomalies in spending behavior
  • Provide data-driven insight to support operational planning and cost control

Tech Stack:

  • Built with Power BI Desktop and published via Power BI Service (Public link)
  • Supports slicers, tab navigation, cross-filtering, and animated timelines