Film Accounting Glossary
Detail page
What is a detail page?
Also called budget detail, or detail account page.
A detail page is the part of a budget that shows the individual assumptions behind a single account: the rate, the quantity, the number of weeks, and the fringe treatment for each line.
The top sheet shows the totals, the detail pages show the arithmetic, and a variance can only be understood by reading the detail. Financiers reviewing a budget spend their time here, not on the summary.
Example
The top sheet shows transportation at $412,000. The detail page shows why: 14 drivers at $1,380 a week for 9 weeks, 22 vehicles at rates from $250 to $1,900 a week, plus fuel and mileage. The error, if there is one, is always on this page.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Behind every account in the budget. Where financiers and completion guarantors actually spend their review time.
Common mistake
Reviewing a budget from the top sheet alone. Every assumption worth testing, and every error, is on the detail page underneath the total.
Related questions
- What is on a budget detail page?
- The rate, quantity, number of weeks or days, and fringe treatment behind each line, so the total can be recalculated and challenged.
- Why do financiers read the detail pages?
- Because the top sheet only shows outcomes. The detail shows whether the number rests on a real schedule and current quotes or on optimism.