1. The problem is to calculate the variance in absolute and percentage terms for churn values that can be negative. 2. Variance measures how much values differ from the mean. For churn, which can be negative, we want to calculate the difference (variance) between actual and expected churn both in absolute and percentage terms. 3. In Excel, to calculate the absolute variance between actual churn (say in cell A2) and expected churn (say in B2), use: $$\text{Absolute Variance} = A2 - B2$$ 4. To calculate the percentage variance, which is the relative difference, use: $$\text{Percentage Variance} = \frac{A2 - B2}{ABS(B2)} \times 100$$ Here, $ABS(B2)$ ensures the denominator is positive even if expected churn is negative, avoiding incorrect percentage signs. 5. To handle cases where expected churn might be zero (to avoid division by zero), use the IF function: $$=IF(B2=0, "N/A", (A2 - B2)/ABS(B2) * 100)$$ This returns "N/A" if expected churn is zero. 6. Summary: - Use $A2 - B2$ for absolute variance. - Use $\frac{A2 - B2}{ABS(B2)} \times 100$ for percentage variance. - Use IF to handle zero expected churn. This approach correctly calculates variance even when churn values are negative.