The review of revenues and costs should be compared at least __ to identify any adjustments that need to be made for variances.

• A. annually
• B. biennially
• C. quarterly
• D. monthly

Answer: (D)

Frequent variance analysis is essential in managing a lab budget: compare actual revenues and costs to the budget at least monthly to catch variances early and determine necessary adjustments. Waiting longer allows variances to grow, making corrections harder and potentially impacting operations or compliance. Monthly reviews align with typical financial reporting and operational cycles, letting you take timely actions—such as adjusting procurement, staffing, or resource allocation—to stay on target. Waiting to review annually or biennially misses the window to address small deviations before they become bigger problems, and quarterly checks, while better than annual, still delay intervention compared with a monthly cadence.