What are some benchmarks that you compare actual results to when completing monthly analysis?

"There are three benchmarks that I typically use to analyze actual results. The first benchmark is vs last year. Actuals vs last year will help explain growth and decline in various accounts vs the previous year. Many external parties, such as investors, are interested in performance vs last year. The second benchmark is vs budget. At the beginning of the year, we built the annual budget which essentially lays out targets for the year. Each month, we want to analyze how we are doing vs budget so that business practices can be adjusted in order to realize full year budget targets. The third benchmark is vs prior forecast. Each month we prepare a forecast for the remainder of the year, and we use this benchmark to analyze how close actuals came to our expectations."