Variance mode
Compare two periods and analyze the variance between them.
Use Variance mode to compare two periods and analyze the variance between them.
This mode introduces a second period menu in the toolbar. Together, the period menus control the period comparison:
Period: Select the current (main) period. This is the period that appears as the first value in the variance comparison. For example, you might select the current month, quarter or year.
Compared to: Select the comparison period. The default is Previous (same period one year ago), with Prior Previous and Adjacent Previous also available. You can also compare to a predefined period or select a specific date range.
Summary view
Displays a comparison of the selected period and comparison period.
The grid contains the following columns:
Period: Displays the selected period and the comparison period (in brackets).
Current: Displays the value for the selected period.
Cumulative Current: Displays a running total of the values for the selected period.
Comparison: Displays the value for the comparison period.
Cumulative Comparison: Displays a running total of the values for the comparison period.
Variance: Displays the difference between the current and comparison values.
% Variance: Displays the percentage difference between the current and comparison values.
Cumulative Variance: Displays the difference between the cumulative current and cumulative comparison values.
Cumulative % Variance: Displays the percentage difference between the cumulative current and cumulative comparison values.
Dimension view
Displays a comparison of the selected period and comparison period for each entity in the selected dimension.
In this view, the Properties and Columns menus in the toolbar become available.
The grid contains the following columns:
Properties: Displays the selected properties (such as Code and Name) for each entity. Use the Properties menu to select which properties to display. The available properties depend on the selected dimension.
Comparison: Displays the current value, comparison value, variance and percentage variance for each entity.
Optional breakdown
In the dimension view, you can use Columns > Custom > Show all periods to display a breakdown of the selected period. This helps you identify where the variance occurred.
For example, if you compare the last 3 months with the previous 3 months, turning on Show all periods displays each month within the selected period so you can see how each month contributed to the overall variance.
The breakdown contains:
Total: Displays the total value across the breakdown periods. A sparkline provides a visual summary of the values across the selected period.
Period columns: Display the individual periods that make up the selected period.
Example
Use Variance mode to compare a customer's spending for the rolling 12 months with the previous 12 months:
Click Mode > Variance.
Click the Customer dimension.
Locate and select the required customer and click Focus.
Click Period > Rolling 12 Months.
Click Columns > Custom > Show all periods to view a breakdown of the customer's monthly sales in the current year.
