Page Comparison

When you compare sales in the current calendar month with sales in the corresponding month last year, the prior month will typically have sales for the whole of that month, while the current month will only include transactions up to 'today'. You can alter this by applying the month to date option.

When you select Options > Month to date only the transactions from the prior month If you have the Month to Date user permission, you can use the Month To Date option to compare data for the current month with the corresponding number of days in a comparison month.

The Month to Date option is available:

• For defined periods that are based on the Month period type. Typically, Month to Date is used when your period range (both current and previous) is set to a single month. This option is also available if your period range spans several months, however, the range must not exceed 12 months, and the range must not project into the future.

• In the following circumstances:

  • In Summary view only (when no dimension is selected): Period and Stream. Both the current and previous periods need to include the same month for each respective year.

  • When a dimension is selected: Variance, Stream, Period Stream, Period Variance, and Matrix Variance modes. The displayed periods need to include the current month. 

The Month to Date option has the following impacts on the grid:

• When it is turned OFF (default*; checkbox is clear), the data in the current calendar month (Current column) is based on the transactions so far, up to today. Whereas, the data in the corresponding month in the previous year (Previous column) is based on the transactions for the whole of that month. In this case, a like-for-like comparison is difficult.

• When it is turned ON (checkbox is selected), the data in the corresponding month in the previous year (Previous column) updates; only the transactions up to the same day of the current month are included.

• In this case, a like-for-like comparison is easy.

For example, if today is the 7th of the month, the current month would only the data in the Current column would typically include transactions from the 1st to 6th of the month and so only the transactions from 1st-6th of the comparison month would be included. This only has an effect in summary view, variance mode and stream mode and only when the displayed periods include the current physical month. For example, if the actual date is the 15-Nov-2014, activating 'month to date' will only have an effect if November 2014 is being displayed. 

In summary view both the current and previous periods need to include the same month for each respective year. For example, if the actual date is the 15-Nov-2014, 'month to date' will only work if both the current and previous periods include November.

Month to date only has an effect if the end month of the current period is the current month and current year.

Administrators may set some databases to turn on the Month to date option by default.

. In the first image below, the Month To Date option is turned off, so the data in the Previous column is based on the full month of transactions. Whereas, in the second image below, the Month To Date option is turned on, so the data in the Previous column includes only the transactions from the 1st to 6th of the month. The values in the two columns are now more comparable.

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Example: Compare data for part of a month 

Use the Month To Date option to compare data for the first few weeks of

February with the same part of the month in the previous year.

Assume today's date is

16 February 2017. You want a like-for-like comparison with the first

15 days in

February last year (

2016).

1. Set your date range to display data from this

1. February and last February: Click Period > Custom

1. , then set the Current Period to start and end in

1. February 2017. The Previous Period automatically changes to start and end in

1. February 2016. Click Apply.

1. Click the

1. Customer

1. dimension

1. .

2. Click Mode > Variance.

1. The grid displays results for the entire month of February 2016, and the first 15 days of February 2017. The image below highlights the disparity in these results.

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2. Click Options > Month To Date.

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   The Previous column updates to display data for the first 15 days of February 2016, as illustrated in the image below. These results are much closer in range than in the image above, where Month To Date was not applied.

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3.  (Optional) Save this view as a favorite or dashboard widget.

Troubleshooting: You can’t see the Month to Date option

If you cannot see the Month to Date option in the Options menu:

• Check with your administrator that you have permission to use this feature.

• Ensure you are using a period that is based on the Month period type:

  • Administrators can check this via the database’s page > Defined Periods tab in Administration, where the period type is specified in the Type column.

  • Other users can check it themselves, if they have permission to apply custom periods. When the period is applied to the grid, click the Period menu and select Custom. The Custom Period window displays the period type in the top left corner. Click Close to return to your analysis.

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