Period variance mode allows you to compare time units within current and previous periods side by side, e.g. months of this year vs. months of last year. If this mode has been enabled for your site, it will become available once you select a dimension.
Note that stream period variance mode is not always enabled and can only be turned on by an advanced administrator with permission (logged in as 'phocas' user).
How the Phocas grid appears in this mode
The grid displays a column for all active properties in the current dimension, plus a column for current period and previous period. Variance and percentage variance columns are also displayed.
Learn about how the variance is calculated
The values in the Variance column = (Current - Previous)
The values in the % Variance column = ((Current - Previous) / Previous) *100
The totals at the top of the Current, Previous and Variance columns are the sum of all the cells in their respective columns
The total at the top of the % Variance column = ((Total Current - Total Previous) / Total Previous) *100
Example
In this example we want to look at a customer's spending for the current month, compared with the previous month. We want to see the sales figures and also view the variance as a percentage.
- From the 'Sales' database select 'Ship to' dimension and select a customer (in this example, we have selected 'Autograph Advertising'). Focus on that customer.
- Select Period > Current month.
- Select Mode > Period variance, as shown below.
The grid will update, as shown below, and you can now compare Autograph Advertising's results for the current month (March 2015) with the previous month (February 2015). The % variance between the months is displayed as a column.
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