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Spread totals

Owned by Helen Gosper
Last updated: Aug 26, 2024 by Denise McGettigan
14 min read

The budget and forecast worksheets have several built-in options for distributing a value over the period, which saves you a lot of time when entering values. The impact of the spread differs depending on where you spread from and what method you use.

In a forecast, the spread applies to the editable forecast cells only. For example, if you spread 5 million evenly, the system will deduct the actuals and apply an average of the remaining value evenly to the remaining periods to get the full year to 5 million.

You can initiate a spread from different locations in the worksheet. Regardless of the starting point, you access the spread feature in the same way. Hover over the right side of the cell (or selection of cells) and click the Spread button that displays, then select one of the spread options.

Press Enter to submit your spread changes rather than click the Apply button.
Use the keyboard shortcut of CTRL+Z to undo, or CTRL+Y to redo, bulk spread actions.

Where you can spread

The Spread feature is available in total rows throughout the worksheet, at the lowest level in the hierarchy (the account or entity rows), and in other special cases, as described below. While there are multiple spread options (described in the next section), the examples in this section use the Evenly option for basic demonstration purposes.

Total row

When the budget hierarchy is not expanded, the total rows are clearly visible, identifiable by the grey background and blue expand buttons. In this state, the spread action impacts the other rows in the hierarchy (those underneath the total level).

When you spread a value from a cell in the Total column, the value is spread vertically into the totals of the rows beneath it in the hierarchy first, then spread horizontally across each of those rows.

In this context, rather than having to hover over the cell to display the Spread button, the Spread window opens automatically when you start entering a value in the total cell. You can also right-click the total cell to access the Spread window.

For example, suppose you want to spread 12,000 for Revenue evenly across the year. In the Spread window, you are informed that the spread will impact 4 rows. After the spread, when you expand the Revenue group row, you can see the 4 account rows underneath. The 12,000 is firstly spread vertically into the totals of those rows, so each one gets a subtotal of 3,000. Then for each of the 4 rows, that subtotal is spread horizontally across the budget period, so each month gets 250.

When you spread a value from a cell in the total row in a period column, such as a month, the value is spread vertically into the rows beneath it in the hierarchy.

For example, suppose you want to spread 4,000 evenly for the Revenue accounts in December. In the Spread window, you are informed that the spread will impact 4 rows. After the spread, when you expand the Revenue group row, you can see the 4 account rows underneath. The 4,000 is spread vertically into those rows; each one gets 1,000.

When you spread a value from a selection of total row cells in one or more period columns, the value is spread vertically into the rows beneath the total row(s) in the hierarchy first, then spread horizontally across each of those periods. This action is known as a partial spread, as it impacts only a part (segment) of the total row(s).

Example 1 - Partially spread in one total row

Suppose you want to spread 3,000 for Other Expenses evenly across the three months of December to February. In the Spread window, you are informed that the spread will impact 3 rows. After the spread, when you expand the Other Expenses group row, you can see the 3 account rows underneath. The 3,000 is firstly spread vertically into the totals of those rows, so each one gets a subtotal of 1,000. Then for each of the 3 rows, the subtotal is spread horizontally across the 3 months; each month gets 333.

Example 2 - Partially spread in multiple total rows

Suppose you operate in three countries and have added a Country dimension as a level in your budget. You want to spread 3,000 for Revenue evenly across the three months of December to February for both Australia and the UK. In the Spread window, you are informed that the spread will impact 7 rows. After the spread, when you expand the Revenue group row, and then expand the country group rows, you can see the 4 account rows underneath Australia and 3 account rows underneath the UK. The 3,000 is firstly spread vertically into the totals of those rows, so each one gets a subtotal of 429. Then for each of the 7 rows, the subtotal is spread horizontally across the 3 months; each month gets 143.

For other examples, see the Proportionally by row > comparison stream section below.

Account (entity) row

The account row in a financial budget, or an entity row in an operational budget, sits at the lowest level in the budget hierarchy. When you spread a value in this row it is simply spread horizontally across the budget period.

Suppose you want to spread 12,000 for your Cost of Sales (Retail) account evenly across the year. In the Spread window, you are informed that the spread will impact just 1 row. The 12,000 is spread horizontally across the 12 months; each month gets 1,000.

Column group

If you have grouped period columns, in the collapsed state, you can spread a value across the group. The spread is limited to the periods within that group, as identified in the spread window. You can spread at both the total row and account row level.

Example 1 - Spread into a group at the total row level

Example 2 - Spread into a group at the account row level

Calculated measures (driver-based budgeting only)

If you use driver-based budgeting and your budget contains input rows that are based on calculated measures, you can spread a target across those rows. This spread option is particularly useful for Sales budgets, where you need to budget sales margin percentages directly in conjunction with either the sales value or cost, rather than budgeting value and cost and having margin be calculated.

Spread options

When you spread a value from any of the places outlined in the section above, you get several spread options to choose from, as described in the tables below. The available options depend on whether you have one or multiple rows selected, and if any comparison rows have been added to the worksheet.

Total

With the Total spread option, you enter a specific total value and spread it evenly, or in the same proportion as a data stream. This option is suitable when you know the specific total value you want to spread. You enter that defined total and select how you want to spread it.

Proportionally by row or Evenly by row

Each by row spread option references other data, then inserts a total value (either as it is or changed by an amount you specify) and spreads it across the period, either proportionally according to that other data’s phasing (proportionality) or evenly across the period.

These spread options are suitable when you do NOT know the total amount you want to spread. For example, suppose you want to take last year’s actual values and uplift those values by 5% or take last year’s budget and reduce the values by 10%.

In the case of a total row:

  • Using the Proportionally by Row option, the total is firstly spread into the Total column of each of the rows underneath the hierarchy, according to the underlying proportionality of the original row values. Then the phasing of the selected data is taken into account when the subtotal is spread across the period. As expected, the values typically differ each month.

  • Using the Evenly by Row option, the total is firstly spread evenly into the Total column of each of the rows underneath the hierarchy, according to the underlying proportionality of the original row values. Then the subtotal is spread evenly across the period, so each month gets the same value.

Prerequisite: You must customize the comparison setup if you want to spread proportionally using a comparison data stream.

  1. Select the Proportionally by Row or Evenly by Row option.

  2. Select the data you want to reference - the displayed data, your actuals, or a comparison stream, such as Sales.

  3. Enter the percentage you want to change the values by.

  4. Click Apply.

Target (calculated measures only)

See Calculated measures (driver-based budgeting only) above.

Snap to budget (forecast only)

The Snap to budget spread option is available in forecast worksheets only. It aligns the forecasted values with the original budgeted values. This spread option is useful if you know you are going to spend a specific amount per month for the remaining periods.

For example, suppose you usually spend around 6,400 a month on Consulting fees and therefore, have a budget of 77,264 for 12 months. You have already spent 11,190 in the first month, so you might want to snap back to budget, to keep on track. The actuals are subtracted from the budget total (77,264 - 11,901) and the remaining 66,074 is divided by the number of forecast periods (9), so each month in the forecast period gets 7,342.

In the Forecast Spread window, select the Snap to budget option and click Apply.

Follow actuals (forecast only)

The Follow actuals spread option is available in forecast worksheets only.

There are two ways to follow the actuals:

  • Average Actuals - Similar to the Evenly by row spread option, this takes the average of the actual values and applies that average equally to each of the forecast periods. As a result, each month in the remaining forecast periods gets the same value. This option is suitable for flat expense lines, such as subscriptions or training, where past spending typically predicts the future.

  • Percentage Difference - Similar to the Proportionally by row spread opinion, this takes the percentage difference between the actual and forecast values and applies that proportionally to each of the forecast periods. As a result, each month in the remaining forecast periods will likely have a different value. As this option takes the budgeted values into account (which might account for seasonality) it is suitable when you want to adjust your forecast figures following the same pattern. You might refer to this as adjusting the run rate.

The outputs of each method are illustrated in the following graph:

In the Forecast Spread window, select the Follow actuals option, then select either Average Actuals or Percentage Difference and click Apply.