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Use session filters

Owned by Denise McGettigan
Last updated: Jul 30, 2024
3 min read

When it’s time to work on the budget or forecast workbook, you can open the whole workbook or apply a session filter, temporarily limiting the amount of data it contains. In session mode, the workbook only includes the relevant data, so it loads much quicker and is faster to navigate (fewer clicks required). You filter by dimension and entity, and the available filters correspond to the levels in the workbook.

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The use of session filters is particularly handy in large workbooks that contain a lot of data. You substantially reduce the loading time by opening only a subset of that data, and it’s easier to get straight to work on the relevant items. For example:

  • If your organization has 10 branches but you only need to focus on branch 1 today, apply a filter to the Branch dimension so it loads only branch 1. 

  • If you're sitting with a sales rep and want to review their numbers, apply a filter to the Sales Rep dimension so it only loads that rep’s line items. The rep can focus on their numbers without being distracted by other sales rep data.

After you complete the data entry, you can publish that subset of the workbook. You can then edit the session filters, complete and publish that subset of the data, and so on.

Open a workbook with a session filter (start a session)

You can start a session from two places:

  • On your Budgets & Forecasts homepage, click the workbook’s menu button, then click Apply session filter.

  • Within a workbook, click the Menu button and click Apply session filter.

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In the Session based filters window, select the dimension you want to filter > select the entity or entities you want to use as the filter > click out of the entity list to apply your selection. Repeat to filter other dimensions, then click Apply and open.

For example, suppose you have a budget that contains data for multiple countries and branches, but you’re only interested in the Marketing expenses for the Australian branches. Start a session, filtering by Country > Australia and Account > Marketing. The budget opens with only the relevant data, significantly fewer rows than if you opened the whole budget.

Edit or exit a session

When you open a workbook in session mode, the Session button appears to the left of the Budget (or Forecast) menu, and ‘sessionFilter’ appears in the URL.

  • To edit a session (change the filters you applied), click Edit session. In the Session based filters window, change the filters or click the Reset button to remove them, then click Apply and open. Either way, you continue to be in session mode.

  • To exit the session, click Exit session. The budget reloads in standard mode, with all the data, and the Session button no longer displays.

When in session mode, it’s better to use the Session button rather than the browser’s Reload button. If you click the browser’s Reload button, you open the Session based filters window. If you click Cancel there, you return to the Budgets & Forecasts homepage.

Publish a filtered workbook

If you have permission to publish a budget and publish a budget with session filters applied, only the filtered rows will be published. The other rows in the budget stream will remain as they were.