Add your own defined period

Owned by Helen Gosper
Last updated: Oct 30, 2023 by Denise McGettigan
3 min read

If the dates you want aren't listed in the Period menu, you can either apply a custom period to your current analysis or, if you have permission, add your own ‘user’ defined period to the list. This period will then be available for you to select from your list of periods for additional analysis.

Adding your own defined period to the Period menu is suitable if there is a time period you frequently want to apply to your analysis but none of the defined periods include the specific dates you want.

User defined periods can be dynamic dates, depending on the options you select, as outlined in the steps below.

Add a user defined period from scratch

  1. Click the Period menu and select Add at the bottom of the list.

  2. In the User Defined Period window, enter a name for the period.

  3. Select the period type (time unit), such as year, month or day. The period types that are available depend on what was set up by your administrator when the database was created. You will typically see year, month and day but week and quarter are also common.

  4. (Optional) Select the Reversed checkbox. By default, time units (years, months, weeks or days) display in the grid in chronological order from left to right. To avoid having to scroll across to the most recent time unit, you can reverse the display order.

  5. Select the start and end dates for your Current and Previous periods.

    • When you set up the Current period date range, the Previous period automatically updates accordingly (one year earlier) but you can change that too, if required.

    • When defining a date range based on months, you can select either a fixed month or one of two dynamic options: Most recent (the past 12 months) or Second most recent (the 12 months prior to that). The use of a dynamic option is a simple way to get a date range that updates each year and it saves you having to update dates each new calendar or financial year. 

    • If you want to define a date range based on today's date, so that the data continues to update dynamically, you can set an offset date.

  6. Click Save & Apply. The new period displays in the Period list and the grid updates to display the data for that period.

     

If you have a Year to Date or Month to Date period that only includes days or months that already have fully passed, you will have a 0 variance in the month of January and the first day of every month respectively.

If you think a defined period would be useful to other users, ask your administrator to set a new period type in the database, so all users (provided they have permission) can see it in the Period list.

Add a user defined period based on an existing period

You can use a period you have already created as the basis for another period. This is useful if you want to make a small change, as it saves you time.

  1. Click the Period menu and select the defined period from the list. 

  2. When the grid updates with the new defined period, click Period > Add.

  3. In the User Defined Period window, enter a name for the period.

  4. Adjust the dates as required.

  5. Click Save & Apply. The new period displays in the Period list and the grid updates to display the data for that period.

Edit or delete a user defined period

You can change the setup of a defined period you add or delete it if you no longer need it.

Click the Period menu and locate the period in the list, then either:

  • Click the Edit button next to the period name, make your changes and click Save & Apply. Any existing favorites or widgets will update to reflect the changes.

  • Click the Delete button next to the period name and click Yes to confirm. The period disappears from the Period list.