Introduction

In order to analyze the variance between two Categories for a number of Accounts the Financial Statement template should be used. With reports based on this template, the user will be able to see the trend in the two Categories and see which analytic dimension members are causing variances. This template is often used for Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet or Cash Flow reports.

A typical Profit and Loss report with Profit and Loss Accounts is presented in the screenshot below. The Variance column gives an indication of Accounts that require attention. When one of these Accounts is selected, the user can further analyse the selected Account on the right side of the screen. The trend of the Account is displayed here as well as a breakdown by another analytic dimension. This allows the user to see the main causes for the variance - for example, a specific Entity and Product combination.

CONTENT

What is displayed in this report?

Report Elements

1. Rows

The left column displays a nicely formatted Account list. In this example it is a selection of Profit and Loss Accounts. The button indicates that there is a drill down option to descendants of the Account or another list of members. The user can select one of the Accounts (rows) in order to see the trend of the account on the right side of the screen.

2. Reference Pick list

In the two center columns two Categories are displayed. Usually, the first column is Actual and the second can be any other Category specified.

3. Variance Type Pick list

The column to the right of the two center columns shows the Variance between the two Categories as a numeric value or as a percentage. By clicking on header the user can choose how to display Variance between these two options. The signal colors red, green or orange gives a quick view on how a certain Account is performing.

4. Trend Chart

The top right bar chart gives a trend of the selected Account over the current and previous periods for the Categories selected in this report (see point 2). Periodic or YTD values independent of the View value in the POV are available. The period of the breakdown table below can be changed by clicking on one of the bars in the chart (see 5).

5. Detailed Breakdown

The bottom right shows a breakdown of the selected Account by Entity or any other analytic dimension relevant to the selected Account for the two categories in the columns of point 2. In this example the user can choose between the dimensions Entity, Product, Customer or Channel. You can also expand or collapse the hierarchy of the selected analytic dimension by clicking on one of the members. By clicking on the pick list next to Entity the user can switch between the other dimensions mentioned above. The detailed breakdown is automatically filled with the relevant dimensions.