Time Comparison
Everything you need to know on setting the correct time comparison to pull out the insights that matter to your business.
What is the time comparison feature all about?
Comparing time gives you additional context about your data; say if you know that sales are at 8.2 million, you would not know if it’s a good or bad thing until you compare it against something.
With the flexibility in our time comparison module, you can now determine the focus period (blue) you want to understand further and compare it against a comparison period (grey).
Why don't I see a time comparison?
You only see time comparisons if your dataset contains time series data.
What are the preset time comparisons available?
We have the following preset time comparisons available:
If you are not able to find some of the preset comparisons available, it means that your dataset is not able to handle that comparison i.e. a monthly dataset would not be able to have a week-to-date view.
If you would like to compare other periods apart from the preset comparisons available, please refer to the rolling range/fixed range section.
How do I change the time comparison?
If you have edit rights to the mission, you can change the time comparison in Edit Mode, from the Query Bar. This change will be saved for the specific page you’ve edited.
If I share my report with my colleague, can my colleague customize the time comparison too?
If they have read-only rights to your mission, they can change the time comparison in Explore Mode, from the Query Bar. However, this change will not be saved the next time they log in.
To save the page with this new time comparison, please refer to this link on how to save a page from Explore.
Why is my preset time period showing the past month's data instead of the latest month?
The latest period data is likely either not complete, hence Auto Insights will default to the latest full-time period.
An example would be if you have data until 8 Sept, but Auto Insights defaults the latest month comparison period to August, this is because Sept month’s data is not complete.
What if I want to compare by Financial Year instead of Calendar Year?
Simply update the Year type from “Calendar Year” to “Financial Year”. You will notice that the preset time comparisons will adjust accordingly i.e. This financial quarter (QTD), This financial year (YTD), etc.
If I have multiple dates, how do I change the page to focus on the correct date range?
Similar to above, simply select the specific date range that you want to use i.e. from Booking Date to Travel Date.
What is a rolling range, and how is it different from a fixed range?
A rolling range comparison analysis gives you an ongoing analysis i.e. when there’s a data refresh, the analysis will change to take into account the new data.
A fixed-period comparison analysis provides a point-in-time comparison, and will not change as time progresses or when there is a data refresh.
What does the offset feature in rolling range mean?
The offset feature is used when you would like to define a delay in the reporting dates. A typical use case would be you want to have a monthly review that is reporting on the previous month, you will use this offset feature to delay it by 1 month.
i.e. current data is up till Aug 2020, but the business wants to review performance in Jul 2020 instead.
How do I set a fixed period properly?
2 main steps to remember:
Set the focus period that you would like to focus your analysis on
Set the comparison period that you would like to compare against
You perform these two steps by selecting the underlined time periods in the Query Bar.
This example shows you how to select the latest weekend for a focus period.
This example shows you how to select the previous weekend for a comparison period.
What is General Period to Date (XTD)?
XTD allows you to view insights for your latest data and compare them to the previous complete period or previous year across:
Week to Date (WTD)
Month to Date (MTD)
Whether or not a measure can have a WTD, MTD variance depends upon its granularity. For example, a dataset with monthly data will not be able to use WTD.
While selecting an incomplete period, Auto Insights will highlight that it is incomplete with the date range. If that's expected, simply click apply for Auto Insights to start analyzing.
If you would like to have other comparison periods instead of the incomplete date range for the previous period, read more here to learn how to achieve that analysis.
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