Sales Variance

The Sales Variance report compares the sales for the period selected with the forecasted sales for the same period and other relevant periods in the past.

The data in this report includes data received from your POS system Point Of Sale system - the system/register used to bill customers and track sales. as well as data entered manually via the Daily Entry pages.

The Sales Variance report can be subscribed to by clicking on . Click here to learn how to create a subscription.

The following information is displayed in the report based on the constraints selected when producing it:

Reporting Period: The period for which the report was generated.
Store: The name of the store.
Sales (where Sales is Adjusted Gross or Net Sales): The respective sales amount for the reporting period.

Click here to learn how to change which sales amount is used in the report in Financial Reporting.
Budget*:

The Budget columns are displayed if the Period selected is either Weekly or Monthly and if the Budget settings for all stores for the period are not set to zero.

Click here to learn how to edit the Budget.
- Total: The total budget for the reporting period.
- Var %: The percentage difference between the actual sales and budget.
  
  Var % = (Sales - Budget Total) / Budget Total
Forecast:
- Total: The total sales^ that was forecasted for the reporting period.
- Var %: The percentage difference between the actual sales and forecasted sales.
  
  Var % = (Sales - Forecast Total) / Forecast Total
Previous Period* (where Period is the same day last week, previous week or previous month, based on the reporting period selected):

See footnotes on the report for the precise period.
- Total: The total sales^ for the previous period.
- Var %: The percentage difference between the actual sales for the reporting period and actual sales for the previous period.
  
  Var % = (Sales - Previous Period Total) / Previous Period Total
Comparison Period Last Year* (where, except for Monthly Period reports, the Comparison Period is the one selected when producing the report):

See footnotes on the report for the precise period.
- Total: The total sales^ for the same or similar period last year.
- Var %: The percentage difference between the actual sales for the reporting period and actual sales for the comparison period last year.
  
  Var % = (Sales - Comparison Period Last Year Total) / Comparison Period Last Year Total
Last 4 Periods (where Period is the day of the week, week or month, based on the reporting period selected):
- This Year: The average daily, weekly or months sales^ (corresponding to the reporting period selected) for the last four periods this year.
  
  See footnotes on the report for the precise period.
- Last Year: The average daily, weekly or months sales^ (corresponding to the reporting period selected) for the last four periods last year
  
  See footnotes on the report for the precise period.
- Var %: The percentage difference between the last 4 periods this year and the last 4 periods last year.
  
  Var % = (This Year - Last Year) / Last Year
Total: The total for all stores in the area* or organization.
Average: The average for a store in the area* or organization.

Average = Total / Number of stores

TO VIEW A SALES VARIANCE REPORT:

Open the Sales Variance page.
Select the Area* for which you want to view the report.
Select the Period for which you want to view the report from the drop-down list.
Select the specifics of the period (Date*, Year*, Week Ending*, Month*) from the drop-down list(s).
Select the Comparison Period* from the drop-down list.

The Comparison Period drop-down list is only available if the Period selected is either Daily or Weekly.
Select the Report Method* from the drop-down list:

The Report Method drop-down list is only available if the Period selected is Weekly.
- Weekly: Lets you select the number of weeks that you'd like to include in the report.
- Year to Date: Will generate the report for the period starting from the first week of the year to the week selected.
Enter the # of Weeks* you want included in the report.

The # of Weeks drop-down list is only available if the Period selected is Weekly and the Report Method selected is Weekly.

The weeks that will be included in the report will end with the Week Ending selected.
Click on the Go button.

To select which stores are included in your report:
1. Click on the Customize Store List link.
2. In the Customize Reporting Stores window:
  1. Select the Area* and Region* for which you want to view the report from the drop-down list(s).
  2. Select whether you want to view the report for only Active stores, Inactive stores or All stores, from the Status drop-down list.
  3. Select whether you want to include stores with missing sales through the options in the All Days Exist? drop-down list:
    - All will include all stores in the report, regardless of whether a store has missing sales for one or more days during the period selected.
    - Yes will exclude any stores that have one or more missing sales day during the period, from the report.
    - No will only include stores with at least one missing sales day, in the report.
  4. If you selected Yes or No in step iii, select whether you want to include stores with zero sales in the report:
    - Leaving Include Zero Sales Day as Missing Day unchecked will ignore zero sales days entirely.
    - If you selected Yes in step iii and place a checkmark in Include Zero Sales Day as Missing Day, stores with one or more zero sales days during the period selected will be excluded from the report.
    - If you selected No in step iii and place a checkmark in Include Zero Sales Day as Missing Day, stores with at least one zero sales day Days that a store has reported no sales. This includes: • Manually created zero sales days (through Missing Financials) • Zero Sales Days setup via Holidays and Closures • Zero Sales Days imported through end-of-day markers during the period selected will be included in the report.
  5. Click on the Go button.
  6. Remove the checkmark from the Include column for each store you want excluded from the report.
  7. Place a checkmark in the Include column for each store you want included in the report.
  8. Click on the Run Report for Selected Stores button at the bottom of the page.

Associated Settings

Budget controls the budget column in the report.
Financial Reporting controls the period considered a financial week for the organization.

^ Net Sales or Adjusted Gross Sales, as selected in the Sales Variance Cost control in Financial Reporting settings.

*optional section or field that may or may not be visible depending on the settings selected, whether the supplier is integrated or not, etc.