Dear all,
we have some great “special versions” in Causal already, such as “Current”, “Actuals” and “Forecast”
However what’s really missing in order to quickly AND continuously keep an eye on deviations between the modelling output from the formulas vs the actuals coming in from data sources is a version “Current without Actuals”.
Use cases:
- you’re trying to “re-model” reality and keep an eye on whether you hit the actuals / target / budget / whatever you’re pulling in from the data source or whether you have large deviations
- you’re keeping a constant eye on your model’s calculations (let’s call it “forecast”) vs the actuals
In both cases it would be tremendously helpful if you can create a table and
- have the model’s calculations in the “current without actuals” version
- and have the actual values in the “Actuals” version
- both showing below each other to quickly compare values
- or add them to a chart and see graphically where you “run away” with your model.
Today the closest you can do is:
- create a name history version “with actuals” while you have your actual values populated
- go back to your current model and set the “import data until” to sometime before your model’s start date
- create tables / charts using both the “Current” version (now showing the formula results) as well as the “with actuals” manual history.
Issue with this:
- your actuals won’t update anymore when the underlying data sources get new data. They’re hard copies of the values at the point of creation of the named version
- therefore you need to keep re-creating the named version “with actuals” as new data arrives, and swap out the versions in all tables and charts
- you can’t run calculations based on e.g. the previous 6 months worth of data (using actuals where available and otherwise calculate values where we don’t have actuals yet)
I really feel this feature is missing heavily as it renders plan/actuals comparisons more or less impossible without (or you have to wait for several months until causal has built up a history of earlier forecast versions which you can then compare … not really suitable to quickly get started and validate your model.)
Here’s a screenshot illustrating the issue. We’re simply missing a “Current without Actuals” version.
Thank you & Best Regards
Fabian