xP&A Consensus Net Revenue - Get to know the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Content part of the xP&A Content Suite

Currently, you have opened the tab Open Story. This tab provides guidance on how to open the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page (SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage or respectively SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage(IFP)) story.

1. In the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OverviewPage) story, click on the Business Admin Tasks link.

   

   INFORMATION:

   • The Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page (SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage or respectively SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage(IFP)) story serves as a central place for any administrative task related to the Consensus Net Revenue Planning process.
   • It offers a collection of Data Actions and Multi Actions which are used throughout the entire process.
   • From this screen you can import data from different data sources into your data model, initialize your versions, perform submissions for the various consensus versions and execute other individual actions which are usually performed automatically from within the planning story, such as recalculating sales deductions, marketing expenses or the entire profit and loss statement.

2. Get an overview of the story

   

   • Make yourself familiar with the story.
   • Try to identity the different administrative sections and use cases. Do not execute anything yet, we will go through this step by step.

3. Check out the Help section

   

   • As mentioned in the previous chapter, all stories provide a short in-built step by step guide which helps you to use the corresponding story correctly.
   • Before using the story, make sure to check the instructions to understand the intended user workflow.

You may now switch to the second tab Load Data.

Currently, you have opened the tab Load Data. This tab provides guidance on how to integrate all relevant data from different data sources, such as financial actuals, planned volumes or sales and marketing plans. All relevant actions related to this step can be found in the Load Data section of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page.

INFORMATION:

• This content package is dependant on five different data sources.
• For the Actuals, the so called ACDOCA Table from SAP S/4HANA is used as an external data source.
• For the planned quantities, SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) as an external source system is used as a data source.
• For the details about the Marketing and the Sales Plans, the data models SAP_MKT_IM_MarketingPlanning and SAP_SD_IM_SalesPlanning from the SAP Commercial Planning (CX) business content in SAP Analytics Cloud are used as a data source.
• For the Finance plans and targets, the financial planning models from either the Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) or the Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud) business content packages in SAP Analytics Cloud can be leveraged. Please make sure that you have completed Step 5 of this tutorial or check out the official documentation in order to configure the application in regards to the financial integration correctly.

1. Click on the Load Plan Version Data trigger to integrate the marketing, sales and finance forecast data into the data model.

   

   • By clicking on the trigger, a Multi Action is executed which populates the versions Finance Forecast, Sales Forecast and Marketing Forecast based on the Plan version of the business content packages SAP Commercial Planning (CX) and Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) or respectively Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud).
   • As per definition of the process flow, the consensus net revenue planning process ideally starts when the commercial planning process covered by the SAP Commercial Planning (CX) business content has ended.
   • At the end of the commercial planning process, you end up with one marketing focussed plan version and one sales focussed plan version. Additionally, the profit and loss statement resulting from the commercial planning process is integrated into the financial model part of the Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) or Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud) business content. These integrated results can then be leveraged as reference for the financial planning process.
   • After the commercial planning and financial planning activities have been concluded, you end up having three plan versions. A marketing and a sales plan version resulting from the commercial planning process and a finance plan version resulting from the financial planning process.
   • These results are now integrated into the three forecast versions of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning content package.

   INFORMATION:

   • Please note that you may skip this step in case you want to go with the provided demo data first. This step will only become necessary once you decide to use your own data models as data source.
   • For the population of the Marketing Forecast version, the Plan version of the SAP_MKT_IM_MarketinPlanning data model part of the SAP Commercial Planning (CX) business content is used.
   • For the population of the Sales Forecast version, the Plan version of the SAP_SD_IM_SalesPlanning data model part of the SAP Commercial Planning (CX) business content is used.
   • For the population of the Finance Forecast version, the Plan version of the SAP_FI_FPA_IM_S4SalesPlan data model part of the Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) business content or respectively the Plan version of the SAP_FI_IFP_IM_Profitability data model part of the Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud) business content is used.

2. Click on the Load Supply Chain trigger to integrate forecasted quantities into the data model.

   

   • By clicking on the trigger, a Multi Action is executed which populates the version Supply Chain Forecast with quantities from the system SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP)
   • As mentioned in the previous step, the consensus net revenue planning process ideally starts when the commercial planning process covered by the SAP Commercial Planning (CX) business content has ended.
   • The planned quantities and commercial drivers resulting from the commercial planning process can be reintegrated into the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system. These metrics can then be leveraged in the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system by the Demand Planner to create a new forecast.
   • In this step, these forecasted quantities are integrated into the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning content package.

   INFORMATION:

   • In order for this step to work, you must set up the Multi Action and integration job first.
   • Please note that you may skip this step in case you want to go with the provided demo data first. This step will only become necessary once you decide to use your own systems as data source.

3. Click on the Load Target Version Data trigger to integrate the financial target into the data model

   

   • By clicking on the trigger, a Data Action is executed which populates the Financial Target version based on the data stored on the Target version of the financial model of the business content package Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) or respectively Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud).
   • In this context, the financial target serves as a top-down reference or guideline for the entire planning process.

   INFORMATION:

   • Please note that you may skip this step in case you want to go with the provided demo data first. This step will only become necessary once you decide to use your own systems as data source.
   • For the population of the Financial Target version, the Target version of the SAP_FI_FPA_IM_S4SalesPlan data model part of the Rapid Financial Planning & Analysis for SAP S/4HANA (Best Practices) business content or respectively the Target version of the SAP_FI_IFP_IM_Profitability data model part of the Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA (xP&A - Integrated Financial Planning for SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud) business content is used.

Now that you have loaded in all data successfully, you can proceed with the initialization of your versions as a last preparation step. You can now switch to the tab Initialize Versions.

Currently you have opened the tab Initialize Versions. This tab provides guidance on how to prepare your versions so you can finally start with your planning activities.

1. Click on the Actualize Forecast Version trigger to copy the Actuals from the last three closed periods into the different forecast versions Finance Forecast, Sales Forecast, Marketing Forecast and Supply Chain Forecast.

   

   • In the tab Load Data of this step, you learned how to integrate plan data resulting from the commercial planning and the financial planning process covered by the different business content packages into the forecast versions of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content. In addition, you learned how to integrate forecasted quantities from the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system.
   • With other words, all of the forecast versions contain only plan data at this point of time.
   • As forecast versions usually represent hybrid scenarios which are regularly updated based on actual figures during the planning cycle, the four forecast versions of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content must be enriched or updated with the actuals from the closed periods.

   INFORMATION:

   • Please note that you may skip this step in case you want to go with the provided demo data first. This step will only become necessary once you decide to use your own systems as data source.

2. Click on the Populate Supply Chain Forecast trigger to copy price and marketing expense related data from the Marketing Forecast version, COGS-Rates from the Finance Forecast version and sales deductions from the Sales Forecast version into the Supply Chain Forecastversion.

   

   • As you have learned previously, the Supply Chain Forecast version is only populated with quantities coming from the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system during the Load Data phase and is consequently lacking financial data.
   • In order to enrich the Supply Chain Forecast version with cost and price related information, data from the other forecast versions is copied over.

3. Click on the Supply Chain P&L Calculation trigger to derive the respective total revenue and COGS for the Supply Chain Forecast version

   

   • This Data Action calculates the total revenue and COGS for the Supply Chain Forecast version by taking the previously integrated forecasted quantities from SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) and multiplying them by the prices and cost rates which were integrated from the other forecast versions.
   • By executing this step, the profit and loss statement of this version is refreshed.

4. Click on the Send volumes to Marketing trigger to integrate the newly imported quantities of the Supply Chain Forecast version into the Technical Integration version of the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content and reallocate the marketing expenses based on the new product quantities forecast.

   

   • As mentioned earlier, the commercial planning process ideally happens prior to the consensus net revenue planning process. At the end of the commercial planning process, estimated quantities and commercial drivers can be sent back to the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system, where these figures are used to create an updated demand forecast.
   • During the Load Data phase of this content package, these updated forecast quantities are imported into the Supply Chain Forecast version.
   • Consequently, the quantities stored in the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue business content might differ significantly from the quantities stored in the versions of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content.
   • In order to ensure consistency across all systems and data models during the planning cycle, these updated quantities must now be reintegrated into the data models of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content. In this step, the quantities are integrated into the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content.
   • At the same time, a reallocation of marketing expenses based on the new quantities takes place in the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content.

   INFORMATION:

   • In order to not manipulate the Plan version of the marketing model part of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package created by the marketing planners, the new quantities are integrated into the Technical Integration version.
   • The Technical Integration version is a separate version inside the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package which stores the final results of the marketing planning process.

5. Click on the Inbound Marketing Expenses trigger to import the updated marketing expenses from the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content into the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package.

   

   • In the previous step, the updated quantities were sent to the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content and a reallocation of the marketing expenses based on the new quantities took place.
   • These updated expenses from marketing must now be integrated into the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package.

   INFORMATION:

   • As the new quantities and expenses were integrated into the Financial Target version of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content, this version is used to source the recalculated marketing expenses.

6. Click on the Send volumes to Sales trigger to integrate the newly imported quantities of the Supply Chain Forecast version into the Technical Integration version of the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content and recalculate the sales deductions based on the new quantities.

   

   • Similar to the reasoning provided in the step Send volumes to Marketing, the updated quantities stored in the Supply Chain Forecast version must also be sent back to the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content to ensure consistency across all systems and data models during the planning cycle.
   • Simultaneously, a recalculation of sales deductions based on the new quantities takes place in the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content.

   INFORMATION:

   • In order to not manipulate the Plan version of the sales model part of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package created by the sales planners, the new quantities are integrated into the Technical Integration version.
   • The Technical Integration version is a separate version inside the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package which stores the final results of the sales planning process.

7. Click on the Inbound Sales Deductions trigger to import the updated sales deductions from the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content into the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package.

   

   • In the previous step, the updated quantities were sent to the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content and a recalculation of the sales deductions based on the new quantities took place.
   • These updated sales deductions must now be integrated into the Supply Chain Forecast version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package.

   INFORMATION:

   • As the new quantities were integrated into the Financial Target version of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content, this version is used to source the recalculated sales deductions.

8. Click on the Populate Consensus Scenarios trigger to copy the results stored on the Supply Chain Forecast version to the three predefined consensus scenario versions, which are the Optimistic Consensus, Neutral Consensusand Pessimistic Consensus.

   

   • Now that the Supply Chain Forecast version is finalized, it can be used as a baseline to initialize the three different consensus versions on which the actual planning process will happen in the next step.

   INFORMATION:

   • In summary, the Supply Chain Forecast version now holds the latest forecasted quantities or volumes from the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system as well as the list prices and cost rates from the other content packages which were previously mentioned.
   • In addition to that, the Supply Chain Forecast version also contains financial data.
   • On the one-hand side, total revenues and COGS were calculated by taking the integrated list prices and COGS rates and multiplying them by the imported quantities.
   • On the other hand side, marketing expenses resulting from the marketing planning process as well as sales deductions resulting from the sales planning process were integrated into the Supply Chain Forecast version as well.

Now that you have integrated all data and initialized your versions successfully, you can either switch to the tab Data Quality Report to learn more about how to identify data quality issues in your data model or you can optionally first go to the tab Other Actions in case you would like to learn what the remaining Data Actions and Multi Actions can be used for.

Currently you have opened the tab Other Actions. This tab provides a rough overview of all the remaining Data Actions and Multi Actions which can be found on the admin screen. Please note that none of these actions are mandatory for the planning process.

1. Clear Model Data

   

   • This Data Action deletes all transaction data from the target version.
   • This can be quite useful in case you want to reset an entire version.

2. Archive Current Consensus

   

   • This Multi Action can be used in order to create a back-up of the latest consensus once the consensus net revenue planning cycle has ended.
   • In specific the Multi Action first copies all data from the final version Consensus to the backup version Previous Consensus and deletes all data from the versions Consensus, Optimistic Consensus, Neutral Consensus and Pessimistic Consensus afterwards.

3. Recalculate Scenario P&L

   

   • Once the Gross Revenue has been adjusted during the planning process of the consensus net revenue planning cycle, this Data Action can be used in order to refresh the profit and loss statement as well as the quantities accordingly.
   • This Data Action is usually called automatically during the consensus net revenue planning process and does not have to be executed from within the admin screen.

4. Submit Consensus Scenario

   

   • This Data Action copies over all data from one of the consensus scenario versions (Optimistic Consensus, Neutral Consensus or Pessimistic Consensus) to the final consensus version Consensus.
   • This Data Action is usually called automatically during the consensus net revenue planning process and does not have to be executed from within the admin screen.

5. Send Consensus to Marketing

   

   • Once the consensus net revenue planning process has ended and you came to a final consensus, you can integrate the data into the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package.
   • This Data Action copies over all data from the Consensus version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package to the Consensus version of the marketing model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package.

6. Send Consensus to Sales

   

   • Once the consensus net revenue planning process has ended and you came to a final consensus, you can integrate the data into the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package.
   • This Data Action copies over all data from the Consensus version of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning business content package to the Consensus version of the sales model of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package.

7. Export Consensus to IBP

   

   • Once the consensus net revenue planning process has ended and you came to a final consensus, you can reintegrate the final quantities into the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system.
   • This Multi Action copies over all quantities from the Consensus version to the Technical Integration version and performs several data manipulation tasks in order to prepare the data for the transport to the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system.
   • Afterwards the final results are copied over to the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Demand Planning (IBP) system.

8. Send Consensus to Marketing Plan

   

   • This Data Action overwrites the Plan version of the marketing model part of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package with the values from the Consensus version.

9. Send Consensus to Sales Plan

   

   • This Data Action overwrites the Plan version of the sales model part of the Commercial Planning (CX) business content package with the values from the Consensus version.

Currently, you have opened the tab Data Quality Report. This tab provides guidance on how to enter the data quality report in the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page (SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage) story.

1. In the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OverviewPage) story, click on the Data Quality Checks link.

   

2. Get an overview of the story page

   

   • You will now be redirected to the second page of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page (SAP_X_CNR_ADMINPAGE or respectively SAP_X_CNR_ADMINPAGE(IFP)) story.
   • This report provides insights about the data quality of your transaction data.
   • It helps you to identify data records where list prices and cost rates are missing, but it also scans your dataset for records where negative volumes are recorded.
   • In the graphical view mode, you can leverage the SAP Analytics Cloud standard functionality to drill up or down across dimensions by clicking on a specific spot on the chart.

   

   • In addition to that, you can make use of the filter panel in the left-side panel to restrict your analyzed data set.

   

   INFORMATION:

   • When no data quality issues can be detected, the charts do not render and consequently show no data.

   • Similar to the Consensus Net Revenue and Margin Analysis (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueMarginAnalysis) story, you can also switch to a tabular view mode by clicking on the table icon on the right-side panel.

   • This mode lets you identify data records with data quality issues in a tabular fashion.

   

   • By using the Table Settings button, you can switch between different measures to be shown in the table.

   

Currently, you have opened the tab Open Story. This tab provides guidance on how to open the Revenue Scenario Planning (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueScenarioPlanning) story.

1. Click on the burger menu located on the top left corner of the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Admin Page (SAP_X_CNR_AdminPage) from the previous step.

2. Now click on either Home Page to jump back to the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OVERVIEWPAGE) or on Revenue Scenario Planning to directly access the Consensus Net Revenue Scenario Planning (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueScenarioPlanning) story.

   

   In this particular case, we will go back to the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OVERVIEWPAGE) by clicking on the Home Page button.

3. Click on the link Revenue Scenario Planning to enter the story.

   

4. Get an overview of the application

   

   • Generally the story consists of three sections, which are the planning section in the center of the story, the section addressed by the left-side panel and lastly the section addressed by the right-side panel.
   • In this story, the right-side panel contains multiple graphs which provide you with additional information relevant for your planning activities.
   • The upper line chart shows the gross revenue over time for different versions while the lower bar charts depict the gross margin, the gross revenue and the commercial investment rate per version.

   INFORMATION:

   The commercial investment rate is a calculated measure which shows the ratio of the marketing expenses and sales deductions in comparison to the gross revenue in percent.

   • All of the charts take into consideration the filter settings from the filter panel located inside the left-side panel.

   • The filter panel provides different input controls with which you can define your planning context for the entire story.

   • In addition the filter panel also contains a drop down widget in which you can switch between the measures Amount and Amount (GC), giving you the opportunity to show all numbers in either local currency or global currency.

   • Furthermore the left-side panel also contains the comment section, information section and the help section.

   • The last important section is the planning section in the center of the story.

   • The planning table is the place where you can enter your revenue assumptions for the different consensus versions, which per default are the optimistic, the neutral and the pessimistic consensus.

   • Additional measures, dimensions and versions can be added to the planning table via the Table Settings dialogue if desired.

You may now switch to the second tab Enter Planning Assumptions to learn how to enter your planning assumptions.

Currently, you have opened the tab Enter Planning Assumptions. This tab provides guidance on how to modify the consensus versions and update all relevant figures, such as the profit and loss statement afterwards.

1. Adjust your filters in the filter panel and set up your table layout.

   • According to the Instructions section which you can enter via the left-side panel, start your planning activities by adjusting your filters in the filter panel and by configuring your table layout via the Table Settings dialogue if required.

   INFORMATION:

   • For the following demonstration, the company code will be changed to Company Code 1010 in the filter panel.
   • In addition to that, the measure Quantity will be added to the table layout via the Table Settings menu.

   

   INFORMATION:

   • All filters are preset manually and are static as a result.
   • If you want to change your default settings for the filters, please go into edit mode of the story and change the selection of the input controls.

2. Adjust the gross revenues.

   • You can now adjust the consensus revenue based on global or local currency, this is completely up to you.
   • To edit the revenue, simply click on any editable cell and change the value.

   

   • In this example, the neutral consensus version was adjusted from a value of 139.998.928 to 150.000.000. The optimistic consensus was increased from a total value of 141.374.056 to a value of 300.000.000, while the pessimistic consensus was decreased from 139.311.366 to 110.000.000.

3. Update all figures.

   • Now that you have adjusted the gross revenue, you need to refresh all other relevant measures, such as the quantities in order for the data in the data model to be correct.
   • Click on the Update Figures button to recalculate all quantities and all other financial metrics based on the new revenue.
   • Set up the correct context in the pop-up dialogue and click on the OK button. In this specific case, we need to repeat this exercise three times, once per available consensus version, with the company code filter set to Company Code 1010.

   

4. Submit scenario.

   • Once you have come to a final result, you have to submit your scenario and with that, make the selected scenario your final scenario.
   • By submitting a scenario, all values from the selected scenario will be transferred to the final version Consensus.
   • In order to submit a scenario, click on the Submit Scenario button and select the consensus scenario and company code you wish to submit. Click on OK to start the process.

   

   INFORMATION:

   • In this particular example, we submitted the optimistic consensus and made this version our final consensus.
   • You can check the results by pulling in the Consensus version into the table layout by leveraging the Table Settings dialogue.
   • As you can see in the screenshot, the Consensus version now contains the values of the Optimistic Consensus version.

   

5. Publish or revert your version

   • Click on the Confirm or Reset button in order to publish or revert your plan data.

   INFORMATION:

   • By publishing the version, all users with sufficient rights will be able to see your edits in the version you were working on.
   • As soon as you start editing a public version, a private version is created in the background, which only you can see. All edits you do are done on this private version. Thus your work-in-progress is only visible to you.
   • It is possible to leave the story and resume your work on another day without losing your progress.
   • Only after publishing the version your changes will be written to the public version and will be visible to all other users.
   • Learn more about the concept of planning on public versions in our SAP Help Portal

Currently, you have opened the tab Open Story. This tab provides guidance on how to open the Consensus Net Revenue and Margin Analysis (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueMarginAnalysis) story.

1. If you still have the Consensus Net Revenue Scenario Planning (SAP_X_CNR_REVENUESCENARIOPLANNING) story opened from the previous step, click on the burger menu located on the top left corner to open the navigation panel.

2. Now click on either Home Page to jump back to the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OVERVIEWPAGE) or on Revenue and Margin Analysis to directly access the Consensus Net Revenue and Margin Analysis (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueMarginAnalysis) story.

   

   In this particular case, we will go back to the Consensus Net Revenue Planning Overview Page (SAP_X_CNR_OVERVIEWPAGE) by clicking on the Home Page button.

3. Click on the link Revenue and Margin Analysis to enter the Consensus Net Revenue and Margin Analysis (SAP_X_CNR_RevenueMarginAnalysis) story.

   

4. Get an overview of the story

   

   • This story supports the consensus net revenue planning process and provides detailed insights into financial performance metrics from different perspectives.
   • It provides visualizations which for instance show the revenue, spend and margin.
   • The different sections in this report offer an additional analysis of financial metrics by company code, product, customer or plant.
   • In addition to that, the report can be consumed in a tabular or graphical view. The mode can be switched by using the respective buttons located inside the right-side panel of this story.

You may now switch to the tab Reporting in order to learn more about the navigation concept and the charts of this story.

Currently, you have opened the tab Reporting. This tab provides information about the navigation concept of the story and the reported data.

1. Left-Side panel

   • When you open the story, you can see the left-side panel of this story expanded with the filter panel opened where you can define the context of your reporting story and decide whether you want to consume the report in global or local currency.

   

   • Similar to the left-side panel of the planning story, you can also enter the comment section, help section and instructions section here.
   • Please make sure to always check the instructions section before using the story. It contains information about the intended user workflow or provides other important information.

   

2. Revenue and Margin Analysis - Chart View section

   • When you initially open the reporting story, you will see the revenue and margin analysis chart view section at the top per default.
   • This section provides insights into key metrics and allows you to analyze and compare your versions in more detail.

   

   • The Gross Revenue graph shows the total gross revenue per version under consideration of the current selection made in the filter panel.
   • The Net Revenue graph shows the total net revenue per version under consideration of the current selection made in the filter panel.
   • The Gross Margin graph shows the absolute gross margin per version under consideration of the current selection made in the filter panel.
   • The Gross Revenue Mix Analysis is a waterfall chart which allows you to compare the gross revenue of a selected version (left bar, labeled as Comparison GR) with the gross revenue of the Consensus version (right bar, labeled as Consensus GR). By using the input control panel on the top-right corner of the Gross Revenue Mix Analysis chart, you can change your comparison version. The bars between the Comparison GR and the Consensus GR represent the components which explain a potential deviation between the two compared versions.
   • The Net Revenue graph shows the total net revenue per version over time under consideration of the current selection made in the filter panel.

3. Other sections

   • When you scroll down a little bit, you will find four additional sections which are indicated by the keywords By company code, By product, By customer and By plant.

   

   • All of them contain the same graphs, but provide insights from different perspectives.
   • While the section By company code breaks down the different key figures by the company code structure, the other sections perform a breakdown by product, customer or plant respectively.
   • The Consensus Net Revenue graph shows the consensus net revenue by company code, product, customer or plant over time, while the graph is configured to only show the version Consensus. Apart from this exception, the chart takes into consideration all filters made in the filter panel.
   • The Gross Margin graph breaks down the Gross Margin by company code, product, customer or plant while taking into consideration the current selections made in the filter panel.
   • The Commercial Spend graph breaks down the commercial spend by company code, product, customer or plant while taking into consideration the current selections made in the filter panel. In this particular case, the commercial spend represents a calculated account which sums up marketing expenses and sales deductions.

4. Tabular view mode

   • Click on the table icon in the right-side panel to enter the tabular point of view.

   

   • In the tabular view, you only have one section available to inspect which is the Revenue and Margin Analysis - Table View
   • Similar to the graphical view mode, the context of the table is defined by the selections made in the filter panel.
   • Using the table, you can drill into different G/L Accounts and compare your versions on a more detailed level.
   • By leveraging the Table Settings function on the top-right of the table, you can modify the table layout by adding or removing dimensions.

   

   • You can then switch back to the graphical view mode by clicking on the chart icon in the right-side panel.