Grand Total % Variance

Question

Hi,
I have a Report for GL Reconciliation and it shows Source System Balances and GL Balances along with the Variance in these two and % Variance.
Sample data is as follows:
Year     Month     SYS     Source System Bal GL Balances     Variance     % Variance
2010     MAY     A     66,100,676,002     60,994,246,811     -5106429191     -8.37%
2010     MAY     B     29,081,192,665     29,066,650,415     -14542249.78     -0.05%
2010     MAY     C     218,856,115     212,416,688     -6439426.71     -3.03%
2010     MAY     D     14,601,939               -100.00%
2010     MAY     E     808,716,681     822,453,990     13737309.05     1.67%
2010     MAY     F     5,874,200,259     6,856,456,401     982256141.3     14.33%
2010     MAY     G     2,181,160,124     2,164,379,222     -16780901.26     -0.78%
2010     MAY     H     10,505,609,797     23,529,905,894     13024296097     55.35%
2010     MAY     I     1,566,030,457     1,565,502,039     -528418.48     -0.03%
2010     MAY     J     1,479,284,089          100.00%
2010     MAY     K     10,939,680,559     7,481,930,011     -3457750548     -46.21%
2010     MAY     L     8,774,737,817     8,831,160,339     56422521.84     0.64%
2010     MAY     M     1,117,717,954     548,331,847     -569386106.3     -103.84%
2010     MAY     N     73,670,961     55,680,430     -17990531.39     -32.31%
2010     MAY     O     4,583,263,229     4,562,122,752     -21140477.19     -0.46%
2010     MAY     P     204,382,965     206,288,734     1905768.97     0.92%
2010     MAY NULL          332,763,879          100.00%
     MAYTotal          142,044,497,524     148,709,573,543     6665076018     4.48%
Now This is how the Report will work as Normal...
What the user wants is Instead of Variance he wants to see the Absolute variance. So If I run absolute function on This Column, I will get following results:
ABS(Variance)
5,106,429,191
14,542,250
6,439,427
13,737,309
982,256,141
16,780,901
13,024,296,097
528,418
3,457,750,548
56,422,522
569,386,106
17,990,531
21,140,477
1,905,769
6665076018 --- -This Total is Incorrect as it is showing only the Absolute value to the Total, where as it should be More than this and to achieve this, I changed the Aggreegation Rule to SUM
to Get the correct sum of the figures mentioned ablove which will show following output:
ABS(Variance)
5,106,429,191
14,542,250
6,439,427
13,737,309
982,256,141
16,780,901
13,024,296,097
528,418
3,457,750,548
56,422,522
569,386,106
17,990,531
21,140,477
1,905,769
23,289,605,688
Now Till this point everything is correct and can be achieved. The problem is with the % Variance:
Bydefault % Variance ( Calculated using Variance/GL Balances )*100 Is as follows:
% Variance
-8.37%
-0.05%
-3.03%
-100.00%
1.67%
14.33%
-0.78%
55.35%
-0.03%
100.00%
-46.21%
0.64%
-103.84%
-32.31%
-0.46%
0.92%
100.00%
4.48%
But the Users wants that The % variance be calculated on Variance Column and GL Balances Column ( Variance/ GL Balances)*100
But the Grand Total values at the bottom should be based on ( Grand Total of ABS(Variance)/ Grand Total of GL Balances ) *100
to get the Desired results as :
% Variance
-8.37%
-0.05%
-3.03%
-100.00%
1.67%
14.33%
-0.78%
55.35%
-0.03%
100.00%
-46.21%
0.64%
-103.84%
-32.31%
-0.46%
0.92%
100.00%
15.66%
(23,289,605,688/1,48,709,573,543)*100
If someone can help me with this...
Edited by: help-required on Oct 1, 2010 1:14 AM

Answer 1

OK, there are a couple of things that have to be pointed out before getting to the actual problem. First of all, the column you named "Variance" is not a variance, but a "difference" and should be labeled as such. Second, what is the variance you are trying to calculate?
If the variance is from the "Source System Bal," then the calculation is ("GL Balances" - "Source System Bal")/"Source System Bal"
If the variance is from the "GL Balances," then the calculation is ("Source System Bal" - GL Balances")/"GL Balances"
You have ("GL Balances" - "Source System Bal")/"GL Balances" so do you know what you are measuring? Make sure you get this part right first. Now on to the issue itself.
This is the point of confusion with some I think: you want the individual rows of the "% Variance" column to display the +actual+ variance, positive or negative, but in just the total at the bottom, you want the "% Variance" to reflect the "absolute values of the differences, summed, and then divided by the GL Balances."
You can't have two different calculations on the same column like that, one for the rows and a completely different one for the total.
Here's a workaround. Uncheck the "totals" for the pivot table completely and just show the rows. (Make sure you change the name of the "Variance" column to "Difference" or something similar.)
Now create another pivot table view, but take out all the attributes so the measures sum up. Add an additional column called "ABS % Variance" and make this calculated column (do this in Criteria in the fx of a "dummy column"):
(ABS("GL Balances" - "Source System Balances")/"Source System Bal")*100.00
Don't forget to change the data format to "percentage."
Now place this pivot table view directly below the one with the individual rows. You should now have what you are looking for.
Edited by: David_T on Sep 30, 2010 10:58 AM