Forum Discussion

matthewsb419's avatar
matthewsb419
New Contributor II
2 months ago

V#VarianceExplanation - Best Ways to Use

Hi,

I'm trying to understand the best way to add annotations and comments in OneStream to explain variances.

Last week at splash I was advised to use V#Annotation or V#VarianceExplanation.  But what I'm confused about is how do you actually get it connected to the calculated variance (red box), versus only being able to connect it so the actual reported number (yellow box).  Right now I'm using a get data formula in my quick view to calculate the variance (GetDataCell(S#Actual-S#AOP):Name(Variance)).

What are other people doing when trying to provide commentary on variances?  Whats the best way to use this view?

 

annotations
Reports

3 Replies

  • BenEppel's avatar
    BenEppel
    New Contributor III
    2 months ago

    You can not have any annotations or other text based view members within a GetDataCell. The explanation needs valid members for each dimension. You could use V#Annotation for any comments related to the forecast amount and then V#VarianceExplanation for comments related to that scenario vs Actual. On the View member filter you can add a custom name like this V#VarianceExplanation:Name(Actuals vs AOP).

    • matthewsb419's avatar
      matthewsb419
      New Contributor II
      2 months ago

      got this makes sense, so it sounds like your company just has to create some general operating rules about agreeing about what is going to be in V#varianceExplanation.... 

      What about with calculated fields? Would that be helpful at all?  Like if we created a dedicated Actuals vs AOP calculated member?  and then used V#VarianceExplanation to record the explanation there? I'm not sure if that would work, but it was just a thought / idea?  Still rather new here and trying to understand everything that is possible. 

      • BenEppel's avatar
        BenEppel
        New Contributor III
        2 months ago

        You could setup UD8 Dynamic calcs with different variances like Vs PY, Vs Budget, Vs Prior Quarter, and then submit the comments to those members. The UD8 Calcs would need a formula type of DynamicCalcTextInput.