Drill-down into summarized transaction detail from any Actuals field

Description

Drill-down functionality in Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software provides the ability to delve deeper into summarized transaction data from any actuals field. This allows users to examine the underpinning transactions or elements that contribute to the aggregated data. This differs from drilling into a bottom-level field, as this requirement intends to show all transactions at any level of the data hierarchy.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A retail corporation uses CPM software to manage its financial data. The CFO notices an unusual increase in the actual total sales figures for the most recent quarter in the company's profit-and-loss (P&L) statement.

Solution: By using the drill-down function, the CFO clicks on the total sales figure, and the software unfolds the summary into detailed transactions, segregating sales by product categories, regions, and individual stores. This analysis helps the CFO to identify a particular product with significantly increased sales.

Considerations

At the financial statement level, or at a grouping of departments, locations, and so on, it is helpful to see all transactions related to a datapoint. Doing so in Excel requires digging through source data, filtering, forgetting details, etc. Going into the original source system will involve creating entirely new reports to get to the same data intersection. If a CPM system can organize those transactions into easily understandable cells (in actuals) it will save your team hours of searching for basic transactional information.

In budget cycles we commonly hear about department heads arguing the accuracy of their spend. Drill through capabilities that can be accessed anywhere in the model (not just at a very specific intersection) will prevent many of those discussions before they start.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Drill-Through Options: Are we able to drill on any sheet or report, regardless of what dimensions are selected?
• Financial Reporting: Can we drill through the P&L to see specific expense transactions?
• Security: Can certain transactions be secured based on a security profile, or a dimension?
• Integration: How do we get the transactions into the system in the first place?