Use
Forecast Data Load to specify the number of past periods from which you want to load future period forecast and budget data.
Purpose
Your entry in
Number of Versions Back under
Forecast Data Load controls the number of historical versions of future period forecast and budget data that are loaded into the analytics data model when you run the data load process. You can compare the different versions of forecasts and future period budgets on the Future Forecasts tab in the wInsight Analytics module.
This entry and the entry in
Actuals Up Through under
Current Period control the periods from which future period data are loaded. For example, if you select
11-30-2014 in
Actuals Up Through and select
6 in
Number of Versions Back, the data load process loads future period data for the period ending on 11-30-2014 and for the 5 previous periods.
Forecast Data Load Option on the By Project Tab
The By Project tab has an identical
Forecast Data Load option. The two options have the same purpose but function independently. The option on the By Project tab only applies to the partial data loads for selected projects that you initiate from that tab, while the option on the wInsight Analytics Configuration tab only applies to full data loads that include all projects.
Preparation
In
Actuals Up Through under
Current Period, select the latest period for which you want to load wInsight Analytics data into the analytics data model.
Initial Configuration
When you set up wInsight Analytics, you load all of the historical versions of future period forecast and budget data that you want to be available when you begin using the analytics. To do that, use the
Number of Versions Back field under
Forecast Data Load to enter or select the number of periods for which you want to load future period data. The maximum entry is
12.
Ongoing Administration
To minimize or eliminate ongoing maintenance of this option and the related
Actuals Up Through option, select
Latest in
Actuals Up Through and set
Number of Versions Back to
1. If you do that, the data load process automatically loads the future period forecasts and budget data for the latest period for which data is available in wInsight, so you do not normally need to change either of these selections from month to month.
Even if you prefer to specify a specific period end date in
Actuals Up Through when you are ready to load future period data for a new period, you should not normally need to change the value in
Number of Versions Back from month to month.
Entering
1 in
Number of Versions Back minimizes the time it takes to load the data because only one period's data is processed. However, in rare cases, you may find it necessary to load more than one period of new future period data (because of corrections made to the data, for example). To do that, select the appropriate number of periods in
Number of Versions Back.