Comparing close date data by interval to a larger sample and comparable periods can provide you with valuable insight into your performance trends. For example, comparing how many deals you closed by month over the last two years can show you if December is typically a tougher month, or that March seems to consistently pull in more business. Maybe from there you adjust your timeline to target large deals in March, generating more wins!

With Intelligence360 you can make side by side comparisons of closed deals by close period. Our close period properties represent, by number, close date years, quarters, periods, and days based on your fiscal year determinations.

Close Period Properties

The four available opportunity close period properties offer a numerical representation of different periods; year, quarter, period, and day and are based on your org's fiscal year settings, you can see an example of calendar vs. fiscal here.

Close Year: year the opp close date is in (eg. 2022 = 2022)

Close Quarter: 1-4 for the quarter the close date is in (eg. 4 = Quarter 4)

Close Period: 1-12 for the period/month of the year the close date is in (eg. in calendar months, 3 = March and in fiscal periods 3 = the third month of your fiscal year)

Close Day: day of the year the close date is in (eg. in a calendar month 2 = January 2 and in a fiscal calendar 2 = the second day of the fiscal year)

Pro tip: We recommend comparing the lesser time period by the greater for a more legible graph. For example, comparing data by month by year, rather than by year by month. Trust us, while the data would still be correct, it wouldn't provide as much insight. Think of it like a nesting doll!

Configuration Example

Let's walk through the configuration of a comparison report using the Bookings by Close Month this Year and Last report as an example.

Filters

Adjust applicable filters to ensure the report is only representing the data you're after.

In our example we're looking for a report that only includes booked deals in the last two years so we will set the Close Date to the last 2 years and the Stage Name to include only Closed Won deals.

Calculation

Select the calculation you want the report to reflect (Average, Sum, Minimum, Maximum, Count, Count Unique).

In our example we want to know how many deals were booked, so we'll select Count.

Visualization

This section is where you will establish the close period properties that will allow you to compare the included data, side by side, over time.

Choose bar chart to show side by side comparisons (horizontal or vertical by preference)

Complete the report summary as you would with any report describing what's included.

Choose a value to be displayed on the x-axis. This is where we establish the side by side comparison.

In our case, we want to compare months, so we select Close Period. The handy things about these close period properties is that they display as numbers on your graph. So since we're choosing Close Period to compare months based on our org's fiscal calendar, our x-axis will show 1-12, representing the 12 months of the calendar year. (Eg. 3 = March)

Choose a value to be displayed on the y-axis. This is the metric by which we're measuring our data.

Since we're looking for how many deals were booked, we'll use a Count. This means the bars in our chart will represent the number of closed won deals.

Toggle on I want to split the data set and display the data side by side. This is where we determine that we want to see our x-axis data (months) split, and then we select what field we want the data split by.

In this example, we want a monthly comparison for the last two years, so the months are split into....Close Year. Ensure the interval is set to 1 so we're splitting by 1 year at a time.

Leave sort order unselected, the close period properties are numeric by design and will display accordingly on the graph.

Choose color set, this will determine which color set is used and ensure that the data you're splitting is distinctly different.

You'll see in our example that the legend shows both 2021 and 2022 as represented by two distinct colors so that the comparison is clear.

Calendar vs Fiscal Year Examples

The close period properties are all numeric, and the property names are the same for either calendar. However, those numbers represent different periods based on your org's fiscal year settings. These examples show what the same date would look like in a calendar vs. fiscal year.

Calendar Year Example

June 23rd, 2018

• Day: 174

• Period: 6

• Quarter: 2

• Year: 2018

Fiscal Year starting June Example

June 23rd, 2018

• Day: 23

• Period: 1

• Quarter: 1

• Year: 2019

Related Articles

Setting Fiscal Start / End Date

Bar Chart Report

If you run into any issues, please contact support.