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TheG's avatar
TheG
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9 years ago

Forecast V Actual Comparison Table

Hi Community,   I was looking for the best practice when deciding how to report on Actuals (from an accounting system exported into Excel) and Forecasts (written in excel spreadsheet system).   I...
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v-caliao-msft's avatar
v-caliao-msft
Icon for Microsoft Employee rankMicrosoft Employee
9 years ago

Hi TheG,

 

In your scenario, since FORECASTPF table and ACTUALPF table almost have the same table structure, you needn't to use two tables. You can add then into one table with FORECAST and ACTUAL column. Select Combine > Merge Queries from the Home tab on the ribbon.

 

Regards,

Charlie Liao

 

  • TheG's avatar
    TheG
    Icon for Advocate I rankAdvocate I
    9 years ago

    Thanks v-caliao-msft

     

    When i merge i dont get the complete matches probably as some account numbers are not in both tables...i guess i need to rework the table layout and split account numbers out, jobs, account names etc..

     

     

     

     

     

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      Not applicable
      9 years ago

      As noted above and based on the sample data screenshot, merging Actuals and Forecast could be problematic - you have multiple Actual records for July 2014, but only 1 Forecast record that I can see for that month.

      • TheG's avatar
        TheG
        Icon for Advocate I rankAdvocate I
        9 years ago

        HI Anonymous yep i think i need to re-organise my tables design.

         

         

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    Not applicable
    9 years ago

    In some cases, you might prefer to keep them separate, at least as staging tables - e.g. update scenarios where you're adding new Actuals each month, checking in case Actuals for a new Account Number or Job Number have been added but no Forecast exists for it etc.