Problem
In Management Reporting, the number of columns in a Table card is fixed when the card is created. When a dynamic filter returns a different number of items (e.g. fiscal years depending on the selected Version), the card does not adapt:
- If the card was created with few columns, additional items (e.g. FY29) never appear after “Update”, even though they match the filter.
- If it was created with the maximum number of columns, switching to a Version with fewer items leaves empty columns.
Anaplan Support confirmed this is expected behavior, as report pages are designed as fixed-layout reports.
Proposed solution
Allow Table cards to refresh their column structure on “Update” and display exactly the columns returned by the filter for the selected Version/selection, with no missing and no empty columns. Possible options:
- Automatic column adjustment on filter or page selector change (preferred).
- Or a card-level setting such as “Auto-adjust columns to filtered items”.
Business impact
- Management Reporting is used to build structured, multi-page presentations for management meetings, exported as a single PDF. Boards cannot replace this, as they do not support that multi-page PDF export.
- Without dynamic columns, a Table card must be recreated every time the reporting horizon changes (new fiscal year, Version with a different time span).
- The “maximum columns” workaround produces empty columns and unprofessional reports.
- This creates a recurring maintenance burden for model builders and affects all report consumers.
Current workarounds (not satisfactory)
- Recreate the Table card whenever the horizon changes.
- Build the card with the maximum number of columns and accept empty columns.
- Use a Board (no multi-page presentation export).
Use case example
Recruitment reporting by fiscal year (FY26 to FY29) with indicators nested under each year. The number of years displayed depends on the selected Version (e.g. Rev1 2026 vs. 2027).
Related post: Management report should support more dynamic layouts (e.g. filtering on columns to display) (2023)
