Summary Method per List

In DISCO we create CAL modules that are purely for caulations and turn Summary Method to NONE.

There are though many times where to be most efficient you may want to only have the Summary method apply to one list.

e.g. you want it to SUM on product only because you can then use it in an Output module which doesn't need the data by Product.

being able to select the Summary Method per list will allow for more efficient and faster models.

Comments

Miran

Status changed to: In Review

Tiffany.Rice

Another use case is with percentages, we have instances where we are trying to allocate to 100% of a specific dimension so will turn on Sum to display this but if you look at the summation for another dimension within the module the data point can be confusing for the end user. Having more flexibility would be great!

JaredDolich

@jwakefield

I second @Tiffany.Rice use case and would also add one of my own (not a calc module though)

I would also expand this idea by suggesting that we can apply different summations to each list. So instead of just being able to turn in on or off, be able to select which summation you want by list including time and version. This would help me if,say I wanted a store count on the location dimension but not on the time or product dimension. I would rather have an average.

In the supply chain horizontal, I'm often asked to set up a condition where rates, percentages, and prices are editable and have that change cascade up and down the hierarchy. While this is entirely possible in Anaplan, I have to set up breakback on the rate. summation makes sense on some lists but not others.

Great suggestion!

andrewtye

Great idea. Would be particularly helpful when a top level isn't really a top level at all.

alexpavel

Indeed, it would be nice to have this feature...not sure how the performance will be assured.

In most of the calculations, the formulas are applied at the "leaf" level and on the results, the summary method are applied.

The exceptions are "Formula" and "Ratio" summary methods (for numeric line-items).

There are some workarounds which can solve some of the use-cases:

- there is already the for "Time" list which can have a separate summary method

- sometimes "Formula" method is enough to have the correct results at the upper level

- it is possible to overwrite the summary method using the "Ratio" method. In a composite hierarchy, you can have a line-item with "apply to" at the upper level and use the summary method "Ratio" on a lower level line-item selecting the upper level line-item / 1 .. the "1" you can have it in a tech line-item with "Apply to" null...and formula "1".

This solution I used when I wanted to "stop" the summary at some level in a hierarchy: The lower level line-item has setup the "Ratio" method and the upper level line-item have the "None" as a summary method ...

When "Ratio" method is used, starting from the upper-level going up to the top, the line-item at upper level summary method is applied.

So, again, at the upper level line-item it is possible to have setup different summary methods: Ratio, Formula, etc..

A good example of using "Ratio" summary method is used in the calculation of filter level hierarchy:

https://community.anaplan.com/t5/Best-Practices/Calculating-Levels-in-a-Hierarchy-for-Dashboard-Filtering/ta-p/33567

Currently, using a combination of "Ratio" methods and duplication of line-items, I think it is possible, with some effort, to solve most of the use-cases.

jwakefield

@alexpavel i agree there are workarounds and possibilities but the aim of the platform should be simplicity.

By making a few tweaks on the front end, it removes the need to find hidden best practices.

Gwen.pryor

Status changed to: In Review

Gwen.pryor

Status changed to: In Review

kosterhout

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to re-emphasize the need for this. @Tiffany.Rice pointed out my exact issue right now. I need a sum on one dimension while I need an average on another. Currently, the summary method chosen (SUM) shows a totally incorrect percentage on the dimension in rows while showing the correct summary for the columns.

jepley

Agreed, this continues to be a challenge with modeling efficiently. Would be great to see this get prioritized in the next roadmap.

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