Spreading

Purpose of the function

The spreading functionality makes it possible to calculate monthly values based on existing annual values processed based on conditions determined by the user. Amounts may be calculated using spreading for forecasting and/or statistical purposes.

Objective	Description
Forecasting	Spreading makes it possible to calculate, based on values collected since the start of the year up until the current month, forecast values for both the remaining months and the entire year. For example, in a annual forecast data collection form in which data on real sales from January to May is collected, spreading makes it possible to calculate the forecast data on the partial amounts of the remaining months, and therefore the total annual amount.
Statistical	Spreading makes it possible to manually enter an annual amount and, based on the trends in the data collected over a specific period (e.g. from the start of the year to the current month, or during the previous year, etc.), to calculate amounts to be realised in the remaining months to achieve the desired total annual amount. For example, in an annual sales planning form, to plan to double sales, the user can enter the desired annual amount and calculate, based on the real monthly amounts from the previous year, the monthly amounts that need to be realised to achieve the desired total in the current year. In the calculation conditions, spreading also allows you to enter values expressed with a deviation calculation or fraction based on a reference value.

For more details on the spreading calculation functionality, see Spreading methods in data entry mode.