The Comparison table widget

The Comparison table widget puts periods side by side. It shows one line for each value of a column you choose, such as a department, a customer or an account, and one column for each period you choose. For example, this month, the same month last year, the change between them, the year to date and last year's. You can use it in a report layout or on a dashboard.

#Comparison table or Statement

Both lay a report out as a table of figures. Choose by what the columns are.

#What the report needs

The widget does not run its own query. It arranges the rows of an ordinary report, so that report needs:

• a column for the lines, such as the department or the account;
• a date or month column, which says which period each row belongs to;
• one or more value columns, such as the amount, and a budget if you want to compare with one;
• optionally a column for sections, such as Income and Expenses.

The report must hold every period you want to show. To compare with last year, its rows must go back to last year.

#Setting it up

1. In the gear menu, choose Edit Layout on a report, or Edit dashboard, then choose Add widget and pick Comparison table. On a dashboard, choose the report first.
2. Under What it shows in the side panel, set:
   • Rows: the column whose values become the lines.
   • Sections: a column that splits the lines into blocks, or None.
   • Dates: the date or month column.
3. Under Columns, build the list of columns, left to right. A new table starts with four: this month, the same month a year earlier, and the change as an amount and as a percentage.
4. Under Lines, choose the order, how many lines to keep and which total lines to add.
5. Under Good and bad changes, say which direction is good.
6. Save the layout or the dashboard.

#The columns

+ Period, + Change and + Share each add a column. Left and Right move a column, and Remove deletes it. A table holds up to 24 columns.

#A period column

A period column adds up one figure over one period.

A balance, such as cash or receivables, must not be added up across months. With closing value, a column shows the figure at the end of its period, and a total line adds up each line's own closing figure.

#A change column

A change column compares two period columns. Set Change of and Against: the change is the first less the second.

• A change reads n/a when it cannot be worked out, for example a percentage when the second column is zero.
• A line with no rows in one of the two periods is compared with zero when the figure is a sum or a count.
• Subtotals and totals work their change out from their own two figures. They never add up the changes of the lines above them.

#A share column

A share column shows a period column's figure as a percentage of that column's total over every line.

#Headings and formatting

The table writes each heading from its period, such as Sep 2026, Q3 2026, 2026 to date or FY2027 to date. A column over a second figure, such as a budget, also names that figure. Type a Heading to replace the one the table writes.

Each column follows the format of its report column and your account's Formatting settings. To change one column, set its Decimals, Negatives (in parentheses or with a minus sign) and Large figures (compact, such as 1.2M, or in full).

#The lines

#Good and bad changes

A change shows an arrow for its direction: up, down, or no change. Its colour says whether that direction is good: green for good, red for bad.

1. Set A higher figure is to Good, as for sales or Bad, as for costs.
2. In a table that mixes both, name the rows or sections that go the other way, such as Expenses.
3. A change column can make its own choice under A higher figure is.

Costs stored as negative numbers need no setting. A cost that grows is a figure that falls.

#Filters and the date the table reads

Every column is worked out from one date. Without a filter, that date is today.

On a dashboard, route a Month or Date filter to the widget's Dates column. The table then reads as of the last day of the filter's range. Choose September 2026, and This month is September 2026, the column moved back a year is September 2025, and Year to date runs from January to September. One filter moves every column.

• That filter does not hide rows of this table. If it did, every column but one would be empty.
• A filter with no end, such as After, leaves the table on today.
• Every other filter, such as a subsidiary or a department, narrows the rows as it does for any widget.
• On a report page, a filter set on the table below the widget works the same way.
• The widget's own Filter section keeps only the rows that match, before anything is added up.

#Clicking a figure

A click on a figure opens the report on the rows behind it: the line you clicked, and the dates of its column. A section total opens its section, and the last line opens every row of the period. A change column and a line that adds up several names do not open anything. When clicked in the side panel can open another report or switch the click off. See Clicking a dashboard widget.

#Emails, PDFs, Excel and print

• In an email and in a PDF, the table keeps its sections, total lines, arrows and colours. A table too wide for the page is split into blocks of columns, each one repeating the first column.
• In an Excel attachment, the table has its own sheet. The cells hold the numbers themselves, so a change in percent is a percentage Excel can add up or chart.
• On paper, a table wider than the sheet prints in bands of columns, each one repeating the first column.
• A scheduled email with no value in the Month filter reads as of the day it is sent, in your account's time zone.

#If something looks wrong

Related: Building a dashboard · The Statement widget · Dashboard filters · Fiscal periods, year to date and balances · Formatting numbers, currencies, percentages and dates · Scheduled emails