What this article covers: How to use the Period Selector in any BrizoConsol report to compare actuals against last year, forecast, or budget — and how the built-in comparison reports use this to open with the right view pre-selected.
Every report in BrizoConsol has a Period Selector at the top of the page. Changing it reshapes the entire report — switching between a 12-month view, a rolling window, a year-on-year comparison, or an actuals vs forecast layout — without leaving the report or opening a different one.
BrizoConsol's built-in comparison reports (such as P&L Variance and P&L Forecast Variance) are standard reports that simply open with a comparison period pre-selected for you. You can change the period selector on any of them at any time.
The quickest way to run a comparison is to open one of BrizoConsol's built-in comparison reports — they open with the right period already selected. For more flexibility, every report has a Period Selector at the top of the page that lets you switch to any comparison or multi-period layout in one click.
1. Built-In Comparison Reports
BrizoConsol includes two dedicated comparison reports under Reports → All Reports → Performance. These are standard reports that open with a comparison period selector pre-selected — saving you the step of changing it manually:
Report
Default Period
Use for
P&L Variance
Actual vs Last Year
Year-on-year performance reviews, management and board reporting
P&L Forecast Variance
Actual vs Forecast
Monthly budget reviews, identifying where performance is ahead of or behind plan
💡 Tip: You can change the period selector on either built-in report at any time. For example, open P&L Variance and switch to Actual vs Budget to instantly compare actuals against budget instead of last year — no new report needed.
★ Tip: Click the star icon on any report to pin it to your left navigation for quick access each month.
2. All Period Selector Options
Open any report and click the Period Selector at the top of the page. The following options are available:
Fiscal & Budget Year
Period Type
Columns Generated
Fiscal Year
One column per month across the full fiscal year
Fiscal Year with Full Year
Fiscal year monthly columns plus a full-year total column
Budget Year
One column per month across the full budget year
Budget Year with Full Year
Budget year monthly columns plus a full-year total column
Rolling Periods
Period Type
Columns Generated
Last 3 Months
One column per month for the last 3 months
Last 6 Months
One column per month for the last 6 months
Last 9 Months
One column per month for the last 9 months
Last 12 Months
One column per month for the last 12 months
Last 4 Quarters
One column per quarter for the last 4 quarters
Single Period Views
Period Type
Columns Generated
By Month
A single column for the selected month
By Quarter
The selected quarter with a monthly breakdown
By Year
The selected period as a year-to-date total column
Last 3 Years
One YTD column per year for the last 3 years
Debit / Credit
Four columns: Debit, Credit, Debit YTD, and Credit YTD
Comparison Views
These options generate variance columns automatically — no manual calculation needed.
Period Type
Columns Generated
Actual vs Last Year
Current period actual, prior year actual, YTD actual, prior year YTD — plus variance $ and variance % for both
Actual vs Forecast
Current period actual, forecast, YTD actual, YTD forecast — plus variance $ and variance % for both
Actual vs Budget
Current period actual, budget, YTD actual, YTD budget — plus variance $ and variance % for both
Custom Range
Period Type
Columns Generated
Custom
Columns for a manually defined start and end period — use for ad-hoc date ranges not covered by the options above
3. Reading a Comparison View
When Actual vs Last Year, Actual vs Forecast, or Actual vs Budget is selected, the report generates the following columns for both the current period and YTD:
Column
What it shows
Actual
The real financial result for the current period
Last Year / Forecast / Budget
The comparison figure for the same period
Variance $
The absolute difference between Actual and the comparison figure
Variance %
The percentage movement — useful for identifying proportionally significant changes
These columns appear for both the current period and YTD, giving you a complete picture of how performance tracks at a point in time and cumulatively across the year.
4. Common Workflows
📋 Monthly management pack
Open P&L Forecast Variance → period selector is already set to Actual vs Forecast → export to PDF. Done in under a minute with current-month actuals and YTD variance automatically calculated.
🏗 Board reporting — year-on-year
Open P&L Variance → period selector defaults to Actual vs Last Year → review current period and YTD variance columns → export or schedule delivery.
📈 12-month trend view
Open any P&L or custom report → change the period selector to Last 12 Months → see each of the past 12 months as a column to spot seasonal patterns or sustained trends.
🕑 Multi-year review
Open any report → change the period selector to Last 3 Years → view three YTD columns side by side for a long-run performance overview.
5. Exporting & Scheduling Comparison Reports
Once you have the view you need, click Export to download the report as Excel (.xlsx), PDF, or CSV — all applied filters and the selected period are included in the export.
To deliver the same report automatically each month, use the Schedule feature. See Scheduling Dashboards, Reports, and Insight Packages for setup steps.
💡 Tip: For report display preferences — decimal places, negative number formatting, showing account codes — click the
gear icon at the top-right of any report. See
Report Settings.
