Xero Groups · Track 3 · Tutorial 2 of 3
Read tracking categories as operational data
Available on ProPremium
Every month BrizoConsol loads your tracking categories, it also keeps them as operational data. That copy is what the group reads in its own currency, and what dashboards and reports are built on.
1Know what each load writes
Every month BrizoConsol loads Xero’s profit and loss by tracking category. Each time, it also writes the same figures as an operational dataset — a table of figures that dashboards, custom reports and operational reports can read, and that is translated into the group currency on the group.
| Name | One dataset per tracking category, named after it: Xero Tracking: Branch for the Branch category. |
|---|---|
| Rows | One figure for each tracking option and each P&L line in each month — Sydney’s Sales for October is one row. The lines are the report’s own, account lines and subtotals alike — Sales, Total Income, Net Profit. Amounts with no tracking option are kept under Unassigned. |
| Dimensions | Tracking Option and P&L Line. Every reading takes one line at a time, so different lines are never added together. |
| Currency | Each organisation’s own: Harbour Pty Ltd’s in AUD, Harbour NZ Ltd’s in NZD. |
| When it changes | Loading a month again replaces that month. The dataset is the connector’s, so it can’t be edited or uploaded to by hand. |
2Find the dataset
- Select your group, and open Settings → Organisation Settings → Operational Data.
- Find Xero Tracking: Branch in the list. On the group, each company’s dataset is listed with the company’s name under it.
Average rate beside the name says how the dataset is translated on the group. The dataset needs the Free, Pro or Premium edition, which also includes currency translation. A dataset that belongs to a organisation opens in that organisation, from the link icon on its row.
3Know how it is translated
Harbour Pty Ltd keeps its books in AUD and Harbour NZ Ltd in NZD. Your group reports in SGD.
| On a organisation | The dataset is read in that organisation’s own currency. |
|---|---|
| On the group | Each organisation’s month is translated into SGD at that month’s average rate — the rate the profit and loss uses — before anything is added. |
The … by Tracking Dimension chart sources and the Department P&L and Store Performance templates read the same Xero figures without translating them: on the group they add AUD and NZD as if they were SGD. That is why the dashboards in the next tutorial are built on the dataset.
4Name things the same in every organisation
The group reads the two organisations’ datasets as one source only when they have the same name. Both are named after the tracking category, so it must be called Branch in both Xero organisations — capitals don’t matter.
Inside the category, figures fall on the same row only when the option names match exactly. A shared option — say both organisations had a branch called Online — must be spelled the same in both.
5Check the rates
- Select your group, and open Settings → Global Settings → Exchange Rates.
- Check that every month you report has an average rate for AUD and for NZD. Each rate is units of the currency per 1 SGD: in the example, October is 1.1700 for AUD and 1.3000 for NZD.
If the group has no rate for a currency in a month, that organisation’s figures for the month are added in its own currency, as they stand. The operational report says so above its table; a dashboard chart doesn’t, so check the rates before you rely on a chart.
6Open it as a report
- With your group selected, open Reports → All Reports.
- Under Operational Data, open Xero Tracking: Branch.
Each organisation’s tracking category is a report of its own, because Xero gives it an ID of its own in each organisation: you will find one Xero Tracking: Branch for Harbour Pty Ltd and one for Harbour NZ Ltd, each card naming its organisation. It opens as a pivot table with the P&L lines down the side and the months across, from the start of the financial year. Drag Tracking Option onto the rows to split each line by branch, and set the months with From and To.
Check
In Harbour Pty Ltd’s report, with your group selected, Sydney’s October Sales is 44,444 — AUD 52,000 ÷ 1.1700. Select Harbour Pty Ltd instead, and the same figure is AUD 52,000, as in Xero.
Use the icons at the top to export the report to PDF or Excel, or to add it to an Insight Package.
7Use it elsewhere
| Dashboards | Charts and tables read the dataset the same way — see Build branch dashboards from operational data. |
|---|---|
| Custom reports | Rows can read the dataset, translated the same way. Include Entities on the row lists the organisations it reads; untick one to leave it out. |
8If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Xero Tracking: Branch isn’t in Operational Data | No month of P&L by Tracking Category has been loaded for the organisation. Load the months — see Bring in tracking categories. |
| Only one organisation’s branches appear on the group | The category has a different name in the other organisation, or its months aren’t loaded. Rename the category in Xero, and load the months. |
| One branch appears twice | The option is spelled differently in the two organisations. Make the names match in Xero and load the months again. |
| One month’s figures jump | The group has no rate for that currency in that month, so it was read untranslated. Add the rate on Exchange Rates. |
| No Average rate badge, and nothing is translated | Your plan is Standard. It includes neither currency translation nor this dataset: upgrade to Pro or Premium. |
Want more detail? See the documentation