XYZ analysis

XYZ analysis shows how steadily each product sells or each client buys. For each line item, the report calculates the variation: how much its revenue jumps from month to month relative to its own average. Based on the variation, line items are split into three groups:

Group	Variation	What it means
X	Up to 10%	Stable demand: you can plan purchasing and sales based on it
Y	10% to 25%	Fluctuating demand: there is seasonality or disruption
Z	Above 25%	Irregular demand: you cannot plan based on the average

If ABC analysis answers the question "who brings in the money," XYZ answers "how much can you count on that money."

What you can doWhat you can do

• Read the report
• Understand what variation is
• Select a period
• Set the line item source and the payment criterion
• Compare with ABC analysis

ReportReport

Open Analytics → Sales → XYZ analysis. The Products / Clients switch in the top panel changes the dimension; products open by default.

Element	What it shows
Line under the heading	A conclusion: how many line items sell steadily, for example "18 of 140 products sell steadily (group X)"
Settings line	Which line item source and which payment criterion are applied; see Report settings
Share bar	Line items broken down into X, Y, and Z; the width of each segment equals the share of line items in the group
Group card	The share of line items in the group, their number, the group's share of revenue, and its amount
Line item row	The name, revenue for the period, and variation; the more uneven the demand, the longer the bar

Within a group, line items are listed from the most profitable to the least.

What variation isWhat variation is

In the header of group Z there is a ? What is variation button: this is where percentages above 100% appear, and they raise the most questions. In short:

• Variation is not a share of revenue but a measure of how steady purchases are: the standard deviation of a line item's monthly revenue divided by its average monthly revenue.
• 0% means the same amount comes in every month. The higher the percentage, the more uneven the purchases.
• Values above 100% are normal. For example, 245% means that all the revenue came in one month out of seven, and the other months were empty.
• Months without sales count as zero revenue. That is exactly what irregularity is.

PeriodPeriod

On the right side of the top panel there are preset periods and date fields. The default is Year.

The report only counts completed months. The current month with incomplete revenue and the future months of the Year period are not included. Otherwise they would look like a drop in demand, and a steady client would move from X to Z.

Report settingsReport settings

The gear button in the top panel opens the Report settings wizard. It works the same way as in ABC analysis:

1. Line item source: Documents (default) or Deals. The Any toggle counts all types; turn it off to select specific ones.
2. Payment criterion: by document or deal status, or by income in finance. The Any toggle counts all statuses.
3. Summary: an overview of the settings and the Apply button.

For more on each step, see ABC analysis. XYZ settings are saved individually for you, separately from ABC settings.

As in ABC, the lower-right corner shows a line with the total of incoming payments not linked to documents or deals and the total income for the same completed months. For why they differ, see ABC analysis.

ABC and XYZ togetherABC and XYZ together

Build both reports for the same period and with the same settings to get a matrix of nine cells:

	X: stable	Y: fluctuating	Z: irregular
A: core of revenue	Key line items: keep them in stock and take care of these clients	Important but seasonal: plan your stock	Large one-time sales: handle each deal individually
B: middle	Reliable average contribution	Keep an eye on the fluctuations	Worth finding out the reason for the irregularity
C: tail	Small but predictable	Candidates for review	First candidates for removal from the product range

Access rightsAccess rights

Report data is shown according to your access level. If your group does not have access to the report, you see the "No access" screen; see Access rights.