Display columns

Display columns define how the results are displayed in Varicent Incentives by offering the option of dividing a single set of results into sub-results.

All column types except comment and numeric columns can be used as display columns in calculations.

For example, your formula might be: Sum(Data.Value) * 0.01 (or 1% of the sum of the amounts in the value column of the data table). If the result of this formula is 1,000,000 and no display columns are defined, the following data is displayed:

Table 41. No display columns

Amount
1,000,000

If you choose PayeeID as the display column for the calculation, you have results similar to the following table:

Table 42. PayeeID display column added

PayeeID	Amount
10001	150,000
10002	275,000
10003	312,000
10004	363,000

A display column replaces a single calculated result with multiple results, equal in total to the original single number. Multiple display columns are also possible, and are frequently required. In the example, imagine using both PayeeID and Date as display columns, instead of simply PayeeID. The result might look something like the following table.

Table 43. Multiple display columns

PayeeID	Period	Amount
10001	Period 1, 2013	90,000
10001	Period 2, 2013	50,000
10001	Period 3, 2013	10,000
10002	Period 1, 2013	85,000
10002	Period 2, 2013	95,000
10002	Period 3, 2013	60,000
10002	Period 4, 2013	35,000

Defining display columns

In Varicent Incentives, you can divide your results into sub-results based on columns that are selected from the data sources.

Follow the steps to add a calculation.
On the Display Columns tab, drag an entire data source or individual columns from a data source to the Add columns pane.
Click the Edit icon in the Add columns pane to rename a text or pick list column.
Note
You cannot rename partition columns.
If you select a date column as a display column, complete the following steps:
1. Select the calendar to use for the column.
2. From the Calculation Level drop-down list, select the time interval to group by.
3. From the Accumulation Level drop-down list, select when to reset the accumulated values to zero.
4. You can also select a start and end date for the column.
To change the order of the columns, drag the columns in the Add columns pane and place them in the order that you want.
To set accumulating partitions for a calculation, from the Normal Partitions drop-down list, select Accumulating Partitions.
To include empty partitions in the results of a calculation, from the Normal Partitions drop-down list, select Include Empty Partitions.

Empty partitions

In Varicent Incentives, you can choose to display a result of zero in all empty partitions.

Sometimes a calculated result partition is empty. For example, payee 10001 generated sales results for only periods one, two, and three in 2007. In this case, no result is generated for periods four and later, and typically this result is fine.

However, you might want to calculate a result for each payee and period within a plan, even if that result is zero. For example, consider a situation in which you want to calculate compensation for each payee in the following situations:

Totaling their sales for a period
Subtracting their discounts
Paying 5% commission on the net value

Imagine that you calculated the following results for payee 10001:

Table 44. Sales by period

PayeeID	Period	Amount
10001	Period 1, 2009	90,000
10001	Period 2, 2009	50,000
10001	Period 3, 2009	10,000

Table 45. Discounts by period

PayeeID	Period	Amount
10001	Period 1, 2009	7,000
10001	Period 2, 2009	2,000
10001	Period 3, 2009	1,500
10001	Period 4, 2009	1,950

To complete this calculation, you must include results for each period. The net results for period four cannot be calculated since there are no values in the first calculation that corresponds to this period.

You can select Include Empty Partitions on the Display Columns tab. If you do so, you will see a prompt that indicates that zeros must be added to any empty results. In this example, payees and periods are extended to include zeros in columns that would otherwise be empty.

Including empty partitions

In Varicent Incentives, when adding display columns, you can choose to display a result of zero in all empty partitions.

Follow the steps to add a calculation.
On the Display Columns tab, from the Normal Partitions drop-down list, select Include Empty Partitions.
Drag the columns from the data sources to the Add columns pane.

Accumulating partitions

You can use the Accumulating Partitions option to display an accumulated total of results in Varicent Incentives. For example, you might choose to display the year-to-date value of transactions for each payee rather than the individual value of each transaction.

With regular display columns, the results reset at every column. If you want each result to show an accumulated value, select the Accumulating Partitions option on the Display Columns tab.

Adding accumulating partitions

When adding display columns, you can choose to display an accumulated total of results in a display column.

Follow the steps to add a calculation.
On the Display Columns tab, from the Normal Partitions drop-down list, select Accumulating Partitions.
Drag the column from the data source that you want to accumulate total results for and place it in the Add accumulating columns pane.