BI Analytics — Period comparison (YoY vs adjacent)
Who can do this
Section titled “Who can do this”Available on the Elite plan, currently in beta with selective customer access. If you do not see BI Analytics in the navigation, contact support to enable it for your account.
Note: Period comparison is an opt-in panel, off by default. Enable it at Settings & Apps > BI Analytics > Setup > Optional panels > Show period comparison.
The two modes
Section titled “The two modes”Adjacent mode
Section titled “Adjacent mode”Compares against: same-length period immediately before the current period.
Example: current = March 2026 (1 month); comparison = February 2026.
Use case: short periods, operational tempo, month-over-month trend, performance reviews.
YoY mode
Section titled “YoY mode”Compares against: same calendar months, one year earlier.
Example: current = Jan–Mar 2026 (3 months); comparison = Jan–Mar 2025.
Use case: longer ranges, strategic review, seasonal comparisons (e.g. tax season year-over-year).
Smart default
Section titled “Smart default”| Range length | Default mode |
|---|---|
| 1–3 months | Adjacent |
| 4+ months | YoY |
You will almost always want the default. Two examples where you might override:
- You opened “Last month” (1 month) and want to compare against last year’s same month instead of two months ago → switch to YoY.
- You opened “Year to date” but the firm has only been on Uku for 4 months, so YoY has no data → switch to adjacent.
Overriding the mode
Section titled “Overriding the mode”Click the Repeat icon in the filter toolbar. Three states:
- Auto (default) — product picks adjacent or YoY based on range length
- Adjacent — force adjacent
- YoY — force YoY
What gets compared when you switch mode
Section titled “What gets compared when you switch mode”- KPI card arrows — the up/down delta and percentage on every card
- Gauge secondary arc — the thin inner arc on each gauge
- Period chart dots — in YoY mode, small dots overlay the prior-period values on each bar
Entity filters, report selection, and the current period itself do not change — only the comparison window changes.
When comparison data is empty
Section titled “When comparison data is empty”- Your firm only has data for the last 4 months and you chose a 6-month YoY comparison → arrows don’t render
- Show period comparison in BI Setup is off (default)
- A client was onboarded last month and has no data in the comparison window
Blank comparison is “no data”, not a bug.
How the comparison is computed
Section titled “How the comparison is computed”- Same KPI definitions, different date range — no blending
- Prior-year rates approximated — when comparing against last year, calculations use current company default rates, not historical rates (BI does not store rate history per period). Month-over-month is exact; year-over-year rates can drift.
Gauge arc limitation
Section titled “Gauge arc limitation”When a report loads from the cached snapshot (no filters), the gauge’s secondary arc shows YoY even if you are in adjacent mode. The KPI arrows above the gauge are still correct. Apply any filter to force a full pipeline compute that honors adjacent mode.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”Comparison arrows are blank
Section titled “Comparison arrows are blank”Either Show period comparison is off in BI Setup, or there is no data in the comparison window for that entity or period.
One KPI card has an arrow but another doesn’t
Section titled “One KPI card has an arrow but another doesn’t”The one without an arrow had no comparison data — the comparison period has no activity for that specific KPI.
After turning on comparison for the first time, BI is slow
Section titled “After turning on comparison for the first time, BI is slow”Enabling the panel wipes snapshots and recomputes from raw data. The first load is slower; subsequent loads are fast again.