We say the Monthly Sales Comparison Report is the best report in the software because of the business performance insights it provides.
In an instant, you can see what’s working and what’s not working, at a high level, down to a reasonable granular level.
By comparing the trading periods you select, you can determine whether you’re up or down. You can do this by department, or department and category. You can also do it by supplier. The supplier view can be quite an interesting view.
If you are going to devote time to only one report in your Retailer software, make it the Monthly Sales Comparison Report.
Our advice is to run it monthly, at the end of each month, comparing that month to the same month a year earlier, and also run it for the last three months, comparing each to the same three months a year earlier.
The gold in this report is right at the end: transaction count, average sale value, average items per sale, and average item value.
A few extra transactions each day with a slightly higher average basket value, and with your GP% slightly up on previously, and you have three key performance numbers working into each other to create more value.
The Monthly Sales Comparison Report is a good report for all staff in the business to understand. It provides a good base for business performance literacy.
The Monthly Sales Comparison Report is a safe report to run. It doesn’t alter data.
Now, a pro tip for running the Monthly Sales Comparison Report: if the most recent period shows on the left, you’ve selected the dates correctly.