Compare your current performance with earlier periods, and project what is likely to happen next, on your trend charts and metric cards. A red dot on Compare & Forecast shows while any period is on.
Add comparison and forecast periods
Do this to see how the period you are viewing compares with the ones before it, or where it is heading.
Open Reporting & Intelligence and choose the date range.
Select Compare & Forecast.
Under Look Back, set how many earlier periods to compare, up to 3, or select a day button such as -28 days.
Optional: under Look Ahead, set how many periods to forecast, up to 3, or select a day button such as +28 days.
Select Done.
The dialog opens with Your Selected Period: the dates you are viewing and how many days they cover. Each period you add is listed as a badge with its dates. The X on a badge drops one period: the periods always run on from your range, so the furthest one goes. The day buttons show how far each period reaches: for a 28-day range they read -28 days, -56 days and -84 days under Look Back, and +28 days, +56 days and +84 days under Look Ahead.
Compare & Forecast sits in the header on every tab except Day View and Week View.
Look Back
How did I do before? Look Back compares your selected date range with the same length of time immediately before it. For example, if you are viewing the last 28 days, one comparison period is the 28 days before that, and a second is the 28 days before those.
With Look Back on:
On the trend charts: a dashed grey line shows the earlier periods' own daily figures, drawn before the current period on their real dates, over a light grey tint. A dotted vertical line marks where the current period starts. The charts are Revenue Trend on Overview, Services and Financial, Bookings Over Time on Appointments, and Customer Acquisition on Customers
On the Overview's key metrics: the Revenue (earned) and Appointments cards add a comparison line with a green or red percentage change. With one period it reads vs. previous period and shows that period's total; with two or three it reads vs. prev. avg with the number of periods, and shows the average of their totals
On the insight cards: the Overview's revenue insight compares your revenue with the earlier periods' average and adds period bars. See Understanding insight cards
Look Ahead
What could happen next? Look Ahead projects your figures forward from the period you are viewing. For example, if you are viewing the last 28 days, one forecast period projects the next 28 days.
How the forecast is worked out
The forecast uses your selected period only:
Day-of-week averages: it groups the days in your selected period by day of the week (Monday, Tuesday and so on) and works out a weighted average for each, giving more weight to recent days
Trend detection: it compares revenue per day in the first half of your period with the second half to see whether revenue is growing or falling. The trend is capped at plus or minus 30% per period so a short burst cannot produce an extreme projection
Day-by-day projection: each forecast day takes its day-of-week average multiplied by the trend. Further periods compound the trend, so a 5% growth trend becomes roughly 10% over 2 periods
With Look Ahead on:
On the trend charts: a dashed line runs beyond the current period, blue on most charts and green on Customer Acquisition, over a light tint, with a dotted vertical line where the projection starts
On the Overview's key metrics: the Revenue (earned) and Appointments cards add Projected next for the first forecast period
On the Overview's Revenue Trend: a Forecast badge appears on the chart
See how the forecast was worked out
Do this to check the figures behind a projection before you rely on it.
Open Reporting & Intelligence and choose Overview.
With Look Ahead on, select the Forecast badge on Revenue Trend.
Read How your forecast works.
The explainer uses your real figures:
The short version: how many days were analysed, what your average day earns, whether revenue is growing or declining and by how much, and the projected total for the next period
We look at your recent history: the number of days the forecast used. These are the days of the period you picked, so it reflects where the business is now
We learn your weekly pattern: a bar for each day of the week, showing its weighted average revenue
We detect your trajectory: revenue per day in the First half and Second half of your period, and the Detected trend. If the trend was capped at plus or minus 30%, a note says so
We project each future day: Each day is Weekday avg × trend, its own weekday average multiplied by the trend, added up over the Days of the period to give Forecast
The result: your current period's total against the forecast total, with the change
A closing note that forecasts are estimates based on recent patterns, not a guarantee
What You'll See in the dialog
With any Look Back or Look Ahead period on, the foot of the dialog sums them up under What You'll See:
Past: how many days back you are comparing
Now: the length of your current period
Future: how many days ahead you are forecasting
Total data span: all of them added together
Independent from deep dive forecasts
The page-level forecast is separate from the Revenue Forecast deep dive on the Financial tab. The deep dive uses its own method: it compares the period with the average of the 3 prior periods of equal length, matched day by day by date, and shows a range band. Its figures for the period and the 3 earlier periods follow the page's All locations and Excl. GST settings, and it takes periods of up to 121 days. Both can be on at the same time. While any Look Back or Look Ahead period is on, the deep dive shows a banner that starts Page-level period analysis active and says it uses its own independent historical analysis.
The deep dive's In the Diary, Expected Additional and Combined Forecast cards come from Petboost's booking forecast for the location you are in, so with All locations picked they show a This location badge. The Revenue Forecast and Forward Forecast deep dives read booking lead times from that same forecast, so they use the same figure.
Clear comparison and forecast periods
Do this to go back to the period on its own.
Open Reporting & Intelligence.
Select Compare & Forecast.
Select Clear All, or lower the counts, or select the X on a period's badge to drop one period.
Select Done.
Setting both Look Back and Look Ahead to zero clears every overlay and the red dot.
Tips
Start with 1 comparison period to see how this period compares with the one just before it
Use the forecast with care: it extrapolates from your current data, so short periods may give less reliable projections
Check the explainer: on the Overview's Revenue Trend, select the Forecast badge to see exactly how your numbers were worked out
Look Back compares revenue and appointments: the status counts, completion, customers, packages, sales, memberships, fees and refunds on the cards cover your selected range only
Related articles
Overview Tab: where comparison and forecast are most visible
Financial Tab: for the independent Revenue Forecast deep dive
Understanding insight cards: insight cards can include period comparison bars
Filters and controls: date range and filter settings