Adding a Value Driver Tree

Add a value driver tree (VDT) to your story to visualize how values flow through your model, and to help you make strategic planning decisions and simulate different scenarios.

Prerequisites

Both planning and BI users can create value driver trees and enter data in them. Only users with planning licenses can publish changes to a version, however.

Context

You’ll start by picking your model. Then, you can add and configure nodes manually, or automatically based on the model’s account structure. Finally, you’ll link the nodes to arrange them into a directed graph.

Procedure

On a canvas or responsive page in story, select Value Driver Tree.
Select Create New Value Driver Tree and choose a model from the Based on list.

The model needs to be an import data model. You'll usually want to choose a planning model so that you can do data entry, but analytic models with a Date dimension are available too.

To add a legacy value driver tree that you created in the Processes Value Driver Tree area, select Display existing Value Driver Tree and choose one from the list. You won't be able to edit it with the Builder panel.

The value driver tree is added to your story. You can right-click it for configuration, styling, and navigation options, including Undo and Redo. You can also use the Builder and Styling panel to set up your value driver tree.

Add and configure the value driver tree nodes.

There are two ways to add and set up nodes: manually, or automatically based on the account hierarchy and calculation structure in the model.

To add nodes automatically, select Auto-create Value Driver Tree from Model and then select the accounts that you want to add as nodes. Afterwards, you can edit, add, and remove individual nodes as required, or right-click and select Auto-create () to automatically add more nodes.
To add a single node, right-click the value driver tree and select Add Node (). Then change the node title to help you identify the values.

Settings are available for individual nodes, as well as the default node configuration that applies to all nodes. If you’re adding nodes manually, it’s easiest to start with the default node configuration and then add nodes and change their settings as needed.

As you set up nodes, you can use the Unlink from default node configuration () option for any setting that was inherited from the default node configuration. This way, you’ll keep that setting when you change the default node configuration.

Setting	Description
Measure	Each node displays values from one account or measure. It’s common to create value driver trees that show how values aggregate up through different accounts, for example, from Salaries and Bonus Payments up to Employee Expenses. In this case, you’ll want to skip this setting for the default node configuration. Or you can show one measure in multiple nodes, each with different filters. Select Add Measure to choose which measure to display. You can also create a new calculated measure based on the account dimension. For details about creating calculations in stories, see Calculation Editor.
Cross Calculation	Each node can display values from one or more cross calculations. Each additional cross calculation will add a row of values to a node. For example, a node could show actual and forecast values, different currencies, or different scenarios, including the difference between versions (deltas). You might want to display the same cross calculations in all nodes, or change individual nodes. For example, your value driver tree might show measure values only, except the top level node which shows both measure values and delta values. Select Add Cross Calculation to add an existing cross calculation or create a new one. See Calculation Editor for details.
Filter	Here, you can filter the data by any dimension other than Account or Cross Calculation. For example, to help strategize a global sales plan, you might set up a value driver tree that shows Sales Revenue in each node, filter each node by Region, and then link them according to their aggregation. Range filters are available for date dimensions, and member filters are available for other dimensions. By default, new value driver trees filter the version dimension to Actuals and the presentation Date dimension to the current year. Version filters: Remove the version filter if you want to use restricted measures that show different versions, for example to show actual and forecast values. However, if you don’t either filter or restrict the version dimension, the different versions are aggregated together into a single value. Date filters: The value driver tree uses a presentation date dimension to set the periods that display in each node. By default, it's the planning date dimension. You can only change its filter for the entire value driver tree, not for individual nodes. The filter is optional, but you'll usually want to include it. It filters the values for each node, and it determines the time granularity and which periods are displayed for each node unless you specify a Presentation Date Range, too.

Setting

Description

Measure

Each node displays values from one account or measure. It’s common to create value driver trees that show how values aggregate up through different accounts, for example, from Salaries and Bonus Payments up to Employee Expenses. In this case, you’ll want to skip this setting for the default node configuration.

Or you can show one measure in multiple nodes, each with different filters.

Select Add Measure to choose which measure to display. You can also create a new calculated measure based on the account dimension. For details about creating calculations in stories, see Calculation Editor.

Cross Calculation

Each node can display values from one or more cross calculations. Each additional cross calculation will add a row of values to a node.

For example, a node could show actual and forecast values, different currencies, or different scenarios, including the difference between versions (deltas).

You might want to display the same cross calculations in all nodes, or change individual nodes. For example, your value driver tree might show measure values only, except the top level node which shows both measure values and delta values.

Select Add Cross Calculation to add an existing cross calculation or create a new one. See Calculation Editor for details.

Filter

Here, you can filter the data by any dimension other than Account or Cross Calculation.

For example, to help strategize a global sales plan, you might set up a value driver tree that shows Sales Revenue in each node, filter each node by Region, and then link them according to their aggregation.

Range filters are available for date dimensions, and member filters are available for other dimensions.

By default, new value driver trees filter the version dimension to Actuals and the presentation Date dimension to the current year.

Version filters: Remove the version filter if you want to use restricted measures that show different versions, for example to show actual and forecast values. However, if you don’t either filter or restrict the version dimension, the different versions are aggregated together into a single value.
Date filters: The value driver tree uses a presentation date dimension to set the periods that display in each node. By default, it's the planning date dimension. You can only change its filter for the entire value driver tree, not for individual nodes.

The filter is optional, but you'll usually want to include it. It filters the values for each node, and it determines the time granularity and which periods are displayed for each node unless you specify a Presentation Date Range, too.

Note

You can add calculations with input controls to let viewers customize the value driver tree. However, input controls that let viewers pick the measure or cross calculation aren't available.
Calculated dimensions and Difference From aren't available for calculations in a value driver tree.

You can also apply filters to the entire widget, story, or page. A couple of limitations exist:

Measure-based filters and filters on calculated dimensions won't affect the value driver tree.
Data entry isn't available when there's an advanced filter on the version dimension.

If necessary, set the Presentation Date Range for the value driver tree.

Value driver trees show different values for each time period that you include. It's easiest to set the time range by filtering the date dimension. In some cases, you'll also want to set a Presentation Date Range. For example, you might want to work with multiple date dimensions, or you might not want the date filter to match the time periods that the value driver tree displays.

This setting determines the periods that are displayed for each node. To add one, open the default node presentation and expand Presentation Date Range. If you're using multiple date dimensions, pick the dimension that will set the displayed periods from the Date Dimension list. Then, select Add Presentation Date Range Filter and choose the range and granularity.

You can also use no date filter to see the aggregated data for all time periods.
After you’ve added and configured the value driver tree nodes, you can start creating links between them.

The value driver tree flows from right to left. Hover over a node and drag and drop the left link icon () to link to a parent, or the right icon to link to a child. You can also add and remove parent and child links from the Relationships section for each node.

Each node can link to multiple parents and children. However, you can’t set up cycles where a node is both an ancestor and a descendant of another node.

Note
Links are for visualizing data only, and don’t impact the calculation of node values.
If you have a large value driver tree, you can condense the information by collapsing some of the nodes. Right-click a node and select Collapse Node to hide its descendants. You can expand the node again while viewing or editing the story.
Open the Styling panel to set up colors, borders, and other styling options. If your value driver tree has longer node titles, you can specify a Minimum Node Width on this panel to make sure that the entire title is visible.

Results

When you’re finished building your value driver tree, you can save your story and view it, share it with other users, or add it to a Digital Boardroom presentation.