Seasonality Inputs
This article explains Seasonality inputs in the Timing modal.
You will learn:
What seasonality controls.
How to enter seasonal patterns.
How seasonality interacts with frequency and delays.
Seasonality lets you skew accruals towards some periods and away from others while keeping annual or total values anchored.
What seasonality does
Seasonality defines relative weights for periods within a cycle, for example:
Higher revenue in December and lower in January.
Higher volumes in summer months.
Lower demand in holiday weeks.
The timing engine uses these weights to reallocate accruals across periods without changing the total over the cycle.
Entering seasonality patterns
You can configure seasonality by:
Entering multipliers for each period of a cycle (for example 12 values for monthly seasonality across a year).
Using a preset pattern where available.
Importing a seasonal index series from external data.
Values are typically relative, such as 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, representing below average, average and above average periods.
How seasonality interacts with base frequency
The base frequency and schedule determine when accruals can happen. Seasonality then adjusts how much weight each eligible period receives, for example:
A yearly total is allocated more heavily to some months than others.
A weekly schedule has some weeks scaled up or down based on the seasonal pattern.
Seasonality does not change total volume over the defined seasonal cycle unless you explicitly scale it.
Seasonality and cash timing
Seasonality affects accrual timing. Cash timing is still governed by delays and payment terms:
Seasonal peaks in accrual will create corresponding peaks in receivables or payables when delays are present.
Cashflow peaks will lag accrual peaks by the specified delays.
Check both P&L and cash outputs when adjusting seasonality.
Validating seasonal settings
To validate seasonality inputs:
Use the Timing preview to see the shaped pattern over time.
Compare seasonal results to historical data where available.
Ensure the pattern makes sense for the business (for example matching known busy seasons).
Adjust carefully to avoid overfitting or unrealistic profiles.
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