Comparison periods
SadAnalytics has two separate compare-to controls: the Dashboard hero's own picker, and a second shared Period and Compare control that drives the "What changed" and "Churn & retention" bands.
The hero's "Compare to" picker
The hero comparison is always month by month: the current calendar month against an earlier month. It changes only the change figure and sparkline under each hero card (MRR, Subscriptions, Avg lifetime value, Customers, At-risk MRR and the per-provider retention rows), and the month shown beside the picker; the headline figures themselves stay the same.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Last month | The default. Compares the current calendar month to the immediately preceding one. On screen: "Last month" |
| Same month last year | Compares the current calendar month to the same month one year earlier. On screen: "Same month last year" |
| Pick a month | Opens a month input labeled "Compare to month"; choosing a month commits immediately (no Apply button) and relabels the picker button to that month. On screen: "Pick a month / Compare to month" |
The changes under the cards have no caption of their own. The month you are comparing with (for example "Sep 2026") shows once, beside Compare to. If the choice is not recognized, SadAnalytics uses last month. This choice is never saved as a preference.
The shared Period and Compare control
Above the "What changed" and "Churn & retention" bands sits a second control row: Period (a normal backward date-range picker), with the dates it covers beside it, then Compare to, with the comparison window's dates beside it. Changing either reloads both bands and both date labels.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Previous period | The equal-length window immediately before the current one. On screen: "Previous period" |
| Same period last year | The current window shifted back exactly 12 months. On screen: "Same period last year" |
| Custom dates | Opens a "Compare to dates" month input. Despite the "dates" wording it is a single month input; SadAnalytics expands the chosen month to its full calendar month as the comparison window. On screen: "Custom dates / Compare to dates" |
How each comparison window is resolved
"Previous period" shifts both bounds back one calendar month (day clamped) for the This month and All time presets specifically; for every other preset it is the equal-length window immediately before the current one. "Same period last year" always shifts both bounds back exactly 12 months. If the current range ends in the future, it is truncated to today first, so a part-finished period is compared with an equally partial one rather than a longer one.
When the baseline period has no data
When there is no value for the baseline month or period, for example a "Same month last year" comparison reaching back before the site had any data, SadAnalytics shows nothing under the card rather than a fake 0% or an error. Nothing false is shown; a later change to the Compare to control can still fill it in once a baseline exists.
When a baseline value does exist, the change shows an up or down arrow, a sign, the absolute change (currency-formatted for money figures), and the relative change in parentheses to one decimal (left out when the baseline is zero). No change still shows, as "ยท $0.00 (0.0%)" in gray. Color follows the metric's favorable direction: for example, an increase is favorable for MRR, but a decrease is favorable for At-risk MRR and Cancellations.