Hi,
IDEA can be applied to prepare a chart depicting trend of expenses across chosen time periods.
Lets say we obtain a data file containing all entity expenses.
The steps in IDEA to prepare the trend chart would be -
a. Import the expense ledger to IDEA
b. Append a virtual numeric field titled 'Month' to arrive at the month of expenditure.
c. Summarize the ledger to get the total amount - expense head and month wise.
d. Apply a Key Value Extraction on the summarization database to split the file month wise.
e. Visual Connect the individual monthly expenditure summary files to get the expenditure head with the monthly amount side by side.
f. Convert the visual connect database into a Chart depicting the monthly amount for each expenditure head.
Based on a pictorial review of the Chart any user can identify upward sloping trend lines indicating rising expenses.
Kind Regards
Jairam