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Last actual date
Last actual date is a model-level setting in Causal that represents your latest month (or week if in a weekly model) of "actual" historic data.
- The Last actual date determines when data is pulled in up until in your model/s. Whenever there is not data present (usually only beyond the Last actual date), Causal will fall back to the formula to determine the value you see in each month.
- Charts, trend lines, and time step column headers show forecast periods (beyond the Last actual date) as dashed. The Actuals version includes only months up to (including) the Last actual date.
- The Last actual date also has an associated helper variable, which you can use in formulas.
How do I update the Last actual date? (i.e. roll forward)
Click the Last actual date in the header, select the new month, and then choose which data sources to refresh (across current and linked models), and which linked models you want to roll the Last actual date forwards for.
- By default all data sources and all models are selected (so everything moves in tandem), but in case you have a more complex situation, you have the flexibility to pick & choose here.
- You also have the option to save a version before you roll forward. This will be saved as (for example) “Latest Oct ‘23 forecast” (depending on which month you save it).
If you roll the Last actual date back in time, Causal will cut off any months of data after the Last actual. This is useful for instance if you rolled forward but then realised your books weren’t closed, or the data wasn’t ready yet.