---
title: Why a figure looks wrong
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/troubleshooting/figure-looks-wrong
description: Most surprising numbers are a date range, a scope note, or the difference between a blank and a zero.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# Why a figure looks wrong



Before assuming a number is wrong, check what it is actually measuring. Four things account for
nearly every surprise.

## Is it a blank, or is it a zero? [#is-it-a-blank-or-is-it-a-zero]

**A dash, a blank or "not recorded" means Tideswell could not read something and declined to
guess.** A zero means zero.

This rule runs right through the product, and it is deliberate:

* A blank **margin** means no cost was recorded in Shopify for that product.
* **"No completed orders yet"** on a supplier means nothing could be scored, rather than 0% on
  time.
* **"Not recorded"** on a delivery cost means nobody entered freight and duty.
* A **hit rate** showing a dash means no commitment could be measured.
* A **missing money figure** in an analyst answer means you lack the permission for it, and it
  was left out rather than shown as nothing.

If a figure is blank where you expected one, the fix is usually to record the missing data rather
than to distrust the screen.

## Is the date range what you think? [#is-the-date-range-what-you-think]

On **Store › Analytics**, one picker drives every card and its comparison. The comparison is
always the equal-length period immediately before.

Two things catch people:

* **The range resets to Last 30 days on reload**, since it is not held in the address. A figure
  that changed between two visits may just be a different window.
* **"Include today" shifts a rolling window rather than lengthening it.** Last 7 days is seven
  days either way, which is a deliberate difference from Shopify's behaviour.

See <Ref to="store/change-the-date-range" />.

## Is there a scope note on the card? [#is-there-a-scope-note-on-the-card]

On a busy store, a card may tell you it is based on the most recent orders and that older history
was not scanned.

That is a scope note on the number above it, not decoration. It matters most on long windows: a
Last 365 days figure carrying that note is not a year of data, and narrowing the range often
removes it.

The analyst does the same thing, flagging when a result reached its edge. See
<Ref to="analyst/where-figures-came-from" />.

## Is the page a few minutes stale? [#is-the-page-a-few-minutes-stale]

Analytics and Inventory are served from a snapshot rebuilt every few minutes, which is why they
open instantly.

The **Updated N minutes ago** stamp in the header tells you, and **Refresh** forces fresh
numbers. A page with no stamp was computed live.

That explains most "I just changed it in Shopify and it is not here" reports.

## Stock figures specifically [#stock-figures-specifically]

**Shippable available is not the same as on hand.** Shippable is on hand minus what is committed
to unfulfilled orders, and it is what the inventory screens rank by. On hand is what you can
count on a shelf.

**Days of cover depends on the ranking window.** Thirty days reacts to a promotion as though it
were the new normal; a year smooths seasonality away. Changing that window changes every
suggestion on the page, per <Ref to="inventory/choose-a-view-and-window" />.

**A suggested reorder subtracts incoming**, so it can look low when an order is already on the
way.

**A variant stocked in many locations can under-report** and appear falsely low. If a product you
know is well stocked shows in a low list, check it in Shopify before ordering.

**Oversold is read from Tideswell's own stored copy** of stock rather than a live lookup, because
"how long has this been negative" needs history. That is why it can differ slightly from the rest
of the page.

## Money figures across currencies [#money-figures-across-currencies]

The order book totals **per currency** and never adds them together, which is the only honest way
to total a multi-currency book.

An order takes its supplier's currency when it is created and never re-resolves it, so changing a
supplier's currency today does not re-price old orders. See
<Ref to="purchasing/write-a-purchase-order" />.

On purchase order lines, retail price and margin are shown in the **order's** currency, and
margin is calculated on unit cost rather than landed cost. On an order with significant freight,
the true margin is thinner than the column shows.