--- title: "Placeholder" description: "In tilde formulas, placeholders can be used as substitutes for data levels, adjustment levels, organization elements, periods, time intervals, or as parameters of functions or statements." source_url: https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/work-with-tilde-formulas/placeholders language: en last_updated: 2023-08-16 --- # Placeholder ## Overview A placeholder is a variable that is replaced by actual values. In tilde formulas, placeholders can be used as substitutes for **data levels, adjustment levels, organization elements, partners, transaction currency, display currency, periods**, and **time intervals**, or as parameters of [functions](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/work-with-tilde-formulas/functions.md) or [statements](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/work-with-tilde-formulas/statements.md). When creating a report, the placeholders can be configured individually, i.e., you can configure whether a value for this placeholder is fixed or can be selected as required. For additional information, see [Generating Excel Reports](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/generate-excel-report.md). ## Structure of the Tilde Formula for Placeholders The tilde formula must be structured as follows: **~Placeholder** ## Example In the Excel worksheet, a tilde formula with placeholders is defined for retrieving the **organization element** and **adjustment level** respectively: Example of placeholders ## Available Placeholders The following placeholders can be used in a Tilde formula: #### Data level Data level #### Adjustment level Adjustment level or Adjustment level group #### Organization element/OE - Organization group - Reference to reporting entity - Reference to cost center - Reference to cost center group - Reference to consolidation area - Reference to consolidation unit - Reference to consolidation unit group #### Month/M First month of the selected period #### Quarter/Q Quarter of the first month of the selected period #### Year/J Calendar year of the first month of the selected period #### Display currency/ Currency/ DC Display currency #### Transaction currency/ TC Transaction currency #### Partner/P Partner #### Period Period ## Types of Placeholders The following types of placeholders can be used in a tilde formula: ### Placeholders for Parameters If a parameter in a tilde formula refers to one of the following dimensions, the keyword can be omitted and replaced by the corresponding placeholder: - Period (can e.g. be replaced by the placeholder ~month) - Organization element - Data level - Adjustment level - Transaction currency - Display currency **Tilde Formula Structure** The tilde formula must be structured as follows: **~Function/Statement(Parameter_1="Value";Placeholder_1;...;Placeholder_n)** **Example** In the Excel worksheet, **Year** is used as the placeholder for each **period**: Example for placeholder 'Year' When [the report is generated](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/generate-excel-report.md), the placeholder in the tilde formula is replaced with the period configured in the detail view: ### Placeholders for Several Elements of the Same Dimension When you want to choose several elements of the same dimension in an Excel report (e.g. the data levels **Plan** and **Forecast**), you can expand the corresponding placeholder. Add a full stop to the dimension followed by a description, e.g.: - **Data level.Plan** - **Data level.Forecast** - **Period.Comparison** **Example** In the Excel worksheet, two different placeholders ( **data level.plan** and **data level.forecast**) are used for the **Data level** dimension in the tilde formula: Placeholder for multiple elements ### Placeholders for Periods In a tilde formula you can use the placeholders **Month, Quarter** and **Year** for the **Period** parameter. All three placeholders can be defined so that further periods are calculated automatically. This makes it easy to represent time series in an Excel worksheet. **Example 1: Placeholders and additions** If the period Aug 2017 is selected before the report is generated, the following values are returned depending on the placeholder used: - ~Month: Aug 2017 - ~Quarter: Q3.2017 - ~Year: 2017 - ~Month+1: Sep 2017 - ~Year+1..year +2: 2018-2019 **Example 2: Forming a time series** In the tilde formula, the **Month** placeholder is added from column C: Placeholder for a time series The following months are calculated based on the month selected during the [creation of the report](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/generate-excel-report.md): Result of placeholders for time series in Excel ### Placeholders for a Time Interval You can use the **Time interval** placeholder to generate reports that display **comparisons** rather than time series. The user can choose a time interval over a defined periodicity ( **year**, **quarter** or **month**) covering any number of periods. **Example** The Excel worksheet contains two tilde formulas for entering **revenue** in two time intervals. **Column D** calculates the difference between the different revenue entries: Placeholder for time intervals When [generating the report](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/consolidation-financial-planning/excel-integration/lucanet-excel-reporting/generate-excel-report.md), the time periods to be compared can be selected in the detail view.