Background:
Drupal 7 using views PHP and Global: PHP fields.

Problem:
For some reason, and I don’t know why, the available variables, shown in the field below value code and output code, in global php field return the NID, and not the actual value. I also do not understand the difference between the value code and the output code. They interpret the exact same code differently and I find it extremely annoying. So I default to using the output code only. This will be a headache if you have to reuse the value you output.

Why am I doing this? I need to run queries on the tables in the drupal database for financial analysis.

Solution:
So if the available variables are not what you need then how do you find what you need? Its simple, add this code to the output code field:

<?php
print_r($data);
?>