Work with Dimensions - Business Central - Microsoft Docs

Dimensions are values that categorize entries so you can track and analyze them on documents, such as sales orders. Dimensions can ... Skiptomaincontent Thisbrowserisnolongersupported. UpgradetoMicrosoftEdgetotakeadvantageofthelatestfeatures,securityupdates,andtechnicalsupport. DownloadMicrosoftEdge Moreinfo Tableofcontents Exitfocusmode ReadinEnglish Save Tableofcontents ReadinEnglish Save Feedback Edit Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Tableofcontents WorkwithDimensions Article 03/31/2022 14minutestoread 4contributors Isthispagehelpful? Yes No Anyadditionalfeedback? FeedbackwillbesenttoMicrosoft:Bypressingthesubmitbutton,yourfeedbackwillbeusedtoimproveMicrosoftproductsandservices.Privacypolicy. Submit Thankyou. Inthisarticle Dimensionsarevaluesthatcategorizeentriessoyoucantrackandanalyzethemondocuments,suchassalesorders.Dimensionscan,forexample,indicatetheprojectordepartmentanentrycamefrom. Forexample,insteadofsettingupseparategeneralledgeraccountsforeachdepartmentandproject,youcanusedimensionsasabasisforanalysisandavoidhavingtocreateacomplicatedchartofaccounts.Formoreinformation,seeBusinessIntelligence. AnotherexampleistosetupadimensioncalledDepartment,andusethisdimensionwhenyoupostsalesdocuments.Thiswillletyouusebusinessintelligencetoolstoseewhichdepartmentsoldwhichitems.Themoredimensionsyouuse,themoredetailedreportsyoucanbaseyourbusinessdecisionson.Forexample,asinglesalesentrycanincludeinformationfrommultipledimensions,suchas: Theaccounttheitemsalewaspostedto Wheretheitemwassold Whosoldit Thekindofcustomerwhoboughtit AnalyzingbyDimensions Dimensionsplayanimportantroleinbusinessintelligence,suchaswhendefininganalysisviews.Formoreinformation,seeAnalyzeDatabyDimensions. Tip AquickwaytoanalyzetransactionaldatabydimensionsistousetheSetDimensionFilteractionfiltertotalsbydimensionsinthechartofaccountsandonpagesforentries. Note Analysisviewsoftenusedatafromdimensions.Ifyoudiscoverthatanincorrectdimensionhasbeenusedonpostedgeneralledgerentries,youcancorrectthedimensionvaluesandupdateyouranalysisviews.Thatwillhelpkeepyourfinancialreportsandanalysesaccurate.Formoreinformation,seeTroubleshootingandCorrectingDimensions DimensionSets Adimensionsetisauniquecombinationofdimensionvalues.Itisstoredasdimensionsetentriesinthedatabase.Eachdimensionsetentryrepresentsasingledimensionvalue.ThedimensionsetisidentifiedbyacommondimensionsetIDthatisassignedtoeachdimensionsetentrythatbelongstothedimensionset. Whenyoucreateajournalline,documentheader,ordocumentline,youcanspecifyacombinationofdimensionvalues.Insteadofexplicitlystoringeachdimensionvalueinthedatabase,adimensionsetIDisassignedtothejournalline,documentheader,ordocumentlinetospecifythedimensionset. SettingUpDimensions Youcandefinethedimensionsanddimensionvaluestocategorizejournalsanddocuments,suchassalesordersandpurchaseorders.YousetupdimensionsontheDimensionspage,whereyoucreateonelineforeachdimension,suchasProject,Department,Area,andSalesperson. Youalsosetupvaluesfordimensions.Forexample,valuesmightbedepartmentsinyourcompany.Dimensionvaluescanbesetupinahierarchicalstructuresimilartothechartofaccounts,sothatdatacanbebrokendownintovariouslevelsofgranularity,andsubsetsofdimensionvaluescanbetotaled.Youcandefineasmanydimensionsanddimensionvaluesasyouneed,andeveryoneinyourcompanycanusethem. Whendimensionsandvaluesaresetup,youcandefineglobalandshortcutdimensionsontheGeneralLedgerSetuppagethatwillalwaysbeavailabletoselectasfieldsonjournalanddocumentlines,andledgerentries,withouthavingtoopentheDimensionspagefirst.Formoreinformation,seeTosetupglobalandshortcutdimensions. GlobalDimensionsareusedasfilters,forexample,onreports,batchjobs,andXMLports.Youcanuseonlytwoglobaldimensions,sochoosedimensionsyouwilluseoften. ShortcutDimensionsareavailableasfieldsonjournals,documentlines,andledgerentries.Youcancreateuptoeightofthese. Note Afteryouuseanewdimensioninanyentry,suchasalineornewrecord,youcannotdeletethedimension,evenifyoudonotposttheentry.ThisisbecauseBusinessCentralimmediatelycreatesadimensionsetforthelineorrecord.Formoreinformation,seeDimensionSets. Tosetupdefaultdimensionsforcustomers,vendors,andotheraccounts Youcanassignadefaultdimensionforaspecificaccount.Thedimensionwillbecopiedtothejournalordocumentwhenyouentertheaccountnumberonaline,butyoucandeleteorchangethecodeonthelineifappropriate.Youcanalsomakeadimensionrequiredforpostinganentrywithaspecifictypeofaccount. Choosetheicon,enterDimensions,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. OntheDimensionspage,selecttherelevantdimension,andthenchoosetheAccountTypeDefaultDimaction. Fillinalineforeachnewdefaultdimensionthatyouwanttosetup.Hoveroverafieldtoreadashortdescription. Tip Ifyouwanttomakeadimensionrequiredbutyoudonotwanttoassignadefaultvaluetothedimension,leavetheDimensionValueCodefieldblankandthenselectCodeMandatoryintheValuePostingfield. Warning IfanaccountisusedintheAdjustExchangeRatesbatchjoborthePostInventoryCosttoG/Lbatchjob,donotselectCodeMandatoryorSameCode.Thesebatchjobscannotusedimensioncodes. Note Ifanaccountmusthaveadifferentdimensionthanthedefaultdimensionfortheaccounttype,youmustsetupadefaultdimensionforthisaccount.Thedefaultdimensionfortheaccountthenreplacesthedefaultdimensionfortheaccounttype. Tosetupdefaultdimensionpriorities Differentaccounttypes,suchasacustomeraccountandanitemaccount,canhavedifferentdefaultdimensionssetup.Asaresult,anentrycanhavemorethanonedefaultdimensionproposedforadimension.Toavoidsuchconflicts,youcanapplypriorityrulestothedifferentsources. Choosetheicon,enterDefaultDimensionPriorities,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. OntheDefaultDimensionPrioritiespage,intheSourceCodefield,enterthesourcecodefortheentrytabletowhichdefaultdimensionprioritieswillapply. Fillinalineforeachdefaultdimensionprioritythatyouwantfortheselectedsourcecode. Repeattheprocedureforeachsourcecodeforwhichyouwanttosetupdefaultdimensionpriorities. Important Ifyousetuptwotableswiththesamepriorityforthesamesourcecode,BusinessCentralwillalwaysselectthetablewiththelowesttableID. Tosetupdimensioncombinations Toavoidpostingentrieswithcontradictoryorirrelevantdimensions,youcanblockorlimitspecificcombinationsoftwodimensions.Ablockeddimensioncombinationmeansthatyoucannotpostbothdimensionsonthesameentryregardlessofwhatthedimensionvaluesare.Alimiteddimensioncombinationletsyoupostbothdimensionstothesameentry,butonlyforcertaincombinationsofdimensionvalues. Choosetheicon,enterDimensionCombinations,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. OntheDimensionCombinationspage,choosethefieldofthedimensioncombinationandselectoneofthefollowingoptions. Field Description Nolimitation Thisdimensioncombinationhasnorestrictions.Alldimensionsvaluesareallowed. Limited Thisdimensioncombinationhasrestrictionsdependingonwhichdimensionvaluesthatyouenter.YoumustdefinethelimitationsontheDimensionValueCombinationpage. Blocked Thisdimensioncombinationisnotallowed. IfyouselectedtheLimitedoption,youmustdefinewhichcombinationsofdimensionvaluesareblocked.Todothis,choosethefieldtodefinethedimensioncombination. NowselectadimensionvaluecombinationthatisblockedandenterBlockedinthefield.Ablankfieldmeansthatthedimensionvaluecombinationisallowed.Repeatifmultiplecombinationsareblocked. Note Thesamedimensionsaredisplayedinbothrowsandcolumnsand,therefore,alldimensioncombinationsappeartwotimes.BusinessCentralautomaticallydisplaysthesettinginbothfields.Youcannotselectanythinginthefieldsfromtheupper-leftcorneranddown,becausethesefieldshavethesamedimensioninbothrowsandcolumns. Theselectedoptionisnotvisiblebeforeyouexitthefield. Toshowthenameofthedimensionsinsteadofthecode,selecttheShowColumnNamefield. Tosetupglobalandshortcutdimensions GlobalandshortcutdimensionscanbeusedasfiltersinBusinessCentral,includingonreports,batchjobs,ledgerentrypages,andanalysisviews.GlobalandshortcutdimensionsarealwaysavailabletobeinserteddirectlywithoutfirstopeningtheDimensionspage.Onjournalanddocumentlines,youcanselectglobalandshortcutdimensionsinafieldontheline.Youcansetuptwoglobaldimensionsandeightshortcutdimensions.Choosethedimensionsthatyouusemostfrequently. Important Changingaglobalorshortcutdimensionrequiresthatallentriespostedwiththedimensionareupdated.Tochangeaglobaldimension,usetheChangeGlobalDimensionsfunction,butitcanbetime-consumingandmayaffectperformanceandtablesmaybelockedduringtheupdate.Therefore,chooseyourglobalandshortcutdimensionscarefullysothatyoudonothavetochangethemlater.Tochangeashortcutdimension,usetheChangeDimensionsaction. Formoreinformation,seeTochangeglobaldimensions. Note Whenyouaddorchangeaglobalorshortcutdimension,youareautomaticallysignedoutandbackinsothatthenewvalueispreparedforuse. Choosetheicon,enterGeneralLedgerSetup,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. OntheDimensionsFastTab,fillinthefields.Hoveroverafieldtoreadashortdescription. Tochangeglobaldimensions Whenyouchangeaglobalorshortcutdimension,allentriespostedwiththedimensioninquestionareupdated.Becausethisprocessmaybetime-consumingandcanaffectperformance,twodifferentmodesareprovidedtoadapttheprocesstothesizeofthedatabase. Choosetheicon,enterGeneralLedgerSetup,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. ChoosetheChangeGlobalDimensionsaction. Atthetopofthepage,selectoneofthefollowingoptionstodefineinwhichmodethebatchjobisrun. Option Description Sequential (Default)Thechangeisdoneinonetransactionthatrevertsallentriestothedimensionstheyhadbeforethechange.Thisoptionisrecommendedifthecompanycontainsrelativelyfewpostedentrieswhereitwilltaketheshortesttimetocomplete.Theprocesslocksmultipletablesandblocksotherusersuntilitisdone.Notethatonlargedatabases,theprocessmaynotbeabletocompleteinthismode.Inthatcase,usetheParalleloption. Parallel Thedimensionchangehappensinmultiplebackgroundsessionsandtheoperationissplitintomultipletransactions.Tousethisoption,turnontheParallelProcessingtoggle.Werecommendedthisoptionforlargedatabasesorcompanieswithmanypostedentriesbecauseitwilltaketheshortesttimetocomplete.Notethatwiththismode,theupdateprocesswillnotstartiftherearemorethanoneactivedatabasesessions. IntheGlobalDimension1Codeand/orGlobalDimension2Codefields,enterthenewdimension(s).Thecurrentdimensionsaredisplayedingraybehindthefields. Dependingonthemode,dooneofthefollowing: InSequentialmode,choosetheStartaction. InParallelmode,choosethePrepareaction. TheLogEntriestabisfilledwithinformationaboutthedimensionsthatwillbechanged. SignoutofBusinessCentral,andthensigninagain. ChoosetheStartactiontostarttheparallelprocessingofthedimensionchanges. ExampleofDimensionSetup Let'ssaythatyourcompanywantstotracktransactionsbasedonorganizationalstructureandgeographiclocations.Todothat,youcansetuptwodimensionsontheDimensionspage: AREA DEPARTMENT Code Name CodeCaption FilterCaption AREA Area AreaCode AreaFilter DEPARTMENT Department DepartmentCode DepartmentFilter ForAREA,youaddthefollowingdimensionvalues: Code Name DimensionValueType 10 Americas Begin-Total 20 NorthAmerica Standard 30 Pacific Standard 40 SouthAmerica Standard 50 Americas,Total End-Total 60 Europe Begin-Total 70 EU Standard 80 Non-EU Standard 90 Europe,Total End-Total Forthetwomaingeographicareas,AmericasandEurope,youaddsubcategoriesforregionsbyindentingthedimensionvalues.Thiswillletyoureportonsalesorexpensesinregions,andgettotalsforthelargergeographicareas.Youcouldalsochoosetousecountriesorregionsasyourdimensionvalues,orcountiesorcities,dependingonyourbusiness. Note Tosetupahierarchy,thecodesmustbeinalphabeticalorder.ThisincludesthecodesofthedimensionvaluesthatareprovidedinBusinessCentral. ForDEPARTMENT,youaddthefollowingdimensionvalues: Code Name DimensionValueType ADMIN Administration Standard PROD Production Standard SALES Sales Standard Withthissetup,youcanaddyourtwodimensionsasthetwoglobaldimensionsontheGeneralLedgerSetuppage.ThismeansthatyoucanuseAREAandDEPARTMENTasfiltersforgeneralledgerentries,aswellasonallreportsandaccountschedules.Bothglobaldimensionsarealsoautomaticallyavailableforuseonentrylinesanddocumentheadersasshortcutdimensions. GettinganOverviewofDimensionsusedMultipleTimes TheDefaultDimensions-Multiplepagespecifieshowagroupofaccountsusedimensionsanddimensionvalues.Youcandothisbyhighlightingmultipleaccountsandthenspecifyingdefaultdimensionsanddimensionvaluesforalltheaccountsyouhavehighlightedintheaccountlist.Whenyouspecifydefaultdimensionsforthehighlightedaccounts,applicationwillsuggestthesedimensionsanddimensionvalueswheneveroneoftheseaccountsisused,forexampleonajournalline.Thismakesentrypostingeasierfortheuser,asthedimensionfieldsarefilledinautomatically.However,thedimensionvaluesthataresuggestedcanbechangedon,forexample,ajournalline. TheDefaultDimensions-Multiplepagecontainsthefollowingfields: Field Description DimensionCode Showsalldimensionsthathavebeendefinedasdefaultdimensionsononeormoreofthehighlightedaccounts.Bychoosingthefield,youcanseealistofallavailabledimensions.Ifyouselectadimension,theselecteddimensionwillbedefinedasadefaultdimensionforallhighlightedaccounts. DimensionValueCode Showseitherasingledimensionvalueortheterm(Conflict).Ifadimensionvalueisshowninthefield,thenallhighlightedaccountshavethesamedefaultdimensionvalueforadimension.Iftheterm(Conflict)isshowninthefield,thennotallofthehighlightedaccountshavethesamedefaultdimensionvalueforadimension.Bychoosingthefield,youcanseealistofallavailabledimensionvaluesforadimension.Ifyouselectadimensionvalue,theselecteddimensionvaluewillbedefinedasadefaultdimensionvalueforallhighlightedaccounts. ValuePosting Showseitherasinglevaluepostingruleortheterm(Conflict).Ifavaluepostingruleisshowninthefield,thenallhighlightedaccountshavethesamevaluepostingruleforadimensionvalue.Iftheterm(Conflict)isshowninthefield,thennotallofthehighlightedaccountshavethesamevaluepostingruleforadimensionvalue.BychoosingtheValuePostingfield,youcanseealistofvaluepostingrules.Ifyouselectavaluepostingrule,itwillbeappliedforallhighlightedaccounts. UseDimensions Inadocumentsuchasasalesorder,youcanadddimensioninformationforbothanindividualdocumentlineandthedocumentitself.Forexample,ontheSalesOrderpage,youcanenterdimensionvaluesforthefirsttwoshortcutdimensionsontheindividualsaleslines,andyoucanaddmoredimensioninformationifyouchoosetheDimensionsbutton. Ifyouworkinajournalinstead,youcanadddimensioninformationtoanentryinthesameway,ifyouhavesetupshortcutdimensionsasfieldsdirectlyonjournallines. Youcansetupdefaultdimensionsforaccountsoraccounttypes,sothatdimensionsanddimensionvaluesarefilledinautomatically. Toviewglobaldimensionsinledgerentrypages Globaldimensionsarealwayscompany-definedandcompany-named.Toseetheglobaldimensionsforyourcompany,opentheGeneralLedgerSetuppage. Inaledgerentrypage,youcanseewhetherthereareglobaldimensionsfortheentries.ThetwoglobaldimensionsdifferfromtherestofyourdimensionsbecauseyoucanusethemasfiltersanywhereinBusinessCentral. Choosetheicon,enterChartofAccounts,andthenchoosetherelatedlink. OntheChartofAccountspage,choosetheLedgerEntriesaction. Toseeonlytheentriesthatarerelevant,setoneormorefiltersonthepage. Toseeallthedimensionsforanentry,selecttheentry,andthenchoosetheDimensionsaction. Note TheLedgerEntryDimensionspagedisplaysthedimensionsforoneledgerentryatatime.Asyouscrollthroughtheledgerentries,thecontentontheLedgerEntryDimensionspagechangesaccordingly. SeeRelatedTrainingatMicrosoftLearn SeeAlso BusinessIntelligence Finance AnalyzeDatabyDimensions WorkwithBusinessCentral BusinessCentralonMicrosoftLearn Feedback Submitandviewfeedbackfor Thisproduct Thispage Viewallpagefeedback Inthisarticle