Create a dimension

Owned by Helen Gosper
Last updated: May 31, 2023 by Denise McGettigan
3 min read

A dimension is a level in your statement and an entity is a value within a dimension. For example, a dimension is Country and the entities are Australia, the UK and the USA.

In addition to customizing the top levels of your financial statements, you can add sub-levels to the statements. To achieve this, you firstly create a new dimension, then within that dimension you create entities that you apply to selected General Ledger accounts. Back in the statement grid, when you add the new dimension as a level, you will see the entities display as sub-levels underneath the applicable category row. This new dimension gives you a level of detail that you didn't have in your original dataset. For example, you might want to categorize costs under the Operating Expenses group, so you can drill down and see these details at a glance on the grid.

When using this method to create a dimension, you cannot differentiate at a level lower than a General Ledger account, such as cost center. However, this can be done via the Designer module.

  1. In the statement setup window, click the Accounts tab.

  2. Create the dimension: Click the green plus button , then enter a name for the new dimension, for example Cost Type, and click OK.

    The dimension displays as a new column in the account grid.

  3. Create the entities (sub-levels):

    1. Select an account by clicking the number to the left of its name, then in the new dimension column header, enter the name of the entity that you want to apply to the account, for example, Client Driven, and press Enter.

    2. Repeat the above step to add other entities to the dimension or select an entity from the list to apply to other accounts.

  4. Set the order in which the entities display under the dimension:

    1. Click the AZ button next to the dimension column name.

    2. Expand the applicable category, for example, Operating Expenses.

    3. Click and hold the entity's move button (a blue box displays around the row), then drag the entity up or down to its new position.

    4. Repeat the above step to reorder the other entities as required, then click Apply.

  5. Click Save.

  6. If you are finished customizing the financial statement, click Close > Yes to rebuild the database and view your new dimension.