Overview of dimensions
Learn how dimensions work in Financial Statements and how they affect statement structure and account mapping.
Before you start using Financial Statements, it helps to understand how dimensions work.
Dimensions in the underlying financial database control how accounts are grouped, mapped, and displayed in your statements.
Basic concepts
Read the Dimensions page for general information about dimensions, a core concept in Phocas. The following information builds on that foundation, applying it to the Financial Statements module.
Quick definitions
Dimension: A field you can use to group and filter financial data (for example, Account, Branch, Category).
Dimension entity: An item within a dimension (for example, an account code or a category name).
Dimension group: A set of related dimensions. Each group contains a primary dimension and one or more sub-dimensions.
Top level (statement) dimension: The dimension under Account that defines the statement structure.
Custom dimension: A new dimension created by Financial Statements for a specific statement.
Dimensions
In Financial Statements, dimensions still act as categories you use to group and analyze data. Here, they also link directly to how accounts are grouped in the statement.
The dimensions panel on the left of the statement grid shows the dimensions available from the underlying financial database. Some statements have additional dimensions that are not directly relevant to the current view. These are hidden by default to reduce clutter but remain available for analysis.
Click Show more to see all dimensions, and click Show less to hide them again. You can also click Hide dimensions at the bottom of the panel to see more of the statement grid.
See the Take a tour of Financial Statements > Financial Statements module page for an overview of the actions you can take with dimensions.
Dimension entities
In Financial Statements, the dimension entities include accounts in the Account dimension and categories or classifications in the top level dimension.
When you click a dimension, you move into the Analytics module to view its entities in the grid.
Clicking a dimension switches you from the statement to an Analytics grid view.
To return to the statement, click the Financial Statements Summary button above the dimension list.
Dimension groups
In Financial Statements:
You always have an account dimension group, in which Account is the primary dimension. This is the dimension to which the transactions are mapped.
The first sub-dimension in the account dimension group is the top level dimension that defines the structure of the statement. This is usually Category or Classification, or it can be a custom dimension, depending on the statement setup.
Depending on your database setup, you might have other dimension groups. For example, if Branch is a primary dimension, its sub-dimensions might include Region, Country, Company, and Branch Manager. These are usually managed by your Phocas administrator in the underlying database in Designer.
Users with permission to manage custom statements can also manage the dimension groups for use in Financial Statements. This includes adding new groups to create more ways to analyze your financial data.
The following image shows some examples of dimension groups in the dimension panel.
Top level (statement) dimension
The top level dimension is a term unique to Financial Statements. This is the first sub-dimension that sits in the Account dimension group. The statement's accounts are mapped to this dimension.
It is sometimes called the statement dimension because it defines the structure of the statement. It tells you how the accounts in the statement are grouped (categorized).
When a financial statement is created, the statement's accounts are mapped to a dimension using the Top Level Dimension setting. This can be either an existing dimension (recommended), such as Category or Classification, or a new custom dimension.
Custom dimension
Unlike in other modules, you can create new dimensions directly in Financial Statements.
If a custom dimension is created during statement setup:
It automatically takes the same name as the statement.
You cannot rename it, as this would break references in Phocas, such as a budget workbook.
It is hidden in Designer, even though it exists in the database.
Mapping accounts to a dimension
The mapping of accounts links each account in the statement to a group in the selected top level dimension.
You are mapping an account to an entity in your selected dimension. That mapping drives where the account appears in the statement.
During statement setup, the top level dimension you select on the first screen is carried through to the next screen.
When you click the Accounts tab, you get a grid with the account code and name, plus these two columns:
Category column
The Category column relates to the Profit and Loss statement and the items in this column won't change.
This is for information purposes to help you map accounts to your selected dimension. You aren't mapping to this column unless it's the default Profit and Loss statement that you are mapping at the time.
Mapping column
The Mapping column represents the selected dimension and this is where you map the accounts in the statement to the corresponding groups in the dimension. We recommend you customize these mappings to meet your needs rather than leaving them as they were created during the Phocas implementation process.
The Mapping column doesn't give the dimension name, so you should keep note of the dimension you are using.
If you use an existing dimension (recommended)
If you selected Category or another existing dimension as your top level dimension, you map into that dimension.
Later, when you reopen statement setup, you see two columns next to the account name: Category and Mapping.
If you use Category as the top level dimension for more than one statement, you can only change the mapping in the primary statement.
If you use a custom dimension
If you use a custom dimension, you map into that custom dimension. You still see the Category column in the grid, but it is reference-only.
After you complete statement setup and rebuild the database, reopen setup. You will see an additional column for the custom dimension next to Category.
Statement details and mapping post-build
After you rebuild the database:
The statement appears in the Statements list with its selected dimension.
In the account mapping screen, a new column appears for the selected dimension, unless you used Category.
Next steps
Troubleshooting missing items often comes down to access. Check Overview of access to financial statements.
For analysis workflows, see Filter data.
For setup, see Manage dimension groups and Customize account groups.
Last updated