Use this glossary to learn more about Cube’s data structure, key concepts, and terminology.
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
A
Account
Account is one of the default dimensions that organizes data from your source systems. The Account dimension typically includes your General Ledger transactions, formulas, and operational information.
Actuals
Cube stores data from your source system as actuals under the Scenario dimension, along with budget and forecasting scenarios. This data from your source system is automatically write-protected with the actuals setting to keep your Cube data accurate.
Analyze
Learn more about your data using the analyze section of the Spreadsheet App to drill into a value or validate your range.
API
An API is a set of protocols that allow software systems to integrate and communicate with one another. Cube uses a secure API that connects to your source systems and mirrors your source data within Cube so you can use data from multiple sources in your financial planning.
Learn about Cube's compliance and security policies or about using our API.
Atom
Boomi Atom (sometimes called an Agent or Data Agent) is an integration process manager that supports source data connections that use Boomi to import your data. Your Atom is likely managed and developed in conjunction with your IT team. Learn more about managing a Boomi connection.
Attributes
Attributes are additional metadata associated with each transaction or row in your spreadsheet. Set attributes automatically using a detailed source system integration or on demand when publishing data to Cube using the Spreadsheet App. View attributes by drilling into a value to see detailed transactions or rows.
Audit trail
See a summary of changes with the mini audit trail in the Spreadsheet App. Use the audit trail in the Workspace to view all changes to your data, including the event type, when it occurred, who made the change, and additional in-depth details.
B
Block
Block is a write protection setting available to Scenarios dimensions. When a scenario is blocked, team members can't publish changes to your Cube data.
Board
An interactive workspace in Cube where you can explore, analyze, and share detailed insights. Boards bring together charts, tables, and commentary to help teams visualize data, track performance, and collaborate in real time.
Budget
Plan for expected expenses and use those in your financial planning by organizing your budgets under the Scenario dimension.
Build
The Spreadsheet App pulls data from Cube into your spreadsheet using the dimensions in a range's rows and columns. Choose a pre-built range, create one from scratch, or open a template in the Spreadsheet App’s build section.
C
Chart of Accounts (COA)
Define your Chart of Accounts structure under the Account, Department, and other dimensions in the Workspace. Organize and map the hierarchy so child accounts roll up to the appropriate parent account and appear in the correct order.
Cube Value
A Cube Value refers to the data stored in your Cube after all mappings, translations, and calculations occur. This value is what you fetch or publish when using the Spreadsheet App. A Cube Value can be a single value or a rollup of multiple values.
Cubify
You likely already have a package or a template you use for financial reporting. You can Cubify or update this package or template to match Cube dimension names for easy fetching and publishing with the Spreadsheet App.
Custom connectors or integrations
Cube has developed tailored solutions to accommodate source systems without out-of-the-box integrations. Cube uses a third-party integration platform, Boomi, to make this possible through three types of connections.
- On-premise integrations: If your company manages private servers, Cube integrates by installing a data agent (sometimes this is a Boomi Atom). This agent retrieves data using access credentials and data queries provided by your team.
- Cloud integrations: In cases where no standard connector is available or a data warehouse to pull data from, Cube collaborates with you to create a suitable solution for sending data.
- Programmed flat file: If one of the above is not feasible, Cube can connect to a designated location (such as FTP) to ingest files regularly.
Learn more about Cube connections.
D
Dashboards
Build and save dashboards of charts and KPIs in the Workspace to display your Cube data visually. Learn more about dashboards.
Data Access
Permissions that control which data a user can view or edit in Cube. Data access settings are typically defined by dimension members—like specific Accounts, Entities, or Scenarios—and help ensure users see only the data relevant to their role.
Data exporter
Download your Cube data as a CSV or Excel file from the Workspace using the data exporter.
Data table
A data table is the main container to mirror data from your source system. All integrations with source systems and all flat file uploads use a data table to organize the incoming data.
Department
Define your organization's structure in your Department dimension and enable slicing and dicing your data at the department level.
Dimension
Cube organizes your data into a flexible hierarchy of dimensions or categories:
- Dimensions are the main organizational structure of your data, set up by our team when we build your Cube. These dimensions appear as tabs across the top of the dimensions section in the Workspace.
- Parent dimension members are the next level down in the dimension hierarchy. They have one or more child dimension members and hold data that rolls up from these children.
- Child dimension members are the lowest level in the dimension hierarchy and store data as values. Child dimension member values are line items or transactions mirrored and mapped from your source system, calculated from a formula, or published from the Spreadsheet App.
Drilldown
View the transactions and their attributes that make up a value by drilling down on a cell using the Spreadsheet App.
E
Expand/Collapse
A control used to show or hide nested dimension members or data rows in Cube. Expanding reveals more detail—such as individual accounts or entities—while collapsing helps simplify views for easier analysis.
F
Fetch
Fetch or pull a set of data from Cube to your spreadsheet using the Spreadsheet App to define the dimensions as rows, columns, and filters. Learn more about fetching.
Flat file
A flat file is a CSV or TXT file that contains records, transactions, or other data in a format Cube will recognize. Flat files can be routinely uploaded into Cube via the data tables area in the Workspace when a direct integration isn't available.
Formulas
Automate calculations in Cube by saving commonly used formulas as a part of your data hierarchy. Formulas will appear as a child dimension member. These formulas will recalculate whenever changes are made to your data, and the values can be fetched to your spreadsheet using the Spreadsheet App.
G
General Ledger (GL)
Cube mirrors your General Ledger's accounting and transactional data, including defined attributes. We typically do this using your Chart of Accounts.
H
Hierarchy
Cube data is flexibly structured to align with your reporting and analytics needs. We do this by organizing your data into an OLAP cube using a hierarchy of dimensions or a structure of data categories.
Your data hierarchy consists of categories and sub-categories referred to as dimensions, parent dimension members, and child dimension members.
Oftentimes, this structure matches your source system, but ultimately, you can define this. Manage your structure from your Dimensions page.
I
Import
Periodically sync your connection with your third-party source system and pull in any new data using the import action in the Workspace.
Inputs
Manage your source data and dimension hierarchy in the inputs section of the Workspace.
Integrations
Connections between Cube and external systems (like ERPs, CRMs, or HR tools) that import data—such as actuals and metadata—into Cube. Integrations keep your Workspace up to date and reduce manual data handling by syncing directly with source systems.
J
K
L
Library
Use your Cube Library in the Workspace to share reports, files, links, and prebuilt spreadsheets with team members. These files can be static or ready to refresh by fetching data with the Spreadsheet App.
M
Mapping
Mapping matches the source system data structure to Cube's structure through a one-to-one or a many-to-one relationship. During imports, Cube uses this mapping to determine where the values should be stored and does not save any data for unmapped relationships. Keeping your Cube data healthy relies on routinely performing mapping maintenance.
Consider setting mapping rules to automate this process during imports.
Multi-currency
Cube supports applying exchange rates to transactions received in foreign currencies for integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Netsuite.
N
O
OLAP cube
Our company name, Cube, refers to the multi-dimensional data storage system called an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) cube. Data in an OLAP cube is organized into dimensions or categories, and values are stored in the cross-sections of dimension members.
Outputs
View the audit trail, share files, and export data in the outputs section of the Workspace.
P
Publish
The publish action in the Spreadsheet App pushes data from your spreadsheet to Cube. This action changes or adds new Cube values stored in the cloud. Learn more about publishing.
Permissions
Use the permission settings in the team section of the Workspace to control what data your team members have access to and which actions they can take.
Permission group
A user's permissions are a combination of User Type(s) and Data Access group(s) that provide or restrict that user's available actions in the Workspace or the Spreadsheet App and their access to dimensions.
Q
Question
A question is a single chart or visualization on a dashboard constructed from a slice of your Cube data. Cube Admins can create or edit questions when building a dashboard.
R
Range
Use ranges in the Spreadsheet App to fetch or publish data from your spreadsheet. To build your range, define the dimensions that make up the rows, columns, and filters.
Reports
Cubify an existing report or create a new one using your Cube dimensions for faster reporting. Save these reports as templates in the Spreadsheet App, and they will appear in the creator's reports section of the Workspace.
Streamline work with your team and ensure consistency in reporting by sharing reports with other Cube users.
Rollup logic
The selection made in the rollup logic section of the formula builder determines the order of operations for your calculation.
Rollup value
Rollup values differ from Cube values because they are summary values determined by summarizing child dimensions or performing calculations. We do not store these values in our database. They are calculated upon request, just in time.
S
Scenario
Create, analyze, duplicate, and merge versions of your financial data using actuals, budgets, and forecasts in the Scenario dimension.
Smart Forecast
A forecasting feature in Cube that uses historical trends and existing data to generate baseline projections. Smart Forecast helps speed up planning by auto-filling future values—giving users a head start they can adjust as needed.
Smart Variance
A feature in Cube that highlights key differences between data points—like actuals vs. budget—using built-in logic to surface material variances automatically. Smart variance helps users focus on what matters by identifying significant changes without manual filtering.
Source data
Cube mirrors data from ERP, CRM, HRIS, Spreadsheets, or other sources connected or published to Cube. This source data is not changed when publishing using the Spreadsheet App.
Splits
Depending on data mappings, a Cube value may contain multiple consolidated transactions. Use the Drilldown action in the Spreadsheet App to split the value and view these transactions and their associated attributes.
Spreadsheet Apps
Use one of the Spreadsheet Apps to work with your Cube data in Google Sheets or Excel. Learn how to download the Spreadsheet Apps.
Standard connector or integration
Cube has developed integrations that facilitate direct connections to source systems and pull your data into Cube. To use this option, Cube users must have administrative permissions for the source system(s). See our integrations.
T
Tables
Flexible datasets in Cube that store numeric and non-numeric data, either linked to dimensions or used independently, to support planning, analysis, and reporting. Learn more about tables.
Tags
Add tags to your dimensions in the Workspace to create alternate rollups or hierarchies. See examples and learn more.
Task
An individual action or planning step assigned to a user within a Cube workflow. Tasks help track progress, clarify ownership, and ensure deadlines are met during processes like budgeting or forecasting.
Templates
Build templates in the Spreadsheet App using your Cube dimensions or Cubifying the rows and columns of existing reports. Save templates to the Spreadsheet App and the Workspace to generate reports quickly.
Time
The Time dimension appears in every Cube hierarchy, allowing you to slice and dice by the financial period most relevant to your company.
Time Rollup
The time rollup is a dimension setting for all parent dimension members in the Account dimension. This setting determines how the child dimension member values are summarized at quarter- and year-end.
Transactions
Transactions are the individual line items representing an event, journal entry, or data point within a source system. Transactions have values and may have other associated metadata or attributes.
U
Users
Cube users are your company colleagues. You can add or remove users and manage their permissions in the Workspace's User Management page.
User type
A set of permissions that defines what a user can see and do in Cube. User types control access to features, and actions across the Workspace. Admins can assign user types to manage roles and responsibilities across the team.
V
Validate
Use the validate action in the Spreadsheet App to check your table's rows and columns before pushing or pulling data from Cube. Cube looks for an exact match to dimension names, so validating will help you catch and correct human errors or typos.
W
Workflow
A structured process in Cube that helps teams manage planning tasks—like budgeting, forecasting, or approvals—across users and departments. Workflows provide visibility into progress and ownership, making collaboration more organized and efficient.
Workspace
Cube’s web-based tool allows team members to:
- visualize data using dashboards,
- maintain dimensions, mapping, source data, and currencies,
- audit changes,
- use or share files and templates,
- and manage team permissions and settings.
Learn more about using the Workspace.
Write protection
Use write protection settings on actuals, budget, and forecast scenarios to block changes or only allow updates by your source system.