Once your source data is mapped to Cube, Cube uses Top Level Dimensions (TLD) such as accounts, departments, regions, products, etc., so you can "slice and dice" across different data sets.
In this article:
- Overview of Dimensions Page
- How Dimensions & Hierarchies work
- Making changes to Dimensions
- Pitfalls to avoid when using Dimensions
Overview of Dimension Page
Find your Dimensions page in the navigation sidebar:
The Dimensions page is made up of the following:
- Top Level Dimension (TLD): These are your top-level dimensions. These are all the different ways you can slice and dice your data!
- Dimensions: To view and edit details, click on
the next to any dimension to open the Dimension drawer to make changes or view its configuration.
- Add Dimension: Add a new dimension
- Download Dimensions: Download your chart of accounts to a CSV file
- Table Settings: Customize your table by selecting the
. Here you can enable drag-and-drop reordering of dimensions and/or hide inactive dimensions within the same parent only.
Dimensions & Hierarchies
All dimensions in Cube follow a hierarchy tailored to how you'd like to slice and dice your data.
For example, in the image above, Subscription Revenue rolls up to Revenue, which rolls up to Income Statement, which rolls up to Account.
By default, each Cube is setup with the following top-level dimensions:
In addition to your default top-level dimensions, you can add up to four custom top-level dimensions. For example, Product, Vendor, Branch, Region, etc.
🗣️ Each TLD is highly customizable based on your organization. Below are typical examples, but there are no limitations to how you'd like to store and organize your data.
To add custom TLDs, contact your Implementation Manager or Customer Success Manager.
Accounts
A dimension type that can refer to:
-
- Traditional General Ledger accounts such as “Sales Revenue”
- Formula or calculation accounts such as Gross Profit (Revenue - COGS)
- Operational accounts such as “Sales per Rep”
🔎 Be sure to set the time rollup type.
Department
A dimension type that can refer to organizational departments, such as Sales, Marketing, or Finance.
Scenario
A dimension type that can refer to the type of data:
-
- Actuals
- Budget
- Base Budget
- Best Case Budget, etc.
- Forecast
- January Forecast
- February Forecast, etc
Scenario Dimensions are also where Write Protection can be enabled or disabled.
Time
A dimension type that can refer to the Month, Quarter, or Year. Learn more about time dimensions.
Making Changes to Dimensions
It's easy to make changes to dimensions. You can edit, disable, re-order the layout, and add and see mapping of dimensions anytime.
Edit or disable
Editing Dimensions
To edit a Dimension, click on the three dots as indicated above to change your dimensions. You're able to edit:
- Name: Update the name of your dimension anytime.
- Parent: Every dimension must have a parent; parents can be changed anytime.
- Account Number: Optional field if you'd like to mimic the account number structure of your source system.
- Time Rollup Type: Determines how individual months' values are summarized at Quarter- and Year-end. Explore your options.
- Description: Add any notes or descriptions to your dimensions.
- Tags: Create alternate rollups without updating your hierarchy by adding tags.
- Formulas: Create, view, or modify a dimension using formulas. Learn more about formula dimensions.
- Mappings: If source dimensions are mapped, they'll be visible here.
- For Scenario Dimensions only, Write Protection can be setup to
Disable Dimensions
Disabling Dimensions clears all values associated with the dimension and any formulas referencing it. For tags, it'll update and remove the related dimension.
To disable a dimension, select the three dots and then select Disable Dimension.
You'll be prompted with a final message confirming you want to disable and clear associated values.
Remember: Parent and top-level dimensions cannot be disabled with child dimensions beneath them. To disable a parent dimension, remove its children from the parent.
By default, all disabled dimensions will become inactive and hidden but cannot be deleted. You can view and re-enable dimensions anytime.
Re-Order Dimensions
Suppose you're looking to restructure your dimension layout. You can re-order the child dimensions beneath a parent and change the order of parent dimensions by checking a box and dragging and dropping.
- Select the settings gear in the right-hand corner of your Dimension page.
- Check Enable Re-ordering
- Drag and drop
Re-Order Child Dimensions:
Re-Order Parent Dimensions: