About Dimensions

Once your source data is mapped to Cube, Cube uses Dimensions group items such as accounts, departments, regions, products, etc., so you can "slice and dice" across different data sets. 

In this article:

1. Overview of Dimensions Page
2. How Dimensions & Hierarchies work
   • Accounts
   • Department
   • Scenario
   • Time
3. Making changes to Dimensions
   • Edit existing Dimensions
   • Disable Dimensions
   • Reorder Dimensions
4. Pitfalls to avoid when using Dimensions

Overview of Dimension Page

Find your Dimensions page in the blue navigation sidebar:

The Dimensions page is made up of:

• A Top Level Dimension (TLD) Tabs: These are your top-level dimensions. These are all the different ways you can slice and dice your data!
• B Dimensions:  To view and edit details, click on any dimension to open the Dimension Drawer
• C Add Dimension: Add a new dimension
• D Download Dimensions: Download your chart of accounts to a CSV file
• E Table Settings: Customize your table by selecting the gear icon. Here you can enable drag-and-drop reordering of dimensions and/or hide inactive dimensions.

Dimensions & Hierarchies

All dimensions in Cube follow a hierarchy, the levels in which a dimension is stored/used.

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:

• Account
• Department
• Scenario
• Time

In addition to your default top-level dimensions, you can add up to four custom dimensions. For example, Product, Vendor, Branch, Region, etc.

To add custom dimensions, contact your Implementation Manager or Customer Success Manager.

Accounts

A dimension type that can refer to:

1. 1. Traditional General Ledger accounts such as “Sales Revenue”
   2. Formula or calculation accounts such as Gross Profit (Revenue - COGS)
   3. Operational accounts such as “Sales per Rep”

🔎 Be sure to set the time rollup type. 

Department

A dimension type refers to organizational departments, such as Sales, Marketing, or Finance.  

Scenario

A dimension type that refers to the type of data:

• • Actuals
  • Budget
    • Base Budget
    • Best Case Budget, etc.
  • Forecast
    • January Forecast
    • February Forecast, etc

Time

A dimension type that refers 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 map dimensions anytime.

Edit or disable

Editing Dimensions

To edit a Dimension, click on the three dots as indicated above to make changes to your dimensions.

A Name: Update the name of your dimension anytime. B Parent:  Every dimension must have a parent; parents can be changed anytime. C Account Number:  D Time Rollup Type: Explore your options. E Description: Add any notes or descriptions to your dimensions. F Tags: Create alternate rollups without updating your hierarchy by adding tags. G Formulas: Calculate at the child level based on other Cube dimensions with formula dimensions.  H Mappings: Available at the child level; see the source data informing this dimension.

Disable Dimensions

Disabling Dimensions clears all associated values.

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.

By default, all disabled dimensions will become inactive and hidden but never 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. 

1. Select the settings gear in the right-hand corner of your Dimension page. 
2. Check Enable Re-ordering
3. Drag and drop 

Re-Order Child Dimensions: 

Re-Order Parent Dimensions:

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Attempting to publish to locked dimensions
• Forgetting to update and sync changes to your source system in Cube.