DIMENSIONS IN DYNAMICS NAV 2018/BUSINESS CENTRAL

Hello guest;
I had an encounter with one of my clients. They needed a simple explanation about Dimensions in Dynamics NAV. I thought sharing it with you would be a whole lot better.

What is a Dimension?

A Dimension is the term used in Microsoft Dynamics NAV to define an analysis category. Dimensions are used to group, or categorize, data for the purpose of analysis. Dimensions consist of Dimension Values. A Dimension Value is a “subcategory” or a “tag” attached to data to conduct meaningful analysis (think of them like article tags on a blog). A Dimension can consist of any amount of Dimension Values.

An example of a dimension would be Product with dimension values

·       Drugar screen 18

·       Drugar Screen 15

·       Drugar Screen 12

Shortcut Dimensions 

Are analysis categories which facilitate financial, inventory, production, and other analyses.

Shortcut Dimensions can be assigned directly to journal, sales, or purchase lines; they can also be assigned to master data (e.g. a Customer, a Vendor, an Item, etc.).

We can only work with up to 4 shortcut dimensions in an analysis view.

This means we can categorize our data based on up to 4 categories using an analysis view.

To cover other categories, other analysis views have to be created

Example of a Shortcut Dimension

If a company sells coffee, and they are interested in running financial reports based on what categories of coffee are sold and where they were sold, the following Shortcut Dimensions can be created: Product and Area.

Area dimension with dimension values EU, COMESA, EAC, AGOA, US.

Product dimension as explained above

Global Dimensions in Dynamics NAV

Global Dimensions are the most important Dynamics NAV Dimensions for a company.

The maximum amount of Global Dimensions is 2.

Global Dimensions can be used in the same way as Shortcut Dimensions.

But unlike Shortcut Dimensions, Global Dimensions are located in the same database table as your master records.

This means that besides the possibility of using Global Dimensions as a filter on all Account Schedules, Batch Jobs, and reports, Global Dimensions can also be used as a filter on G/L entries.

Another unique feature of Global Dimensions is that they can be used as additional fields on purchase and sales document headers.

Example of a Global Dimension

If an institution is an NGO dedicated to promoting girl child education, an example of two Global Dimensions could be:

Project (what project/program donations are provided) and

Donor ( a private donor or an organization, a local donor or foreign, etc.).

These Global Dimensions would allow using a quick filter on the Chart of Accounts to break down an amount by Project and/or by Donor.

It is possible to break down an amount on a G/L Account by using Shortcut Dimensions. However, it would be necessary to create an Analysis View or Account Schedule report.