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
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.
