In financial analysis, a dimension is data that you can add to an entry as a kind of marker. This data is used to group entries with similar characteristics, such as customers, regions, products, and salesperson, and easily retrieve these groups for analysis. Dimensions can be used on entries in journals, documents, and budgets. The term dimension describes how analysis occurs. A two-dimensional analysis, for example, would be sales per area. However, by using more than two dimensions when creating an entry, you can carry out a more complex analysis, such as sales per sales campaign per customer group per area.

Analyzing data by dimensions gives you greater insight into your business, so you can evaluate information, such as how well your business is operating, where it is thriving and where it is not, and where more resources should be allocated.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables you to organize and analyze your data by dimensions.

The following table describes a sequence of tasks, with links to the topics that describe them. These tasks are listed in the order in which they are generally performed.

ToSee

Display a selected combination of dimensions.

How to: Set Up Analysis Views

Look at the amounts in your general ledger using the analysis views that you have already set up

How to: View Analysis by Dimensions

See the current state of your company by updating the analysis view by using the update function.

How to: Update Analysis Views