Reports filtered by location, department, or other dimension

The dimensions that you set up for your company provide a powerful tool for reporting, letting you filter reports to show just the segment of data that you want to see.

  • Using dimensions, you can filter reports for specific dimension members (such as particular locations, departments, projects, employees, customers, or suppliers).
  • With dimension groups and dimension structures, you can do even more—selecting a specific set of members, or members that meet certain criteria, and displaying that dimension data in the rows or columns of financial reports.

Dimension filter options

Dimensions can be used to filter financial reports (such as balance sheet and income statements) and other General Ledger reports (including General Ledger, Journals, Trial Balance, and Account Balance reports).

We provide a range of filtering options, enabling you to include just the data you're looking for. Here are a few of the options available to you:

  • Basic filtering by dimension: When you filter financial reports and other General Ledger reports, all of your dimensions are automatically available to you. Without making any changes, you can filter for a particular location, department, customer, and so on. For example, you can filter a balance sheet for a particular location or create a Journals report that filters Accounts Receivable journals for a particular project.
  • Filtering for a set of members or based on criteria: If you want to be able to filter for a set of members (such as a set of departments) or perform more complex filtering (such as for customers of the same type), consider setting up dimension groups. After you've defined a dimension group, it will automatically be available in your filters along with the individual dimension members. Dimension groups let you filter by not just a group, but by that group's current user (the user currently logged in).
  • Adding dimensions to the rows or columns of financial reports: Dimension report structures, which are built from your dimension groups, let you filter for selected dimension data on report rows and columns. For example, you might want to analyze your income and expenses by different metrics. For example, showing revenue by product line, a list of your most profitable customers, or a breakdown of expenses by project.
Want a separate report for each department, location, or project? Learn more about generating individual reports.

Filter financial reports

With financial reports, filters for selecting report data are part of the report definition.

Filter financial report data

When you create or edit a financial report, you can use the Filters tab to specify how the report will be filtered. You can select specific filters, or you can have the report prompt you when the report is run. For example, you can create a balance sheet report that's filtered for a particular location, or you can use a prompt to allow you to pick any location at the time that the report is run.

Learn more about best practices for using report-level filters.

  1. Edit the financial report: go to Reports > All > Financial reporting > Financial reports > [report] > Edit.

  2. On the Filters tab, select the dimension filters that you want to use, or select the ones you want to be prompted for.
    • If you've defined dimension groups (such as location groups or customer groups), these groups will be available to you in addition to individual dimension members.
    • If you want to be able to choose a dimension member or dimension group at the time that you run the report, select the Prompt option next to the dimension.

    If you select Prompt for a dimension, you'll be prompted to choose the dimension or dimension group to filter by when you run the report. This lets you to set up a report and use it multiple ways. For example, setting up a balance sheet report and then running it for different locations on-the-fly.

    If you select specific dimension filters and also choose the Prompt option, the report prompt is prefilled with your selections. You'll have the opportunity to override the filters later.

Show dimensions in report columns or rows

Depending on the type of financial report you are creating, you can use dimension structures to filter for and display selected dimension data on rows and columns. For example, you might display different customer types in the rows of your report, with columns broken out by Revenue and Accounts Receivable.

Learn more about adding dimensional analysis to financial reports.

Filter other General Ledger reports

You can use dimensions and dimension groups to filter most reports in the General Ledger, including the General Ledger, Journals, Trial Balance, and Account Balance reports.

When you select the report from the menu, you'll be prompted to select any filters you want to apply.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

How are hierarchical dimensions handled when filtering reports?

Dimensions are often hierarchical. For example, a department can have 1 or more child departments, up to several levels deep.

When a report filter includes a member of a dimension, data from any members that belong to it will also be included. This means that a department group that matches the Engineering department will automatically include data from any subdepartments (such as Development, Quality Assurance, and Documentation.)

Will my report include transactions in which the dimension is not specified?

Reports will not include any transactions that are not tagged with the dimension you are filtering for. For example, if you use the Filters tab to filter for a department group, your report data will include transactions that are tagged with a department in that group and will not include transactions without a department.

How can I include inactive dimension members in financial reports?

It's common to inactivate dimension members that you no longer need, such as particular departments, projects, or suppliers that you are no longer using. However, you might still need to include related financial information on reports.

In this case, you can create a dimension group that filters on active and inactive dimension members, and use that group to filter your financial reports.

Why doesn’t my dimension appear?

Filters on setup components like account groups and dimensions are applied before the data gets to the report, while filters included in the report itself are applied after the data is gathered. This affects not just the report results, but can affect the size of the report and even the performance.