Dimension groups
A dimension group is a name for a particular set of members in a dimension, or a set of members that meet certain criteria. For example, you can create customer groups for customers located in a particular state or customers with the greatest open balance.
To view a list of dimension groups, go to Reports > Setup > Dimension groups.
Set up dimension groups
| Subscription |
Company |
|---|---|
| Regional availability |
All regions |
| User type |
Business (all) Project Manager Employee (Viewing) |
| Permissions | Dimension Groups: List, View, Add, Edit |
The way that you set up dimension groups for your company depends on your business and how you plan to use the groups.
Suppose that your company performs services from multiple locations. You might set up dimension groups that help you filter reports by location, customer, employee, and even project. Within each type of dimension group, you can define multiple groups for different purposes, such as groups that filter customers by type, amount due, country, or even a combination of criteria.
Get access to the dimension group list
There's a separate dimension group list for each type of standard and user-defined dimension, and access is controlled by your permissions. You can also find specific dimension groups in the Setup section of their owning applications.
For example, to find the Customer Groups list:
- Go to Accounts Receivable or Order Entry > Setup > Customers > Groups.
All dimensions groups are available from the Reports > Setup menu.
The following table lists the additional menus in which you can find specific dimension groups. Availability depends on the dimensions that are set up for your company and your own permissions to each application.
| Dimension group | Menus |
|---|---|
|
Department groups |
Company |
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Location groups |
Company |
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Employee groups |
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Item groups |
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Customer groups |
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Supplier groups |
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Project groups |
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Warehouse groups |
Inventory Control |
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Contract groups |
Contracts |
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Class groups |
Company |
Add or edit a group
- Go to the dimension group list, and select Create to add a new group.
If you're editing an existing group, select More actions > Edit at the end of the row for the existing dimension group.
- Enter an ID and Name for the dimension group.
When displayed elsewhere in Intacct, the dimension group shows the ID and name together (ID--Name), as in NAOPS--North America Operations. You cannot change IDs after you've saved the group, but you can edit the name later.
- Optionally, enter a description that will remind you of what this group includes or how it's used.
- From the Group type dropdown, select the type of group you want to create and then define the group.
- Select All members if you want to filter from the whole set of dimension members. For example, you might define a "Direct Customers" group that includes all members but then filters the results to only customers where the Customer Type field is equal to "Direct."
- Select Specific members to hand pick the dimension members to include.
- Optionally, specify how dimension members are sorted when displayed in reports.
The display order for members is controlled by how you define the group.
Sort options for dimension members Group type How to sort members All members
By default, members are sorted in ascending order based on ID, but you can change the sort order. For example, you might want to sort a customer group in Ascending order based on the Last Name field.
To define the sort order, set the Sort order to Ascending or Descending and then choose the field to use for sorting.
Specific members
Members will be displayed in the order they appear in the Members list.
Learn how to select and order members.
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Select the Dimension structure option to create a dimension structure automatically that enables the group to be used on the rows or columns of financial reports.
You can later find your dimension structures by going to
If you don't create a dimension structure for the group, you’ll be able to use the group only for filtering.
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Add filtering to the group.
- Select the field that you want to filter on.
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Select the operation and value that you want to filter for.
The options depend on the field that you select.
If you add more than one filter, All (AND) is selected in the Filter conditions field by default. This means that members are included only if they match all criteria. However, you can change this behavior by selecting Or (Any) in the Filter conditions field.
Learn more about filtering with field values.
- Go to the dimension group list, and select Add to add a new group.
If you're editing an existing group, select Edit to the left of the group.
- Enter an ID and Name for the dimension group.
When displayed elsewhere in Intacct, the dimension group shows the ID and name together (ID--Name), as in NAOPS--North America Operations. You cannot change IDs after you've saved the group, but you can edit the name later.
- Optionally, enter a description that will remind you of what this group includes or how it's used.
- From the Group type dropdown, select the type of group you want to create and then define the group.
- Select All members if you want to filter from the whole set of dimension members. For example, you might define a "Direct Customers" group that includes all members but then filters the results to only customers where the Customer Type field is equal to "Direct."
- Select Specific members to hand pick the dimension members to include.
- Optionally, specify how dimension members are sorted when displayed in reports.
The display order for members is controlled by how you define the group.
Sort options for dimension members Group type How to sort members All members
By default, members are sorted in ascending order based on ID, but you can change the sort order. For example, you might want to sort a customer group in Ascending order based on the Last Name field.
To define the sort order, set the Sort order to Ascending or Descending and then choose the field to use for sorting.
Specific members
Members will be displayed in the order they appear in the Members list.
Learn how to select and order members.
-
Select the Dimension structure option to create a dimension structure automatically that enables the group to be used on the rows or columns of financial reports.
You can later find your dimension structures by going to
If you don't create a dimension structure for the group, you’ll be able to use the group only for filtering.
-
Add filtering to the group.
- Select the field that you want to filter on.
-
Select the operation and value that you want to filter for.
The options depend on the field that you select.
If you add more than one filter, All (AND) is selected in the Filter conditions field by default. This means that members are included only if they match all criteria. However, you can change this behavior by selecting Or (Any) in the Filter conditions field.
Learn more about filtering with field values.
Dimension groups in reports and dashboards
Defining a dimension group gives you additional control over what appears in reports and dashboards. In general, any dimension groups that you create will appear as additional filter choices.
With a dimension group, you can do the following:
- Manually select a set of members, such as specific customers, suppliers, or locations
- Filter to include members that meet certain criteria, such as items of the same type or customers of the same type
- Control the order in which the members appear in report columns and rows
- Take advantage of dimension counts to post to statistical journal entries automatically
Where can dimension groups be used?
Dimension groups can be used to filter in the following areas of Intacct:
- Financial reports
- Financial graphs
- General Ledger reports
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Dashboards
Dimension use in dashboards is limited to components for performance cards, financial reports and graphs, and standard General Ledger reports.
| Feature | Allows filtering by dimension group? | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Financial reports and graphs |
Yes |
Applies to reports and graphs in these lists:
When you define a report or graph, you can specify the filters as part of the report definition, or you can prompt the user for the filter at report runtime. |
|
Standard General Ledger reports |
Yes |
Applies to reports listed on the General Ledger menu, such as the Journals report or Trial Balance report. When you run a General Ledger report, you can select the filters to use. Or, you can create a prefiltered report by memorizing the report with the filters that you want. |
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Other reports |
No |
Currently, reports outside of General Ledger do not support dimension groups.
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Dashboards |
Yes (limited) |
Dashboard components can be prefiltered for a dimension group, or you can allow the user to filter the entire dashboard. Filtering is limited to components for performance cards, financial reports and graphs, and standard General Ledger reports. Learn more about dashboard filtering. |
Dimension report structures
Dimension report structures enable dimensions to be used on the rows or columns of financial reports. The following example shows a simple location report structure named "South," which contains a location group entitled "Southern offices."
- Dimension groups are custom groupings that are meaningful to your company.
- Dimension report structures can contain 1 or more dimension groups.
- The dimension report structure is what lets you add the dimension to a report.
When you add a dimension group, you're given the option to create a dimension report structure automatically. Learn more about how dimension report structures are created from dimension groups.
Determine what's in the group
The group type and options that you select determine which members are included in report data when you filter on this dimension group.
If you're creating financial reports that show dimensions in rows or columns, your selection also determines the column and row headings, and the order in which they're listed.
| What do you want to do? | Steps |
|---|---|
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Include all members (such as all locations) |
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Include all members that meet your criteria |
Don’t select any specific members. If you select specific members (such as particular locations or suppliers), the filters will apply only to the members you selected.
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Include specific members |
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Select specific members, and further narrow the selection based on other criteria |
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Select only the top or bottom matches based on the value of a field
Non-numeric fields are matched alphabetically.
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If you're planning to show top or bottom matches in a financial report, such as showing the top customers by revenue, don't use this option for the group. Learn more about how top and bottom matches work in a financial report.
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Select specific dimension members and set their order
When you select "specific members" of a dimension, you’re picking the individual locations, departments, customers, suppliers, employees, items, projects, or classes that you want to include. For example, you might want to create an Employee group that contains certain employees.
- Set the Group type to Specific members.
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Use the Members list to select the members to include. The sort order that you choose will be used in any reports that show dimensions in columns or rows.
If you're creating a dimension group at the top level, you can't include members that belong to an entity. Try creating the dimension group from the entity itself.
Filter with field values
You can add filters that select dimension members based on the value of certain fields. For example, you might want to select customers of a certain type or suppliers that have a payment priority of urgent.
- Select the field that you want to filter on.
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Select the operation and value that you want to filter for.
The options depend on the field that you select.
If you add more than one filter, All (AND) is selected in the Filter conditions field by default. This means that members are included only if they match all criteria. However, you can change this behavior by selecting Or (Any) in the Filter conditions field.
Following are some examples of how you might use each type of dimension group.
| Dimension group | Examples |
|---|---|
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Department groups |
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Location groups |
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Employee groups |
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Item groups |
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Customer groups |
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Supplier groups |
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Project groups |
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Contract groups |
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Warehouse groups |
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Class groups |
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Filter for projects, employees, locations, or departments managed by the current user
Dimension groups can automatically show managers just the information that's relevant to them. For example, you can set up a Project dimension group called "My projects," which dynamically filters for projects managed by the current user. Similarly, groups can be used to filter for employees, departments, or locations managed by the current user.
The current user is the user who is currently logged into Intacct.
Suppose that you have several project managers. Each project manager wants to see reports and dashboards filtered for their projects only.
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Create a Project group that filters for projects managed by the current user.
- Project group named "My projects"
- Select All members
- Select Project manager ID as the filter field, then set the Operator to is current user
Because Project manager ID is connected to an Intacct user, the group can filter for projects where the current user is the manager.
- Use the dimension group to filter reports and dashboards.
For example, you can create a financial report that shows revenue and expenses by project. This report can be prefiltered for the "My projects" group. Or you can prompt the user when the report is run so that they can easily switch between showing all projects or just their own projects.
When you set the filter to the current user, you limit the user to see only the group, such as projects, employees, or locations associated with the user. For example, the filter field is "Project Manager" and the operator is "current user. " When the project manager runs the report, they’ll only see their own projects.
To create a group that filters for the current user:
- Create a new group of type Project, Employee, Department, or Location.
- Define the group as usual, giving it a name that users will recognize, such as "My projects" or "My employees."
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In the Filters section, select a field that's connected to an employee who is a user in Intacct.
- For Project dimension groups, you can select the Project manager ID field.
- For Department, Location, or Employee dimension groups, you can select the Manager field.
Not all contact fields are connected to a user. For this reason, filtering for the current user is restricted to the Project Manager ID and Manager fields.
- Set the Operator to is current user.
Combine multiple filters
If you have multiple filters, the default behavior is to match only members that meet all the criteria. However, you can change how this works using the Filter conditions dropdown menu.
| Filter condition | Result |
|---|---|
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All (AND) |
Include members that match all criteria (the default behavior). |
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Any (OR) |
Include members that match any criteria. |
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Expression |
Uses an expression that you define to apply the filters. For example, the following expression matches members that either meet criteria 1 and 2, or that meet criteria 3. (1 AND 2) OR 3 |
If you want to select "one of" something, such as departments where the manager is either Jim, Sue, or Terri, create several filters and use the Any (OR) filter condition.
Create a group filter for active and inactive members
There are times when you want to include dimensions that are inactive in reports. Create a dimension group that filters for both types of dimension member.
- Open or edit the dimension group for the dimension type, for example, departments, locations, or territories.
- In the filters section, create two filters:
- Status equals active
- Status equals inactive
- Make sure that the condition type is set to Any (OR).
- Save your changes.
You can use this group when you want to have both active and inactive members appear in a report.
Delete a dimension group
| Subscription |
Company |
|---|---|
| Regional availability |
All regions |
| User type | Business |
| Permissions | Dimension Groups: List, View, Delete |
Dimension structures can be deleted as long as they aren't being used for reporting. Select the checkbox at the end of the row for the applicable dimension group on the list. Then, select Delete at the top of the page.
Select Delete next to the dimension group on the list.
- Being used to filter one or more reports, graphs, or dashboards
- Part of a dimension structure
For example, if you have a location structure that you use to filter financial reports, remove the filter from the financial reports, save your changes, and then try deleting the location group again.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You can easily create a dimension group that includes all active members of a dimension.
When creating the dimension group, select the following options:
- Select All members as the group type.
- Change the sort order as needed.
- In the Filters list, filter for all Active members.
- For the Field, select Status.
- For the Operator, select equals.
- For the Value, select Active.
Depending on the type of field you select, matching can work differently.
- For numerical fields, equals, greater than, and less than are often used to filter based on whether the amount is equal to, above, or below the number you enter.
- In general, non-number fields ask you to select a specific record from a list (for example, a specific department name or manager). For these types of fields, equals, not equal to, is empty, and is not empty are the most useful operators.
- If you want to match records that contain a certain word (for example, project names that contain the word "design"), use the contains operator. Instead of choosing a record from a list, enter the word in the Value field.
Some fields, such as amount due and item price, contain data that can change over time. For the purposes of filtering reports, amount-based filters are always applied using the most current data, even if the "as of" date for the report is in the past.
For example, suppose that you create a revenue report that filters for items with the highest price. When you run the report, the filter will be applied based on the current price of the items, even if the report is being run for a prior reporting period.
The filters operate differently depending on whether you select any specific members in the Members list.
- If you use the Members list to select specific dimension members, such as particular departments or customers, the filters will be applied only to those specific members.
- To apply filters to all members of a dimension (for example, selecting all your locations where the Status equals "Active") do not select any specific members in the Members list.
Example: Suppose that you have a location group that has three members such as California, New York, and Oregon (an inactive location), and you then add a filter for locations where the Status equals "Active." In this case, when you use the location group to filter reports, the report will include data only for California and New York and will not include the inactive location.
Dimensions are often hierarchical. For example, a department can have one 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 (like Development, Quality Assurance, and Documentation.)
Create a dimension group that is filtered to include both inactive and active members. Then, use that dimension group to filter financial reports.
See the help for the specific dimension, for example, location or department, for details on making a dimension inactive.
If a user is restricted to the child of a dimension value and then a group is used in reporting that would include the child the option to view the report group is blocked for the restricted user.
