Work with filters

Filtering is a powerful tool when creating and running reports. Regardless of the type of report, you can specify what data is shown and what's hidden through the use of filters.

Filters overview

Because filters are such a powerful tool, you should understand them thoroughly to determine the best way to use them. Filters are the way that you limit data to include or display only the things that are important at the time. They hide or remove data from report output.

There are several types of filters:

Financial Statements

• Security permission filters (via entity, department, or access control)
• Report filters: Filters applied directly on the Report Setup via selection of:
  • Filters Tab
  • Dimension Structure
• Filters applied via prompt when a report is run (these are enabled via the Report setup from the Filters Tab)
• Filters applied during setup of report components
  • Account Groups
  • Dimension Groups & Related Dimension Structures
  • Dimension Hierarchies

Custom Reports

• Security permissions
• Filters applied when building report
• Filters allow for different angles of analysis for the same data and as a way to gain focused insight.

Where to find filters

Different filters are located across Sage Intacct. How you filter depends on your needs, based on the report.

Where to find filters

Filter	Where to look
Account groups	Account groups are used with financial reports and have filtering of their own. When you create or edit an account group, the default is to have no filter for each of the dimensions. You can select specific dimensions with or without subdimensions: departments, locations, or classes. You can filter the group for only the dimensions that have no instance of the dimension included in the group information. For example, all accounts that have no department or employee. This is the filter described in No <dimension> specified. Access report filters for account groups from General Ledger > All > Accounts > Account groups.
Custom reports	The Filter your report step in the Custom Report Writer provides a method for additive filtering on a report. The exact information in the filters will differ, but you can use combinations of columns, operators, and values. These are explained in detail in Report filters and Refine filters. Some filters are applied directly to a report, from the report filtering. Other filters can be used on setup components that are included in reports, such as account groups and dimension groups. Access the Custom reports from Reports > All > Advanced > Custom reports.
Dashboards	You can include filters on a dashboard and its individual components. Selections for available filters are set at Dashboards > Dashboard properties.
Dimension groups	Dimension group is a name for particular set of members in a dimension, or a set of members that meet certain criteria. For example, you might create customer groups for a particular set of customers, customers located in a particular state, territory, or even customers with the greatest open balance. In financial reports, dimension groups can be used in several ways: Filtering for multiple dimension members, or for members that meet certain criteria Controlling the order in which the members appear in report columns and rows As the basis for report structures Separate dimension group list for each type of dimension, also 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.
Dimension structures	You can add any number of structures for the dimensions you track. Access Dimension structures from General Ledger > Financial report structures > Dimension structures.
Financial Report Writer	The Filters tab of the Financial Report Writer is an efficient place to filter financial reports. Access the Financial Report Writer from Reports > All > Core > Financial reports.
Permissions	Permissions are included across multiple applications.
Prompts	This type of prompt appears when you run a report.

Dimension Hierarchies impact in Report selections

A hierarchical dimension structure contains other structures, which enables you to show organization, groupings, and subtotals on reports. There are two types of dimension structures, which allow you to create different types of report output. When you create a new dimension structure, you'll be asked to choose the structure type.

In reports, hierarchies appear in the order you create them. By including them in different order, you can be grouping in unexpected ways.

What can go wrong

If not set up correctly, filters can overlap and cause unexpected results in your report.

• Some filters are applied directly to a report, while other filters can be used on setup components that are included in reports, such as account groups and dimension groups.
• Some filters can be used in combination, while others should be used only under certain circumstances. Know what you are selecting and if any filters are already applied in the setup components you include in your report. In fact, mismatched or conflicting filters can be one of the main things to check when troubleshooting reports.

When working with filters, best practice is to know what filters you have applied and were you have applied them. This can make it much easier if you need to find and correct any issues.

Mismatched filters

Mismatched filters occur when you have filters on multiple groups or reports that either don't match exactly or actually conflict with each other. The most common of these mismatches is having one filter on the report and a different filter on the account group.

Suppose a company is set up to have 10 account groups. They have a filter on the top-level account group and one on each subaccount group. Now suppose that a company is set up to have a group of account groups that contains 10 account groups.

In either case, if the account groups don't match exactly, the results will be affected by the filtering at both levels. In this case, the filters only include the data that matches all filters, not data that matches any filter. If you have two account groups filtered for Location and one filtered for Department, only the account groups with both Location and Department are included.

For example, consider the table below.

Account group filter example

Dept group A contains:	Dept group B contains:
Dan Aaron James Linda	Rob Dan Ted Marie

In this case, a report with a department group filter for Group A and a filter on the report itself for department Group B would show only Dan, because he's the only one that matches both filters.

Where to look for filters in conflict

If you suspect a conflict, check the areas that contain filters until you find the problem. Where hierarchies such as account groups, dimension structures and dimensions exist, best practice is to walk up the hierarchy rather than down.

A good place to start troubleshooting is Troubleshoot report filters

Where can filters conflict?

Filter order

Just like having multiple filters set up, the order in which the filters are applied can make a difference.

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.

No <dimension> specified

An example of how filters can result in unexpected results is the <no dimension specified> filter. This filter works on account groups and financial accrual reports but doesn't work on the General Ledger. This filter is No <dimension> specified, for example, no location specified.

This isn't the same as filtering for groups that don't have a dimension specified, meaning that dimensions is an empty field in a group. It's a filter on any group whose members are grouped as No location specified.

You can use this filter when running financial reports but it won't filter in the general ledger because the general ledger isn't looking for this flag, it's looking for transactions without a dimension in the field.

In other words, the general ledger sees it as having a filter, not all transactions without the dimension. If you have a financial report using this filter and you try to drill down on a number that's using this filter, it's going to show a different number than expected.

How filters impact drill-down results

Typically filters are passed through reports to the general ledger in drill-down.