Dimensions in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

If you manage a company or are frequently asked to analyze numbers, you know that every number tells a different story. The reason for an increase in sales isn’t always straightforward; there can always be many dimensions that influence performance.

When you use an ERP like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, all your departments work within the same system. That means your data becomes interconnected and incredibly valuable.

To get the most out of this data, Business Central provides a powerful analytical tool called dimensions. Understanding these dimensions can make all the difference for your business.

What Are Dimensions in Business Central?

Dimensions in Business Central are categories that help you organize and analyze data across your company. They allow you to slice and dice your data by different perspectives — such as department, region, product type, or salesperson — to understand performance from every angle.

For example, imagine your company starts selling different kinds of chocolate worldwide. You’ll want to track which clients buy which types of chocolate and in what quantities. With Dimensions in Business Central, you can easily analyze this information without manually sorting data.

Dimensions and Dimension Values in Business Central

In Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, Dimensions act like categories, and Dimension Values function as subcategories or tags within those categories.

This structure lets you organize your business data logically, making it easier to report and analyze later.

How to Create a New Dimension in Business Central

Creating a new dimension in Business Central is straightforward and highly customizable. You can create any type of dimension you want, with any values you need. Let’s create a new dimension using our chocolate example.

Steps to Create a New Dimension:

1. Open Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
2. Navigate to Dimensions and click New.
3. Name your dimension (e.g., “Chocolate Region” or “Chocolate Type”).
4. Under “Code,” your dimension name will appear as one word — adjust under “Name,” “Code Caption,” and “Filter Caption” for consistency.
5. To add Dimension Values, click Dimension Values at the top, then click New to create subcategories.

Use the Begin-Total and End-Total features to group related Dimension Values (for example, grouping all Canadian provinces under “Canada Total”).

This makes it easy to view totals for each group within Business Central.

Assigning Dimensions in Business Central

Once your dimensions and dimension values are created, you can assign them to accounts.

1. Go to General Ledger Setup and find the Dimensions tab.
2. Select Global Dimensions and Shortcut Dimensions.

You can assign:

• Two Global Dimensions — the most important, stored with master records and usable across reports, batch jobs, and account schedules.
• Unlimited Shortcut Dimensions — useful for financial, production, or inventory analyses (though certain areas, like Analysis Views, limit you to four at once).

In our example, you might set “Chocolate Region” and “Chocolate Type” as your Global Dimensions Business Central categories.

How to Analyze Data by Dimensions in Business Central

The Analysis by Dimensions feature in Microsoft Dynamics Business Central allows you to view and interpret your data based on your chosen dimensions.

To Create an Analysis View:

1. Go to Analysis Views and click New.
2. Enter the information about the data you want to analyze.
3. Select up to four dimensions per Analysis View Card.
4. Under “Show as Lines,” choose your dimension (e.g., “Chocolate Regions”).
5. Under “Columns,” select what you want to compare (e.g., “Period” to analyze over time).
6. Set your filters or date range, then click Show Matrix to display your analysis.

Now, you’ll have a clear, organized view of your business data — categorized by the Dimensions Business Central framework you’ve created.

Why Dimensions Are Essential in Business Central

The biggest advantage of dimensions in Business Central is flexibility. Every company can tailor dimensions to their unique needs. You decide:

• How many shortcut dimensions to use.
• Which ones to assign as global dimensions.
• How to structure and group your data.

While adding new Global Dimensions can take time (especially with larger databases), the payoff is immense — you gain clarity, consistency, and actionable insights across your organization.

Final Thoughts on Business Central Dimensions

Your business data has many layers — and dimensions in Business Central can help you uncover every one of them. By organizing, filtering, and analyzing data with dimensions, you can make smarter, data-driven decisions and fully leverage the analytical power of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.