Measures and Dimensions
ERP analytics separates what you measure from how you slice it. Define each once and every report built from them agrees.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → ERP - Trading & Analytics:
- Analytics — the console — build and run
- Measures — what is counted, and how it is aggregated
- Dimensions — how results are grouped
A measure
A measure names a number: its source, the column holding the value, the aggregation (sum, count, average), an optional filter restricting what is included, an optional formula for derived figures, a display format, and an enabled flag.
The filter is what makes a measure precise. "Revenue" filtered to posted documents excluding intercompany is a definition; "revenue" as a bare column sum is an invitation to an argument.
Define once, centrally
This is the whole point. The commonest reason two reports disagree is not a bug — it is that each computed revenue slightly differently, one including credit notes and the other not, and nobody noticed until a board pack contained both.
A central measure means there is one definition, it is visible, and correcting it corrects every report at once.
A dimension
A dimension names a way of grouping: its source, the key column, the label column, and optionally a parent column for hierarchies.
The parent column is what gives you drill-down — region to country to office, or category to subcategory to product — because the hierarchy is declared rather than reconstructed per report.
Label separately from key
Group by a stable key and display a readable label. Grouping by a name means a renamed customer splits into two rows, and the split is invisible unless somebody notices the total no longer matches.
Name them for the business
These names appear in front of people choosing what to report on. "Net Revenue (excl. intercompany)" is a usable choice; "erp_doc_total_2" is not, and it will produce reports built on whatever was guessed at.
Row limits
Measures carry a row limit. Set a sensible one so an accidentally broad report does not attempt to aggregate everything — but set it high enough not to silently truncate a legitimate result. A truncated total that looks plausible is worse than one that fails.
Start small
Ten well-defined measures and half a dozen dimensions cover most of what a business asks. Add on demand rather than modelling everything up front; measures nobody uses still have to be maintained and still confuse the person choosing.
Worked example
A distributor defines Net Revenue, Gross Margin, Order Count, Average Order Value and Stock Value, with dimensions of Customer, Product Category (hierarchical), Entity, Salesperson and Month. Every report and dashboard is built from these, so when the intercompany exclusion is corrected, all of them correct together.
Recommendations
- Put the definition in the measure, never in each report.
- Name for the business audience.
- Key and label separately on every dimension.
- Start with ten measures and grow on demand.