Contents

Uploading Dimension Attributes

Locating Dimension Attributes

Adding Dimension Attributes

Account Number Attributes

Editing Dimension Attributes

Deleting Dimension Attributes

 

In Planning Maestro, Dimensions are the building blocks of your budgets, such as departments and account numbers.

Dimension Attributes are categories, types, or groupings for the Members of each Dimension. Use Attributes to organize the Members of a Dimension and filter them when running reports in the Reports module.

Example: A hiking and backpacking supplies company has a Dimension called Product. This Dimension has the Attributes Color, Size, Material, and Sport to organize these products. These Attributes are groupings of the Dimension Members, though not Dimensions themselves.

When you first upload your data to Planning Maestro, include all necessary Attributes as Base Structures of your company. Then, you can add those Attributes to the correct Dimensions.

This document shows you, a Planning Maestro user, how to add, edit, and delete Attributes.

Uploading Dimension Attributes

To create a Dimension Attribute for the first time, when you upload your CIF Files, include the Attribute as a Base Structure.

Step 1: In your Base Structures CIF File, add a row representing the Attribute. Put Attribute in the Type column.

Base Structures CIF File:

Step 2: In your Base Structure Members CIF File, add a row representing each of the Attribute’s Members (for example, the colors in a Color Attribute).

Base Structure Members CIF File:

Step 3: Upload your CIF Files to Planning Maestro.

Please Note: Each Attribute’s Members have a Name and Description. Descriptions help you define Attributes with Names that are not self-explanatory, such as RZ-578 for a type of metal used in manufacturing. You can also use the same Name and Description (for example, in the screenshot above, “Red” is both a Name and Description for a color).

After uploading your CIF Files, use the Dimensions page in the Data Modeler to manage your Attributes.

Locating Dimension Attributes in Planning Maestro

To manage your Dimension Attributes, open the Data Modeler module, connect to your Profile, and select Manage Dimensions.

Step 3: A confirmation message appears. Under Model, select Manage Dimensions.

Step 4: The Dimensions page opens. Select the Dimension whose Attributes you want to edit.

Step 5: The Dimensions pane opens on the right. Select the Attributes tab.

The Attributes tab opens. Use this page to add, edit, and delete Dimensions Attributes.

Adding Attributes

Step 1: To add a new Attribute to this Dimension, click + New Attribute.

Step 2: New fields appear. Enter the new Attribute’s:

• Name – Enter a clear name you and other employees can recognize easily.
• Description – Enter a description for this Attribute.

Step 3: To select the Members of this Attribute, next to Define Attribute Names, click + Add.

Step 4: A list of your Base Structures appears. Select the Base Structure that contains the Members for this Attribute (in this example, a Color Base Structure that contains the colors for your Product Dimension).

The Base Structure Name and Description appear on the page.

Step 5: To save this Attribute, click Save & Exit.

To review the Attribute’s Members, click the Members icon (  ).

A Members page displays the Members of this Attribute (for example, the colors in a Color Attribute).

You can now add this Attribute to Hierarchies in this Dimension.

Attributes for Account Number Dimensions

The Attributes for your Account Number Dimension(s) work differently from Attributes of other Dimensions. Planning Maestro comes with several default Attributes for Account Number Dimensions, including:

1. Account Groups – Planning Maestro provides 150 Account Groups to help you categorize your GL Accounts. You can add more Account Groups if needed.

Some of these Account Groups include Trade Payable, Prepaid Expenses, and Work in Process.

2. Account Type – Each Account Group belongs to an Account Type. Account Types are larger categorizations for Account Groups. They may include Operating Expense or Cost of Sales.

3. Account Type Groups – Account Type is an Attribute of the Account Group Attribute, or a larger grouping. There are six Account Type Groups:

• Assets
• Expenses
• Liabilities
• Equity
• Revenue
• Memorandum (statistical accounts)

Relationship between Account Type Groups, Account Types, and Account Groups:

 Example of a grouping of Account Type Group, Account Types, and Account Groups:

You can view your Account Groups, Account Types, and Account Type Groups when you open your Account Number Dimension and select the Attributes tab.

Account Number Attributes have several other types to help you organize your GL Accounts and your Reports. On the Attributes page, scroll right to see the type or category of each Attribute:

Cash Flow	Cash Flow Group	Period Data	Sign Display
An Attribute Type for Attributes that shows the type of Cash Flow for this Account Group – for example, a gain or loss from the sale of assets, or cash paid to suppliers.	Categorizes Cash Flows into Operating (spent on Operating Expenses), Adjustments (moved between accounts), Investing (used in investments), Finance (related to loans), and Undesignated (not related to Cash Flow).	Shows whether the Attribute is related to an Activity (Revenue or Expense) or Balance (Asset, Liability, or Equity).	Shows whether this Account Group’s sign should be Natural (positive stays positive and negative stays negative) or Reversed (positive becomes negative and negative becomes positive).  Example: Revenue Account Groups are reversed because you want them to display as positive in reports.

 

Reset Balance Each Fiscal Year	Total Column Calculation	Do Not Sum	VarianceType
Mark this checkbox for temporary GL Accounts (especially Revenue and Expenses) to make sure they “roll over” or reset their amounts each Fiscal Year.	Shows whether the Account Group displays a Total (adds up the amount of certain accounts, such as Revenue or Expenses), Average (takes the average of certain accounts, such as Price or Cost), or None (should not be added up, such as units or percentages).	Shows whether the Account Group should add up all its accounts (for monetary accounts) or not (for unit or percent accounts).	Shows whether this account is Favorable to your company (Revenue, Assets, Equity) or Unfavorable (Expense or Liability).

 

Editing Attributes

Step 1: To edit a Dimension Attribute, follow steps 1-3 above to open the Dimension pane and the Attributes tab.

Step 2: Edit these Attributes as needed. You can make any of the following edits:

• Change the Attribute’s Name.
• Change the Attribute’s Description.
• Assign Members of this Attribute to Members of this Dimension (for example, assign “Blue” to “Product A” so that line items charged to Product A are always classified as blue).

Step 3: To change the Attribute’s Name or Description, select the Edit icon (  ).

The Definition page opens. Edit the Name, Description, and linked Base Structures as needed.

Assigning Attributes

To assign Members of this Attribute to other Dimension Members, on the Attributes tab, click the Members icon (  ).

The Members page opens. Click the Assign icon (  ) next to the Attribute Member you want to assign.

An Assign Members popup opens. In the Members not associated with [Attribute] section, select the Dimension Member you want to assign this Attribute to and click the Add icon (  ) in the middle.

The Dimension Member appears in the Members associated with [Attribute] section.

Repeat the previous steps to add any other Member that you want to assign to this Attribute.

Then, click Apply to apply this assignment.

You can also assign Attribute Members directly using the Members tab. To make assignments using this method, select the Members tab.

The Members tab has a new column for this Attribute. This column shows which Attribute Members are assigned to Dimension Members.

To make more assignments, click Default (Attribute) to open a dropdown menu and select an Attribute Member for each Dimension Member.

Click Save.

• A confirmation message appears.
• Your assignments are saved.

After editing the Attribute’s Name, Description, Members, Member assignments, or other information, click Save.

• A confirmation message appears.
• The Attribute is updated.

Deleting Attributes

To delete a Dimension Attribute, follow steps 1-3 above to open the Dimensions page and the Attributes tab.

Step 1: Click on the Delete icon (  ) next to the Attribute you want to delete.

Step 2: Click Confirm.

• A confirmation message appears.
• The Dimension Attribute is deleted.