Reference dimensions

To specify the source and target of an allocation, you designate one of the analysis dimensions as the reference dimension and select an element from it. If you use a manual driver, you select a reference dimension for the driver, not the source. If organizations or segments are enabled for a configuration set, you can designate them as reference dimensions.

A reference dimension gives a perspective to an allocation. It is best explained by examples.

In both of these examples, a total of $500,000 is to be allocated. In the first example, the reference dimension is Organization. In the second example, the reference dimension is Segment. The examples demonstrate how the amounts allocated to a specific organization vary according to which reference dimension is selected. For example, Organization 2 is allocated $121,753 if Organization is the reference dimension but only $86,207 if Segment is the reference dimension.

Example1

In the first example, Organization is selected as the reference dimension:
Reference Dimension - Organization Selected Account $ Proportion % Allocation $
1 50,000,000 16.2 81,169
2 75,000,000 24.4 121,753
3 33,000,000 10.7 53,571
4 150,000,000 48.7 243,506
Totals: 308,000,000 100.00 500,000

When viewed from the Organization perspective, the Selected account holds a total of $308,000,000, divided between four organizations. The percentages in the Proportion column are the proportions of the $308,000,000 that are held by each organization, and the proportions of the $500,000 to be allocated. The Allocation column shows the amount allocated to each organization.

Example 2

In this second example, Segment is selected as the reference dimension:
Reference Dimension - Segment Selected Account $ Proportion % Allocation $ Organization
A 500,000,000 17.2 86,207 2
B 600,000,000 20.7 103,448 4
C 1,500,000,000 51.7 258,621 3
D 300,000,000 10.3 51,724 1
Totals: 2,900,000,000 100.00 500,000

When viewed from the Segment perspective, the selected account holds a total of $2,900,000,000. The percentages in the Proportion column are the proportions of the $2,900,000,000 in the account, and the proportions of the $500,000 to be allocated. In this example, each organization is mapped to one segment. However, mapping multiple organizations to a segment is more likely. For example, organizations 2, 5, 7 etc. might be mapped to segment A and would each receive a proportion of the $86,207.