Setting Up Attributes for Attribute Hierarchies

3 Minutes to read

Print
Dark
Light
PDF

Article summary

Did you find this summary helpful?

Thank you for your feedback

Overview

Attributes must be defined before creating the attribute hierarchy. Attributes are used to report and aggregate leaf-level dimension data based on traits. For example, a Department dimension is associated with the division attribute dimension where members are categorized based on profits.

List of Attribute Types

Whenever you are creating attributes, you can see the following types of attributes:

Type	Description
Reference to Segment	Select to assign the attribute to a defined segment. Used when the attribute is linked to another dimension in the reporting area.
Text	Attribute value expects alphanumeric values which change from one member to another in the hierarchy
Date	Attribute value changes from one member to another and the valid input is the date
Month	Attribute value changes from one member to another and the valid input is the month
Year	Enables the default year field
List	Specify allowed values. Enter the number and select Add to insert rows
Float	Enables the Default Value field which may be used to enter precise numerical values
Integer	To enter a number without a decimal to associate with the attribute
Dimension	Available when “Reference to Dimension” is selected so that the attribute may reference a dimension

Attribute Types Examples

Reference to Segment Attribute Type Example:
Dimension: Countries
Hierarchy:
- America
  - United States
  - Canada
  - Mexico
  - Brazil
- Europe
  - U.K
  - Germany
  - France
  - Italy
  - Switzerland
- Asia-Pacific
  - India
  - China
  - Japan
  - Singapore
  - Australia
    Now, if you want to use these leaf members as attribute values in another dimension (e.g., Customer), set up the attribute as follows:
Dimension: Customer
Attribute: Country
Attribute Values: India, China, USA, etc.
These values will be displayed in the Customer hierarchy properties pane, allowing selection as needed. For Sales budgeting and forecasting, you can create an attribute on the Sales dimension as a separate reporting hierarchy or associate it with an existing sales dimension.
Text Attribute Type Example:
- Dimension: Customer
- Attribute: City
- Values: Springfield, Maplewood, Rivertown
  OR
- Dimension: Customer
- Attribute: Contact Number
- Values: 555-1234, 555-5678, 555-9876
  OR
- Dimension: Customer
- Attribute: Email ID
- Values: user@company.com, support@domain.org
Date Attribute Type Example:
- Dimension: Company
- Attribute: Date of Incorporation
- Values: 01/15/2021, 07/20/2022, 10/05/2024
- Month/Year: Used for associating months or years with attributes, such as a product launch year.
  
  Example:
- Dimension: Product
- Attribute: Year of Introduction
- Values: 2023, 2024, 2025
List Attribute Type Example:
Dimension: Product
Attribute: Category
Values: Budget, Standard, Premium
Float/Integer Attribute Type Example
Dimension: Product
Attribute: Shelf Life (hours)
Values: 24, 48, 72

Attributes

Attributes are created in Hierarchy Management and can be added within the Finance Hierarchies Setup page. Attributes may be used in the budget entity hierarchy as well as in Dynamic Reporting.

Leaf-level members of one dimension can be used as the attribute value on another dimension. For example, if Countries is a dimension, the leaf level members of the Countries dimension can be used as an attribute for the Customer dimension. A Reference to Segment attribute type could be used and referenced to the Customer.
User-defined attributes are optional but highly useful for tailoring reports to specific needs.
For Financial Segments, you can define up to 25 attributes across 8 dimensions, depending on your application configuration.

How to Navigate to Attribute Setup?

To navigate to Attribute Setup, follow these steps:

Navigate to Maintenance and Hierarchy Management.
Click Edit Hierarchy to open the Hierarchy Management interface in Edit Mode.
If your Default View is set to Edit Mode, the interface will automatically open in Edit Mode.
Under Hierarchy Selection,
1. Select Type as Finance Hierarchies.
2. Select the Hierarchy and Dimension to which you want to add the Attribute (for example, Department).
Click Setup.
On the Finance Hierarchies Setup page, click Attribute Setup. The Finance Attributes page appears.
On the Finance Attributes page, you will see the following options:
1. Add: To add a new attribute.
2. Edit: To edit an existing attribute. Note that you can edit an attribute ONLY if Used in Reporting is set to No.
3. Delete: To delete an existing attribute.
4. Move Up / Move Down: To reposition attributes on the page.
5. Save Display Order: Saves the position of the attributes on the page.
6. Attribute Member(s): To access the Attribute Members List page. This allows you to view, delete, and export attribute members (for attributes with an attribute type of Text). You can also click Output to export the Attribute Members List to Excel for printing, viewing, or reporting purposes.
7. Filter and Export: To apply filter and narrow down the search results using the Filter option and to export the Attribute Members List to Excel for printing, viewing, or reporting purposes.

Was this article helpful?

What's Next

How to Add Financial Attributes from Attribute Setup in Hierarchy Management?

Table of contents