Total monthly costs are known. But as soon as management asks about individual locations or service areas, manual rework begins: invoices are reviewed, spreadsheets updated, and amounts allocated retroactively.
A common rule for allocating everyday business transactions is often missing. Purchasing knows the purpose of the order, operations knows the place of use, and the back office knows the receipt. This information must come together before meaningful analysis can be created.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers dimensions for this purpose. They add characteristics such as department or project to postings and enable corresponding analysis without creating separate general ledger accounts for each organizational unit. Microsoft Learn
Decide on the questions first, then set up the system
A dimension concept should start with the questions that management regularly needs to answer.
A trading company may want to know which branch incurs which operating costs. A service provider needs a breakdown by service area. A project-based company wants to identify which expenses are attributable to a specific order.
These questions determine the required structure. On the other hand, anyone who wants to capture every conceivable piece of information as an additional dimension increases the maintenance effort and complicates daily processing.
For an initial draft, a few clearly defined characteristics are often sufficient. For example, one dimension can describe the location, a second the service area. Whether an additional project allocation is required depends on the business model and the available analysis options.
A binding definition is important: What does each value mean, when is it used, and who decides in case of uncertainty?
General ledger accounts and dimensions answer different questions
The general ledger account describes the type of business transaction. The dimension supplements its operational allocation.
A simplified example: A maintenance invoice concerns the kitchen equipment of a branch. For internal analysis, both the type of cost and the location are relevant. A further allocation could indicate the service area.
The example illustrates the division of tasks. It does not replace a professional decision on the correct account allocation. Tax and accounting classifications should be coordinated with authorized advisors if necessary.
Even a well-structured dimension concept does not automatically answer every profitability question. A location result, for example, requires a traceable distinction between directly attributable costs and centrally borne expenses.
Practical example: Two locations, inconsistent allocations
A fictitious service company operates branches in Munich and Hamburg. Both provide technical services and administrative services. Management wants to compare monthly expenses by location and service area.
So far, the same facts have been recorded differently: One invoice is assigned the location of the ordering employee, another the actual place of use. Centrally purchased services are partly allocated entirely to Munich.
The new working rule therefore distinguishes three cases:
- Directly attributable: The service clearly concerns a location and service area.
- Central service: The expense initially remains allocated to a central area.
- Clarification required: The allocation is clarified with the responsible person before final processing.
A software setting alone would not have eliminated the different interpretations. Only the joint definition creates a reliable basis for comparison.
The example is freely chosen and does not describe a documented customer project of ELB Services.
Use guidelines and handle exceptions consciously
After the professional determination follows the technical implementation. Microsoft documents, among other things, standard dimensions, mandatory dimension specifications, and rules for permissible dimension combinations. Default values can support data entry; their priorities and behavior should be tested using typical receipts. Microsoft Learn
For the organization, this means: An automatically suggested value must fit the business transaction. A supplier can supply multiple locations. The allocation should then not be adopted from their master data without verification.
Even a mandatory field initially only ensures that an entry is present. If someone always selects the same value due to time pressure, the analysis remains unreliable despite completely filled fields.
Therefore, employees need short decision rules and an accessible contact person. Special cases should be collected so that the company can specifically improve its rules.
Shared costs need their own agreement
Expenses affecting multiple areas are particularly challenging: central administration, shared software, or cross-location services.
Two questions should be separated here: Where is the original expense recorded, and how is it allocated for internal management purposes, if at all?
A possible allocation key can be based, for example, on documented usage or another factually justified reference measure. The company must decide which measure is suitable for the respective purpose.
A flat allocation by revenue can be convenient, but it does not necessarily reflect actual resource consumption. Likewise, overly detailed recording can cause more effort than it provides for decision-making.
Management should therefore determine the desired level of accuracy and know the limitations of the analysis. A traceable, consistently applied approach is more helpful than changing individual decisions.
Start with a manageable pilot area
Instead of restructuring all postings and historical data at once, a delimited start is recommended.
Choose an area with manageable business transactions and a concrete analysis question. Then document the values, responsibilities, and most important special cases in a short work instruction.
Before productive use, typical processes should be played through in a suitable test environment: invoices that can be clearly allocated, shared costs, credits, and receipts with multiple allocations.
Acceptance also includes the subsequent analysis. Technically error-free recording is not sufficient if management cannot meaningfully interpret the results afterward.
Only after this test is it decided which rules will be adopted and which will be adjusted. Changes to the production system are made in coordination and after approval.
Regularly check data quality
A dimension concept requires ongoing maintenance. New locations, changed responsibilities, or additional services may require adjustments.
A monthly review meeting can focus on a few questions: Which processes remained unresolved? Which allocations had to be corrected? Are aggregate values being used conspicuously often? Can the report totals be reconciled with the underlying data basis?
Business Central also offers an analysis mode on supported lists and queries, with which data can be examined and summarized directly. Availability depends, among other things, on the version, permissions, and the respective page. Microsoft Learn
The benefit arises from concrete decisions: Does a process need to be changed, an allocation rule specified, or a cost development examined more closely?
Address historical errors specifically
Incorrect allocations in already posted data should be treated as a separate work package. First, it must be determined which time periods are actually required for current management.
Microsoft describes a function for correcting dimensions of general ledger items, including validation. However, this does not imply a blanket correction of all connected data sets or analyses. The concrete scope and effects must be checked in advance. Microsoft Learn
Document the reason, selection, and approval of each cleanup. Then compare the relevant reports before and after the change. In parallel, the cause must be eliminated from the ongoing process.
ELB Services supports with the concept and implementation
ELB Services supports companies in structuring commercial analysis questions, defining responsibilities, and further developing processes around Business Central.
Agenda is, according to Managing Director Jan Wilhelm, the currently installed standard software for the company's own management and client support. The Business Central focus described here concerns the corresponding consulting service; an automatic connection of both systems is not assumed.
Would you like to analyze costs by location or service area in a traceable manner? Discuss your existing data basis and the decisions that should support your analyses in the future with ELB Services.
Schedule an initial consultation with ELB Services
Manufacturer sources · checked on October 29, 2026
The functional descriptions refer to the Microsoft documentation available on this date. Setup, version, and extensions may influence the available functional scope.
- Microsoft Learn: Working with dimensions
- Microsoft Learn: Data analysis on list pages and queries
- Microsoft Learn: Troubleshooting and correcting dimensions
Five keywords: Business Central dimensions · cost center Business Central · location controlling · commercial process optimization · Business Central consulting