Disaggregation of Values during Data Entry
For planning models, data is stored in leaf members of each dimension hierarchy. Parent nodes only show the aggregated values of their children, and generally don't contain values on their own.
Therefore, when you enter a value in a table cell, the value is automatically spread to leaf members that aggregate up to that cell. This process is called disaggregation.
When you change a booked value, the leaf members that aggregate up to that value are adjusted proportionally to reflect your change.
- If the Unassigned member (#) is available as a leaf member of the source cell, this member receives the same value as the source cell, and other members of the dimension remain unbooked.
- The Unassigned member may not available, for example, because it is filtered out
of the table, because it does not aggregate up to the source cell, or because it
does not exist for dimensions such as Time and Account. In these cases, the
value is spread to leaf members based on the dimension’s aggregation type:
Aggregation type
Description
SUM
The source value is divided equally among the leaf members. For example, if you enter one million in a cell with two leaf members, the leaf members receive 500,000 each.
AVERAGE
Each leaf member receives the same value as the source cell. In this case, the leaf members receive one million each.
NONE
Each leaf member receives the same value as the source cell. The leaf members receive one million each.
FIRST
The first leaf member receives the same value as the source cell. If you enter one million for Q1 using the calendar year, for example, January receives one million.
LAST
The last leaf member receives the same value as the source cell. If you enter one million for Q1, March receives one million.
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Values cannot be disaggregated for dimensions that use MIN, MAX, and COUNT. You can enter data directly to the leaf members of these dimensions, whether the members are booked or unbooked.
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If you enter data for an aggregated account member, its children may include different account types such as Income and Asset accounts as well as Expense and Liabilities and Equity accounts. In this case, accounts with different aggregation behavior from the source account do not receive values from spreading.
For more information on the aggregation types and sign switching, see Attributes of an Account Dimension.
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After the value is booked to an Unassigned member in the table, select it and select
Distribute Values
to distribute the value to other members. -
To prevent values from being booked to the Unassigned member, filter the dimension and select all members except the Unassigned member. You can apply this filter to an individual table by selecting Add Filters in the Builder panel, or to the entire story by selecting
(Story Filter) from the top navigation panel.
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If your model contains many dimensions where the Unassigned member is not available, spreading data to all leaf members for each dimension may result in slow performance. In this case, you'll either get a warning about slower performance, or a message to filter the data or change the target cell to create fewer data records in a single operation.
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In some cases where you are working with more than one hierarchy for a dimension, data may be booked directly to parent nodes. For more information, see Entering Values with Multiple Hierarchies.