We talked in the last blog post about what dimensions are. Now let’s talk about how they can save you LOTS of time!
Just to recap from our last blog, dimensions in Intacct are ways to classify accounting transactions that are independent of the chart of accounts. In other words, one could use a dimension to track departments, divisions, product lines, projects, employees, contracts, grants and much more. This is a great feature in Intacct because it allows a company to have a SMALL chart of accounts and use multiple INDEPENDENT dimensions to tag the transactions for later reporting purposes.
Now, let’s talk about how dimensions can make your company perform better without a lot of extra effort!
Suppose, for example, that you are a software development company about to launch the version 5 of your calendar management application, Calendar. In a typical accounting system, you would be able to create, perhaps, a project for Calendar version 5 and charge development time and expenses to the product. You might even be able to post payables invoices against the project for Calendar 5. You may not, however, be able to post all sales, all general ledger adjustments, all revenue entries and more to the project.
With Intacct, however, our software company would be able to setup dimensions to track the Calendar application. For example, a “Product” dimension could be established to track the Calendar v5 application – along with all the other products they produce. Once the dimension is created, it is immediately available for any and all of the transactions in Intacct – General Ledger, Receivables, Payables, Time Entry, Revenue Management, Fixed Assets and more.
The end result then is a software company with a simplified general ledger chart of accounts – typically just one segment as outlined in the previous blog post – and a number of dimensions for transaction coding purposes. Intacct then gives you the power to report financial statements, trial balances, receivables and much more by the product dimension. You no longer have to worry about how profitable the new Calendar v5 product is; you simply pull up a report and see the real-time data for yourself.
Dimensions can do many things for any organization running Intacct. They allow a company to have a very simple chart of accounts, while maintaining the ability to report and analyze data on multiple different levels and criteria. Dimensions have the ability to simplify your accounting and make you more efficient, while magnifying your reporting.
Contact us today to find out how dimensions could make your accounting easier!
