Lesson 3 of 5
Analytical apps
7 min
When the question is "how much" rather than "which", you want an analytical app. These apps aggregate data and let you change how it is grouped without building a new report each time. In SAP S/4HANA they read live data, so a billing document posted a minute ago is already in the totals.
Measures and dimensions
Analytical apps use two kinds of fields. A measure (also called a key figure) is a number that can be summed or otherwise aggregated: net value, quantity, number of documents, amount in company code currency. A dimension (also called a characteristic) is an attribute you group or filter by: customer, product, plant, sales organization, month. Every analytical view is some measures broken down by some dimensions.
Analytical list page
An analytical list page combines a chart and a table on one page. Its header can show a visual filter bar, where each filter is a small chart (for example, value by customer); clicking a bar in that chart filters the whole page. The content area can show the chart, the table or both together. Selecting a segment in the chart filters the table to the records behind it, so you can go from "Great Lakes Fleet Services is our largest customer this quarter" to the actual documents in two clicks.
Use an analytical list page when you need to find which records explain a total, for example which overdue items make up the biggest share of debt, and then act on them.
Multidimensional reports
A multidimensional report shows an analytical query as a pivot-style grid. Dimensions sit in rows or columns, measures fill the cells. A navigation panel lets you drag dimensions between rows, columns and the list of available fields, filter on any dimension, drill down from a total into its parts, and add or remove totals. You can save the current navigation state as a bookmark, share it, export the result, and in many cases create a launchpad tile that opens with your saved settings. Many standard reports in finance and controlling use this format, and their names often end in "Flexible Analysis".
| Action in a multidimensional report | Contoso example |
|---|---|
| Put a dimension in rows | Customer in rows shows billed value per customer |
| Add a second dimension to columns | Month in columns turns the list into a customer-by-month grid |
| Filter on a dimension | Product = CMC-ALT-100 only |
| Drill down | Expand Great Lakes Fleet Services to see value by product |
| Swap axes | Move month to rows and customer to columns for a different reading |
| Save a bookmark | Save "Alternator sales by customer and month" to reuse and share |
KPIs and overview pages
Some roles also see KPI tiles showing a single measure against a target, with a color for good or bad, and overview pages with several cards summarizing an area. Both are starting points: click through to the underlying app to see the detail before you act or report a number.
What would you do?
Dan wants to know which customers drive the jump in overdue receivables this month and then see the individual items. Which app type fits best?
- Measures are numbers that aggregate; dimensions are attributes you group and filter by.
- An analytical list page links a chart and a table so you can move from a total to the records.
- A multidimensional report is a pivot-style grid: drag dimensions, filter, drill down, bookmark.
- KPI tiles and overview pages are starting points; drill into the detail before acting.
- Watch for mixed currencies and units in totals.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. In an analytical app, what is a measure?
2. What happens when you select a bar in the chart of an analytical list page?
3. In a multidimensional report, what does a bookmark save?
4. Why should you not add values in different currencies in a spreadsheet?