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Glossary

Aggregating Dimensions in Lucanet xP&A

Overview

The dimension aggregation function in Lucanet xP&A (Extended Planning & Analysis) determines how the values of different dimension items are combined into one value. This affects the summary value when a variable is collapsed, aggregating the variable in formulas and grouping by other dimensions (see Dimension modifiers).

Configuring the Dimension Aggregation in xP&A

By default, xP&A sums up all dimension items when aggregating a variable. To change this, right-click the variable and select a different Dimension Aggregation.

For example, if you have split Employee Benefits input by Department, it might be more appropriate to see the average of the Departments, not the total.

Shows the right-click context menu on the 'Employee Benefits' variable in xP&A. Highlighted in red are 'Aggregation' > 'Dimension aggregation', with 'Average' currently selected from the options 'Sum', 'Average', 'Median', 'Min', 'Max', 'Formula', and 'No Aggregation'.
Changing the Dimension Aggregation

Dimension Aggregation Options in xP&A

The available dimension aggregation options in xP&A are:

  • No Aggregation: can be used when there is no meaningful way to aggregate a variable - it will just show a dash instead of any number.
  • Average: takes the average value of items in the dimension
  • Min and Max: takes the minimum or the maximum value of the dimension
  • Median: takes the median value of all the items within this dimension

Note, if the variable has many dimensions, the median value will be calculated over the lowest level cells. E.g. if you have Sales variable broken down by Profit Centre A/ Profit Centre B and Product 1/ Product 2, the total median value for Sales will be calculated over four data cells that have both Profit Centre and Product specified

  • Formula: uses the variable's formula at the 'aggregate' level, to calculate an aggregation value.

    • A good example of this is to think of gross margin across two different centres:
      • Profit Centre A - $100K in Net Sales, $90K in Costs - Gross margin is 10%
      • Profit Centre B - $1M in Net sales, $500k in Costs - Gross margin is 50%
    • By default, xP&A will display the Gross Margin variable (Net Sales − Costs)/ Net Sales as a Sum - so we would see 60% as our top-level Gross Margin.
    • A common way around this is to use the Average dimension aggregation, which would display a 30% Gross Margin. This value is also incorrect, as Profit Centre B has much higher net-sales, and its impact to margin should be greater than Profit Centre A.
    • Logically - the way to do this calculation appropriately would be to add the sales and costs of both profit centres, and then apply the calculation. This is what the Formula dimension aggregation helps us achieve, giving us the correct value of 46.4%.
    • Formula aggregation calculates a total by applying the variable's formula to the aggregated input values. For example, total Gross Margin % is calculated from total Gross Profit divided by total Net Sales, rather than by adding or averaging the individual percentages.

Formula aggregation cannot be combined with manual dimension-item overrides on the same variable. If you need to enter a planning percentage for individual customers, use a separate editable assumption variable and calculate the reported percentage from the resulting amounts. Changing a percentage does not automatically change Gross Profit or Sales.

For an example, see Planning Gross Margin by Customer.

This content was generated using AI and reviewed by Lucanet subject matter experts before publication.

Page IDKB4781699

Last updated on Oct 27, 2026

Table of Contents
OverviewConfiguring the Dimension Aggregation in xP&ADimension Aggregation Options in xP&A
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