Understanding rows, columns, analysis views and the report shell that ties it all together
Financial reporting in Business Central looks simple from the front end: pick a report, choose a date range, print.
Behind that button click sit four connected components. Once you understand how each part works, you gain the confidence to build reports that behave the way finance users expect.
I like to explain these four components in the order the system “thinks” through them: rows, columns, analysis views and then the financial report setup itself.
Even though financial report definitions may look basic, they quietly shape nearly every conversation about performance, accuracy and trust in the numbers. When you’re committed to sharing the Righter Way, you don’t skip over the fundamentals. You revisit them. You make them clearer. You create a stronger foundation so people can build confidently on top of it.
Most reporting problems I’m asked to troubleshoot trace back to the basics: a row definition that doesn’t match the chart, a column formula pointing to the wrong period, or an analysis view that was never rebuilt. These aren’t advanced issues. They’re structural ones. And when the structure is off, everything built on it wobbles.
That’s why it matters. The Righter Way is about giving people the tools to understand not just the “how,” but the “why,” so they can diagnose issues themselves and trust the results they rely on every day.
There’s also no shortage of financial reporting content out there, but most of it comes from an accountant’s perspective. That’s valuable, but it doesn’t help the everyday user who just wants to understand why a report looks the way it does. My approach is different. I explain these concepts in a way anyone can follow — no CPA required — because the average user can do this, and the right explanation makes all the difference.
Row Definitions: The structure of the story
A row definition is the blueprint for the vertical structure of the report. It lists the lines that appear on the statement and tells the system which accounts belong to each line.
It decides:
- What accounts are included
- How they are grouped
- Where subtotals and totals appear
The row definition is the narrative flow of the financial statement. If the rows are wrong, the report will never tell the right story, no matter what you do with columns or filters.
Column Definitions: The context and comparison
Row definitions decide what you show. Column definitions decide how you show it.
A column definition establishes the meaning of each column, such as:
- Current month
- Prior month
- Year to date
- Budget
- Variances
- Ratios
Columns are also where Business Central date formulas live (for example CM, PM, FY and TPM). They add the time and comparison context that turns your row structure into real insight.
Analysis Views: Required for anything beyond the global dimensions
Analysis views provide a summarized slice of the general ledger based on selected dimensions. They serve two important purposes:
- They support performance by letting Business Central aggregate dimension data efficiently.
- They enable dimensional reporting and are required any time you want to report on dimensions beyond the two global dimensions.
If your financial report needs program, product line, territory, project or any other non global dimension, you must connect the report to an analysis view that includes those dimension codes.
Analysis views are the middle layer that make dimension heavy reporting possible. Without them, Business Central cannot produce those numbers.
Even though financial report definitions may look basic, they quietly shape nearly every conversation about performance, accuracy and trust in the numbers. When you’re committed to sharing the Righter Way, you don’t skip over the fundamentals. You revisit them. You make them clearer. You create a stronger foundation so people can build confidently on top of it.
Most reporting problems I’m asked to troubleshoot trace back to the basics: a row definition that doesn’t match the chart, a column formula pointing to the wrong period, or an analysis view that was never rebuilt. These aren’t advanced issues. They’re structural ones. And when the structure is off, everything built on it wobbles.
That’s why it matters. The Righter Way is about giving people the tools to understand not just the “how,” but the “why,” so they can diagnose issues themselves and trust the results they rely on every day.
Financial Report Setup: The shell that binds everything together
Once rows, columns and analysis views exist, Business Central needs a place to assemble them into a runnable report. That is the Financial Report setup page.
Here you connect:
- The row definition
- The column definition
- The analysis view (optional, but required for non global dimension reporting)
- The name and internal name for the report
This is the step where all the parts become a functional report that can be run, saved and shared.
Bringing it all together
When you line the four components up, you can see their natural flow:
Rows → Columns → Analysis View (when needed) → Report Setup
If you ever troubleshoot a report, that is the order you should walk through. A missing account range, a date formula issue or a forgotten rebuild on an analysis view can all lead to unexpected results.
Understanding these four pieces gives you the confidence and speed to diagnose and correct issues quickly, and to design reports that match exactly how your finance team thinks about the business.
Sharing the Righter WayTM
Created as part of Sharing the Righter Way, this article combines my Business Central experience with AI-supported research and drafting. AI helps me explore options and accelerate analysis, while every conclusion and recommendation reflects my own professional judgment.
