Introduction to Aggregation

How to use Aggregation to improve Model structure

Overview

As described in the Dimensions documentation, Dimensions allow you to improve the quality of your Models while reducing complexity, by removing repetition of Calculations.

For instance, you might have several cost items in a business (e.g. Marketing, Salaries, IT, Rent) that you need to perform some common calculations on, such as working capital adjustments.

To do this efficiently, it is best to have these cost items in a single Variable, in this case using a Cost Type or similar Dimension. However, the individual cost items are all calculated differently (e.g. Salaries and Rent), so we cannot use the Cost Type Dimension for all Calculations - we need to first calculate the individual items separately, and then bring them together under one Variable. This is where we use Aggregation.

Aggregation Example

Example of a Variable using Aggregation

The screenshot above shows the preview for a Variable using Aggregation. The Variable uses a Dimension, Cost Type (1), with seven children (Central staff, Gym staff, etc...).

The Variable has a single Time Segment (2) that uses an Aggregation Formula in which the Cost Item Variables are referenced.

Note that the Row Summary is set to Sum, providing an automatic sum of the seven Variables. This is a much cleaner method of adding these Variables together than creating a dedicated Calculation: (Central Staff + Gym staff + Marketing cost + etc...)

The next section explains how to create and configure an Aggregation Variable.