Dimension Mapping
Dimension mapping translates the accounting codes that Certify carries — its General Ledger Dimensions (GLDs) and the department — into Business Central dimensions and dimension values. This page explains how it works.
Certify GLDs and the Department
Each Certify expense line can carry up to five Expense Report GLDs, plus a department. Each GLD has three parts:
- Label — the name of the dimension in Certify (for example, "Project" or "Cost Center").
- Code — the value (for example, "P100").
- Name — the description of that value.
The app maps the GLD label to a Business Central dimension and the GLD code to a Business Central dimension value.
The Dimension Mapping Table
Open Dimension Mapping from the Certify Setup card. Each row maps one Certify label/value pair to a Business Central dimension/value:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Certify Label | The GLD label (or the department dimension name) from Certify. |
| Certify Value | The GLD value/code from Certify. |
| Dimension | The Business Central dimension code. |
| Dimension Value | The Business Central dimension value code. |
Harvesting Dimensions Automatically
Building this table by hand would be tedious, so the app provides a Harvest Dimensions from Expense Reports action. When you run it, the app:
- Pulls all expense reports from Certify.
- Loads the expense lines for each report.
- Scans every line for GLD labels/values and the department.
- For each label/value it finds, it automatically:
- Creates the Business Central dimension if it does not exist (using the label as the code/description).
- Creates the dimension value if it does not exist (using the code and name).
- Creates the mapping row linking the Certify label/value to that dimension/value.
This gives you a complete, ready-to-use mapping built from your real data. You can then adjust any rows where you want the Certify value to map to a differently named Business Central dimension or value.
Tip: Run Harvest Dimensions after go-live and whenever new projects, cost centers, or departments appear in Certify, to keep the mapping complete.
The Department Dimension
The Department Dimension field on the Setup card names the Business Central dimension that the Certify department maps to. When set, the department on each expense line is translated through the dimension mapping (using the Department Dimension as the label and the department code as the value).
Categories can also be filtered by department in Certify; the category page's department lookup uses this same Department Dimension.
How Mapping Is Applied at Posting Time
For each generated journal line, the app processes each GLD (1–5) and the department:
- It looks for an exact mapping row matching both the Certify label and the Certify value. If found, it applies the mapped dimension value.
- If no exact value match exists, it looks for a mapping row for the label only and applies the Certify code directly as the dimension value.
- For the department, if no mapping row exists, the app applies the department code directly to the Department Dimension.
If a dimension value does not actually exist in Business Central, that dimension is simply not added to the line (the rest of the line still posts). This is why harvesting — which creates the values — is the recommended way to build the mapping.
Tips and Best Practices
- Use Harvest Dimensions to bootstrap the mapping, then refine.
- Avoid free-text accounting codes in Certify for values that must be validated in Business Central; map them explicitly here.
- Keep the Department Dimension set if you code expenses by department.