Subcategory Selection

This article explains Subcategory Selection for variables in Model Reef.

You will learn:

Subcategories provide extra detail within a category without changing accounting behaviour.

A subcategory is a more granular label under a main category. For example:

Category: Revenue
- Subcategory: Online
- Subcategory: Retail
- Subcategory: Wholesale
Category: Opex - Marketing
- Subcategory: Paid Ads
- Subcategory: Events
- Subcategory: Brand

Subcategories let you break down totals into meaningful components.

You select subcategories in:

The Category Picker in the Variable Editor, once a main category is chosen.
The import mapping step, when line items are mapped to more granular reporting groups.
The Data Library, for central control of how imported series are classified.

The available subcategories depend on the chosen category.

Subcategories affect:

Totals at category level are simply the sum of all subcategories in that category.

Good subcategory design:

Uses clear, non overlapping labels.
Reflects how the business is managed (for example by channel, product or cost centre).
Stays stable over time so that multi year comparisons make sense.

Avoid creating too many one off subcategories that only contain a single variable. Group related items where it helps interpretation.

When mapping imported data:

Use subcategories to align source lines with your reporting structure.
Where source lines already have clear segmentation (for example product or region), preserve that structure in subcategories.

This makes imported models easier to read immediately after compilation.

Last updated 6 months ago

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