BI Analytics — Perspectives and hierarchies
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Who can do this
Section titled “Who can do this”Available on the Elite plan, currently in beta with selective customer access. If you do not see BI Analytics in the navigation, contact support to enable it for your account.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”Every BI report has a single dropdown in the table header showing the current perspective + hierarchy combination. Click it to switch.
The 9 combinations
Section titled “The 9 combinations”| # | Combination | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client → Topics → Members | For each client, show topic breakdown, then drill to members per topic |
| 2 | Client → Members → Topics *(default)* | For each client, show which members worked, then which topics they touched |
| 3 | Client → Members → Services | Billing only. Per client, show team then which services they delivered |
| 4 | Client → Services → Topics | Billing only. Per client, show services delivered, drill to underlying topics |
| 5 | Member → Clients → Topics *(default)* | For each member, show their clients, drill to topics |
| 6 | Member → Topics → Clients | For each member, show which topics they specialised in, drill to clients |
| 7 | Topic → Clients → Members *(default)* | For each topic, show which clients used it, drill to members |
| 8 | Topic → Members → Clients | For each topic, show which members worked it, drill to clients |
| 9 | Service → Clients → Members | Billing only. For each service line, show top clients, drill to members |
Three anchor groups
Section titled “Three anchor groups”Client-anchored (4 combinations): Best for account managers, CFOs, anyone who thinks in client portfolios. Default for: Production Overview, Revenue Overview, Billing Health, AR Aging, Budget Overview, Monitoring Overview.
Member-anchored (2 combinations): Best for team leads, HR. Default for: Production by Members, Revenue by Members, Utilization Overview, Work Completion.
Topic-anchored (2 combinations): Best for practice owners thinking by service line at the topic level. Default for: Production by Topics.
Service-anchored (1 combination): Best for practice owners thinking by product-level service line. Default for: Service Lines. Requires billing feature.
What changes when you switch perspective
Section titled “What changes when you switch perspective”- The table re-anchors and rebuilds rows
- Column visibility may adjust (member-only columns hide on a topic perspective)
- Charts that depend on perspective re-render
- Health chips re-aggregate (member perspective shows member-level chips, not client-level)
- The URL gets
view=…andhierarchy=…parameters - The system report detaches into a custom view — see Filters, bookmarks, and custom views
What stays the same
Section titled “What stays the same”Date period, entity filters (client, topic, person), currency, and compare mode. Only the grouping changes — the data scope is unchanged.
Drill-down behaviour
Section titled “Drill-down behaviour”Click the chevron on any L1 row to expand to L2; click L2 to expand to L3. Three levels is the maximum.
| Hierarchy | L1 | L2 | L3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client → Members → Topics | Client | Member under client | Topic under member |
| Client → Topics → Members | Client | Topic under client | Member under topic |
| Member → Clients → Topics | Member | Client under member | Topic under client |
| Topic → Clients → Members | Topic | Client under topic | Member under client |
| Service → Clients → Members | Service | Client under service | Member under client |
Each level recomputes its own KPIs from the rows it contains — drill-down arithmetic always agrees with the parent total.
When to use which perspective
Section titled “When to use which perspective”- “Is client X profitable?” → Client-anchored (default). Drill into the client to see which members and topics drive cost vs production.
- “Is member X profitable?” → Member-anchored. Drill into the member to see which clients yield best.
- “Are we losing money on bookkeeping work?” → Topic-anchored. Find the bookkeeping topic.
- “Which service line is the revenue engine?” → Service-anchored.
- “Show me by topic but anchored on client” → Client → Topics → Members.
Cross-perspective consistency
Section titled “Cross-perspective consistency”Same data slice, different grouping — totals must agree. If you sum the L1 rows on the member view and on the client view (same filters, same dates), you get the same total. If you ever see a difference, treat it as a bug and report it.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”I switched perspective and the report changed to “Custom”
Section titled “I switched perspective and the report changed to “Custom””Switching perspective is a display parameter change — system reports detach when any display parameter changes. To save your view, click Save bookmark. To return to the system report, click the bookmark dropdown and pick the system report name.
I don’t see the Service perspective
Section titled “I don’t see the Service perspective”The service-anchored perspective requires the billing feature. Check Settings & Apps to confirm billing is active.
When I drill down, numbers don’t add up to the parent
Section titled “When I drill down, numbers don’t add up to the parent”This should not happen. Verify that filters did not change between expansions and the period is the same. If still inconsistent, file a bug.