> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.francis.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Breakdowns

> Split your financial model across entities or dimensions like departments or projects.

Breakdowns split your model so you can plan and review data per sub-unit. You can apply a breakdown to an entire sheet or to a single row.

## Sheet breakdown vs. line item breakdown

A breakdown applies at one of two levels.

**Sheet breakdown** splits the entire sheet. The sheet becomes the parent sheet, its structure deployed across subsheets. Use this when you want a consistent structure across entities, departments, or similar. An example is a P\&L per entity or department.

**Line item breakdown** splits a single row. Use this when only one line needs to be split. Examples include splitting a revenue line by product or splitting CAPEX by project.

## Sheet breakdown

Sheet breakdowns come in two types: entity and dimension. Entity comes first and is always the foundation. Dimension breakdowns, by department, channel, or project, sit under entity subsheets.

### How it works

When you apply a sheet breakdown, the sheet becomes the parent sheet.

Structure flows top-down: sections, groups, rows, and calculations you define on the parent sheet sync automatically to all subsheets. Formulas in calculations run locally on each subsheet against that subsheet's data. You build the structure once and every subsheet inherits it. You cannot change structure locally on a subsheet.

Data flows bottom-up: actuals, budget and forecast data in rows live on the subsheets and roll up to the parent sheet automatically. You cannot edit row values directly on the parent sheet.

Actuals filter automatically to each subsheet based on your account mappings. Set up the mappings on the parent sheet and the breakdown routes each entity's and dimension's actuals to the correct subsheet.

Formulas on subsheets can reference other sheets in your model using standard Francis formula syntax.

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton ApS" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.File name="Sales" />

      <Tree.File name="Marketing" />

      <Tree.File name="Finance" />
    </Tree.Folder>

    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton Inc" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.File name="Sales" />

      <Tree.File name="Marketing" />

      <Tree.File name="Finance" />
    </Tree.Folder>
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

<Note>Veloton ApS and Veloton Inc are created by an entity breakdown. Sales, Marketing, and Finance are created by a dimension breakdown on each entity.</Note>

<Warning>
  Applying a breakdown removes any forecasts and manual entries on the sheet. Apply breakdowns before you start forecasting, not after.
</Warning>

### Apply an entity breakdown

Hover over the consolidated sheet, open the action menu (...), choose **Breakdown**, and select **Entity**. Francis creates one subsheet for each of the first 20 entities. If you have more than 20, the remainder roll up into an **Unallocated** subsheet. Use **Adjust breakdown** to add individual subsheets for entities 21, 22, and so on.

### Apply a dimension breakdown

Dimensions come straight from your accounting system. When you connect it, Francis detects every dimension and dimension value tagged on your journal entries, so the dimensions available to break down by, department, project, channel, or whatever your system carries, need no setup on your side.

Hover over the entity subsheet you want to break down, open the action menu (...), choose **Breakdown**, and select your dimension. Francis creates one subsheet for each of the first 20 dimension values. If you have more than 20, the remainder roll up into an **Unallocated** subsheet. Use **Adjust breakdown** to add individual subsheets for additional values. Journal entries with no value for that dimension also fall into **Unallocated**, so every actual is accounted for even when it isn't tagged.

On a multi-entity model, apply the entity breakdown before the dimension breakdown. Francis treats dimension values locally, per accounting-system connection: even with a shared dimension like "department" across a group, each entity's values are evaluated separately and are not matched across entities. Applying a dimension breakdown first therefore only affects the dimension from a single entity and won't give you unified dimensions across the group.

Each breakdown layer multiplies the total number of subsheets you maintain. Two entities broken down by three dimension values gives six subsheets. Break each of those down by three further values and you have eighteen. Plan your breakdown structure before you start. Adding layers later means more subsheets to update, and changing the breakdown midway drops any forecasts entered on the subsheets that get broken down further or removed.

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton ApS" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.Folder name="Sales" defaultOpen>
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>

      <Tree.Folder name="Marketing">
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>

      <Tree.Folder name="Finance">
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>
    </Tree.Folder>

    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton Inc" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.Folder name="Sales" defaultOpen>
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>

      <Tree.Folder name="Marketing">
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>

      <Tree.Folder name="Finance">
        <Tree.File name="Project Apollo" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Bison" />

        <Tree.File name="Project Candy" />
      </Tree.Folder>
    </Tree.Folder>
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

<Note>Entity breakdown: Veloton ApS and Veloton Inc. Dimension breakdown (department): Sales, Marketing, Finance. Dimension breakdown (project): Project Apollo, Project Bison, Project Candy. Each additional layer multiplies the number of subsheets to maintain.</Note>

### Additional settings

Once a breakdown is applied, three additional options appear in the action menu (...) on the parent sheet.

**Add sheet** creates a subsheet that is not tied to an entity or dimension value. Name it anything. Use this for consolidation adjustments that should only affect the consolidated view: eliminations, intercompany corrections, or top-level adjustments that must not flow back to individual entity or department P\&Ls. It also makes it easy to add new entities or departments over time. Build out the subsheet manually and map the accounting system or department later.

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.File name="Veloton ApS" />

    <Tree.File name="Veloton Inc" />

    <Tree.File name="Eliminations" />
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

<Note>Eliminations is just another subsheet added manually, following the same structure as the other sheets.</Note>

**Add roll-up** creates a consolidated view of a subset of subsheets. Open the action menu on the parent sheet, choose **Add roll-up**, and drag the relevant subsheets into it. The roll-up shows a combined view of those subsheets without affecting the individual subsheets themselves. Use this when you want a subconsolidation sitting below the full consolidated view.

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.Folder name="Sales & Marketing (roll-up)" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.File name="Sales" />

      <Tree.File name="Marketing" />
    </Tree.Folder>

    <Tree.File name="Finance" />

    <Tree.File name="Operations" />

    <Tree.File name="HR" />
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

<Note>The Sales & Marketing roll-up shows a combined view of those two subsheets. Finance, Operations, and HR remain independent. The roll-up does not affect any of the individual subsheets.</Note>

**Adjust breakdown** lets you rename subsheet values and group multiple values together. Use this to combine departments or dimension values that you want to report as one (for example, grouping Sales and Marketing into a single subsheet). Values you don't need can be grouped into an unallocated bucket to keep the model clean while ensuring completeness.

<Note>
  When a new entity or dimension value appears in your data, Francis shows a notification on the relevant subsheet. To add it to your breakdown: click the notification or open **Adjust breakdown**, then drag the unassigned value onto a subsheet.
</Note>

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.File name="Sales & Marketing" />

    <Tree.File name="Finance" />

    <Tree.File name="Operations" />

    <Tree.File name="Unallocated" />
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

<Note>Sales and Marketing have been grouped into a single subsheet using Adjust breakdown. The underlying data from both dimension values is preserved and rolls up into the combined sheet.</Note>

## Line item breakdown

A line item breakdown splits a single row rather than the whole sheet. Hover over the row, open the action menu (...), choose **Breakdown**, and select the dimension to split by. Francis creates one subrow per dimension value directly below the parent row. The parent row becomes a read-only roll-up of all subrows. The same 20-value limit applies: if the dimension has more than 20 values, the remainder roll up into an **Unallocated** subrow. Use **Adjust breakdown** to add subrows for additional values.

## Common use cases

### Revenue by product

Apply a line item breakdown to the revenue row using product as the dimension. Each product gets its own subrow. If you also apply the same breakdown to COGS, the gross profit row at the parent level reflects gross profit per product automatically, without a separate sheet or calculation.

### CAPEX by project

Apply a line item breakdown to the CAPEX row using project as the dimension. Each project gets its own subrow for the investment amount. This keeps the balance sheet clean while giving you project-level visibility on where capital is being deployed.

### Channel reporting

Break down each entity by channel (retail, wholesale, e-commerce) with a sheet breakdown. Use this when revenue mix and margin profile differ significantly by channel and you want channel-level forecasting alongside the entity view.

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="Consolidated" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton ApS" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.File name="Retail" />

      <Tree.File name="Wholesale" />

      <Tree.File name="E-commerce" />
    </Tree.Folder>

    <Tree.Folder name="Veloton Inc" defaultOpen>
      <Tree.File name="Retail" />

      <Tree.File name="Wholesale" />

      <Tree.File name="E-commerce" />
    </Tree.Folder>
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

## See in action

See breakdowns in practice in the [Consolidation](/masterclasses/consolidation/consolidation) and [Department P\&Ls](/masterclasses/consolidation/department-pnls) masterclasses.