Element Types Reference
The Reporting pane in Workday OfficeConnect groups all available content into element types. This reference defines each type, the data source it applies to, and the typical role it plays in a report.
Quick table
| Element | Adaptive Planning | Financials | Typical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account | ✓ | ✓ (as Ledger Account) | Rows in P&L, BS, expense reports |
| Version | ✓ | ✓ | Identifies which plan/actuals snapshot |
| Time | ✓ | ✓ | Columns in trend reports |
| Level | ✓ | ✓ (as Company) | Organizational scope (department, region) |
| Attribute | ✓ | ✓ | Slicer or filter (Department Type, Product Family) |
| Custom Dimension | ✓ | ✓ (as Dimension / Worktag) | Project Code, Region, Customer |
| Element Group | ✓ | — | Pre-grouped collection of elements |
| Label | ✓ | ✓ | Free text annotation (not Adaptive data) |
| Modeled Account | ✓ | — | Calculated account with drill-down to its components |
Account
Adaptive Planning: A line item that holds a value, such as Salaries, Travel, or Total Revenue. Accounts form a hierarchy — leaf accounts hold values, rollup accounts sum their children.
Financials: Called Ledger Account. Same idea: a chart-of-accounts line item that holds general-ledger values.
Where to find: Reporting pane → Accounts. See Add Elements.
Version
A snapshot or variant of plan data. Examples:
- Actuals — the default version in the Financials data source
- Working Forecast — a typical Adaptive Planning rolling forecast
- Budget 2026 — a locked annual budget
- Plan vs Reforecast — Q3 — an analyst’s variance comparison
Where to find: Reporting pane → Versions. See Compare Planning Versions.
Time
A time period — typically a month, quarter, or year. Time elements can be:
- Absolute — January 2026, Q4 2025. Doesn’t move when the calendar advances.
- Relative — This Month, Prior Year YTD. Rolls forward automatically.
- Range — Jan 2026 through Dec 2026. Used in repeating reports.
Where to find: Reporting pane → Time. See Time and Contexts.
Level
The organizational unit in the Adaptive Planning hierarchy. A Level can be a department, cost center, region, or any node defined in your model. Levels are hierarchical: the East Region Level rolls up children like Boston and New York.
In the Financials data source, the equivalent is Company.
Where to find: Reporting pane → Levels. See Department P&L Report.
Attribute
A categorical tag applied to accounts or other elements. Examples: Department Type = Cost Center, Product Family = SaaS. Useful as filters or slicers.
Where to find: Reporting pane → Attributes. See Custom Dimensions & Attributes.
Custom Dimension
An additional reporting dimension defined in your Adaptive Planning model — typical examples are Project Code, Customer, Region, Channel. Each Custom Dimension appears under its configured name in the Reporting pane.
In the Financials data source, custom dimensions are called Worktags. See Worktag Combinations.
Element Group
Adaptive Planning only. A predefined collection of elements treated as one. For example, a Headcount Accounts element group might bundle Salaries, Benefits, Payroll Taxes. Dropping the group into one cell pulls the rollup.
Element groups are configured in Adaptive Planning, not in OfficeConnect.
Label
A free-text annotation on a worksheet — usually a row header like Operating Expenses typed by the user. Labels do not pull data from Adaptive Planning; they’re just text. They show in the Reporting pane’s Review tab as a recognized worksheet item, but the value is whatever you typed.
Modeled Account
Adaptive Planning only. A calculated account whose value is derived from a formula across other accounts. Dragging a modeled account into a cell behaves like any other account — refresh resolves to the computed value. Cell Explorer can show the underlying components.
Result
You can now pick the right element type for whatever column or row you’re building. When in doubt, drag the closest element into a scratch cell, click Cell Explorer to see what it resolved to, then refine.
Next steps
- Add Elements — step-by-step on dragging each type into a worksheet.
- Filter Data — how Attributes and Custom Dimensions work as filters.