1. A computer-implemented method for retroactively performing dimension widening on a data element for use in an analytical report, the method comprising: receiving, at a processing circuit, a set of data elements from a database, each of the data elements having one or more first dimensions; receiving, at a processing circuit, a set of dimension widening rules, each of the dimension widening rules including one or more conditions and one or more actions; identifying, by the processing circuit, one or more of the data elements to which any of the dimension widening rules are applicable, wherein a dimension widening rule is applicable to a data element if the one or more dimensions of the data element satisfy the one or more conditions of the dimension widening rule; processing, by the processing circuit, the identified data elements by applying the applicable dimension widening rules to the identified data elements, wherein the processing circuit generates a dimension widening delta for each of the processed data elements, the dimension widening delta for each processed data element comprising one or more added dimensions generated for the processed data element by applying the applicable dimension widening rules, the added dimensions different from the first dimensions, processing the identified data elements comprising generating the dimension widening delta prior to receiving a query requesting a dimension of one or more of the data elements; storing the dimension widening deltas for each of the processed data elements in the database, wherein the dimension widening delta for a data element is stored separately from the data element in the database; and merging one or more of the data elements with one or more of the dimension widening deltas in response to the query requesting the dimension of the one or more of the data elements.