Configuring Driver Inputs
Let us now see the steps to configure the drivers. The following options are available for configuration.
Driver
This column lets you choose the drivers for the required nodes. The drivers can be chosen either from the current series or from any other data/plan series.
Driver Method
This column lists the different ways in which you can link the node and the driver according to the input value.
Depending on the driver method selected, the node values are expressed in terms of the driver and the input value for all periods.
| Driver Method | Explanation |
|---|---|
Multiplication | This multiplies the driver value and the input value. |
Division | This divides the driver value by the input value. |
Addition | This adds the driver value and the input value. |
Subtraction | This subtracts the input value from the driver value. |
Percentage of | This represents the node values as a percentage of the driver, specified in the input value column. |
Growth by | This represents the node values as the growth rate of the driver. The growth rate is entered in the input value column. |
Input Value
In this column, you can enter the required numerical value.
Driver methods like multiplication, division, addition and subtraction accept absolute numbers as input values.
The 'percentage of' and 'growth by' methods automatically accept the numbers in a percentage format.
For the 'Growth by' method, the growth rate can either be an absolute number or in percentage. The percentage increase or decrease is specified by entering positive or negative numbers in the input value column respectively.
Example 1
Suppose you want to configure the transport cost based on the headcount in the organization for Company A. Let us assume the transport cost is $1000 per head.
Within Company A, click on the 'Select' dropdown in the Driver column beside the node Transport Cost.
It has two dropdown lists. Click on the first dropdown list and pick the series from which you want to choose the driver values. For instance, let us choose 'Current Series'.
Click on the second dropdown list to choose the 'HC' node as the driver for the 'Transport Cost' node. Ensure that you choose the HC node of the respective company/lineage.
Note: You can click 'Reset to Default' to clear the choice and start configuring again.
Since the headcount is a factor for the transport cost, the driver method is selected as 'Multiplication'.
Per head transport cost is given as the input value. Click on the input value cell, key in the number '1000' and then press enter to input the value.
Now you have configured a driver for the transport cost. In the same way, you can configure as many drivers as required in your plan.
Distribution Method
The new total of the driver nodes (leaf nodes) can be distributed by their current weight or equally or can be custom distributed. These three options are available in the distribution method as shown below.
The value to be distributed is entered in the Input Value column and then the distribution option can be chosen.
Distribution can be done for any of the leaf nodes with or without the driver input configuration. Find below the examples for the same.
Example 2
The below example shows the new value of sales ($140m) being distributed to the periods equally. The Sales node and the corresponding result nodes at the top are disabled for further allocations.
Example 3
In this example, the Other Revenue node is driven by a percentage of the driver node which is the Sales node.
By default, the total is distributed by current weights as shown below.
It can be custom-distributed if required.
Distribution of the total is applicable only for the 'percentage of' and 'growth by' driver methods. This is because other arithmetic methods (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division) perform period-wise calculations first and then aggregate the total.
To configure a bunch of drivers simultaneously, you can use the Bulk configure option which is explained in the next section.
We'll also explore the configuration of template key drivers and other features in the upcoming sections.
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