Learn what a Global Driver is and how it is useful for planning and reporting
Global Drivers are special formulas designed to calculate metrics within Jirav. For instance, you can use a Global Driver to calculate a metric like the Debt to EBITDA ratio. This article provides an overview of Global Drivers including how they differ from Plan Drivers.
Understanding Global Drivers vs. Plan Drivers
In Jirav, there are two types of drivers: Global Drivers and Plan Drivers.
- Global Drivers: Global Drivers remain consistent across all plans, even during Actuals periods. They exclusively reside in Custom Tables and are denoted with a [GL] when viewing the driver in a Custom Table. Global Drivers are ideal for calculating key performance indicators (KPIs) like EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization) where the formula remains constant and doesn't change from plan to plan.
- Plan Drivers: Plan drivers vary between different plans. They don't calculate values during Actuals periods and are best suited for forecasting future account values. For example, in one plan, you might use a Plan Driver to set an annual revenue target. In another plan, you might employ a Plan Driver to plan revenue based on the number of customers and the average sales price.
Global Driver Management
Access a comprehensive aggregation of all the Global Drivers in your account from Settings ⚙️ > Global Drivers.
From this screen, you can review the drivers and make updates such as adding new drivers, cloning drivers, updating driver inputs, and deleting drivers.
Global Drivers can also be reviewed, modified, deleted or added from Custom Tables within plans.
Helpful Hints:
- Adding a Global Driver from the plan area will automatically make the driver available in every unlocked plan.
- Update the Start Date for the Global Driver to Min Date if you'd like it to calculate in Actuals periods.
- New Global Drivers or changes to existing Global Drivers do not impact any existing Plan of Record. This is because a Plan of Record is frozen as of when it was made a Plan of Record and will never be updated.
- Global Drivers can only reference Global Lines in the model. Any lines that are local to a specific plan are not accessible to be referenced in the global driver. For example, a staffing role that only exists in a specific plan cannot be referenced by a global driver.