Operational Driver Fields

This article explains Operational Driver fields in Model Reef.

You will learn:

• What operational drivers represent.

• Which fields matter most for operational drivers.

• How to set up unit and volume based driver series.

Operational drivers are quantity- or activity-based inputs that underpin revenue and cost logic.

1

Examples of operational drivers

Examples of operational drivers include:

• Units sold per period.

• Active subscribers.

• Store traffic or visits.

• Headcount by team or role.

• Hours worked.

• Production volumes.

These series are often combined with prices or rates to generate revenue or costs.

2

Key fields for operational drivers

When editing an operational driver you will see fields such as:

• Name For example Units - Product A or Headcount - Engineers.

• Type Set to Operational driver.

• Units Units, people, hours or other quantity measures.

• Time series grid Quantity per period, editable manually or via imports or presets.

• Notes and tags To explain the origin, meaning and ownership of the driver.

These fields are edited in the Driver Editor or Data Library where applicable.

3

Shaping operational driver series

You can shape operational drivers by:

• Typing volumes directly in the grid.

• Applying growth patterns (for example percentage growth each period).

• Using seasonality to reflect busy and quiet periods.

• Importing operational history and extending forward.

Often, operational drivers are the first layer in a bottom up model.

4

Using operational drivers in formulas

Operational drivers are commonly used in formulas such as:

• Revenue = Units driver × Price driver

• Staff cost = Headcount driver × Salary driver

• Capacity utilisation = Actual units ÷ Capacity driver

They provide the quantity side of most economic relationships in the model.

5

Scenario specific operational drivers

Operational driver series can differ by scenario model:

• You might have more aggressive volume ramps in an upside scenario.

• Or more conservative headcount growth in a downside scenario.

Adjusting operational drivers is often the cleanest way to explore different futures for the business.

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Related articles

• How Input Fields Work

• Data Library Viewer

• Driver Scenario Interactions

• Build a Rolling Forecast