An Overview Of Factors

The primary purpose of the calculation engine is to support the calculation of an obligation’s charges. One of the most common rules for calculating a charge is to apply a rate to a fixed or assessed value. While it is possible to specify the rate directly on the rule, it is more flexible to have the rule reference a factor whose values can be maintained independently.

A factor defines a centrally stored set of values for use in calculations and other processes. A factor can have different values depending upon some definable attribute of a system object, such as a district associated with an address.

You can use factors to define any of the following types of values:

As a general guideline, you would use a factor when any of the following situations exist:

The following sections provide a description of how factors are structured and details on how to configure and maintain factors.