3.8.2.1.2.4 Definitions of Static and Dynamic Drivers

Most Allocation Rules distribute, or aggregate balances using the Driver Data and can be used in the following ways:

• Expense Allocations as a function of Square Footage occupied or Headcount.
• Aggregation of Instrument Balances to the Management Ledger.
• Reclassification of Management Ledger Balances to Dimensions not found in the original General Ledger Data.

Drivers can be stored as components of your overall Allocation Model, or they can be stored as facts within your Business Data. Headcount and Square Footage Statistics, for example, are frequently stored as memo accounts within your General Ledger. When you load the OFSAA Management Ledger Table with your General Ledger Data, those Headcount and Square Footage statistics can be utilized as drivers within your Allocation Rules. These kinds of Business-Data Resident Drivers are referred to as Dynamic Drivers.

In some other cases, you will embed your Driver Data into an Allocation Rule or into a Driver Table that the Allocation Engine supports. These kinds of drivers are referred to as Static Drivers. The Profitability Management Cloud Service supports the following types:

• Static Driver
• Static Driver Table

Dynamic Drivers often have many advantages over Static Drivers. An Allocation Rule that uses a Static Driver takes the same value or values every time you use it in a rule, but an Allocation Rule that uses a Dynamic Driver may have different driver sets from day to day or month-to-month. Additionally, you must normally pre-compute your Static Drivers and Dynamic Drivers that are generated at Run time. Dynamic Drivers, frequently used in full cost-Absorption Allocation Models, are generated by other Allocation Rules.

Static Drivers sometimes have advantages over Dynamic Drivers. For example, you may have pre-computed unit costs that you wish to use to drive your allocations to generate Partial Absorption Costing.