> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.driven.work/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> Driven is a sales-compensation platform. Use its terminology: Compensation Plan, Compensation, KPI, Manual KPI, User Variable, Quota, Performance, Payout (Draft, Approved, Paid, Cancelled), Correction, Adjustment. Payout types are equal, deferred and advance. Default roles are Admin and Employee; companies can add custom roles. The Driven Agent builds plans from uploaded documents and chat. The Compensation Builder is where compensations are configured.

# User variables

> User variables are per-person amounts in a formula, such as Base Salary and Variable Salary, each with a history of effective dates.

A user variable is a named amount that can differ per person, and that a formula can refer to by name. Base salary, variable pay and a personal commission rate are typical uses.

User variables belong to the person, not to one plan. The same base salary is available in every plan that person is on.

You can create and edit them from the formula editor, or from the person's page. The person's page is the better place to maintain them over time. On **Details & Variables**, the **Variables** table has the variable, the date it starts and the amount. See [Manage user variables](https://docs.driven.work/users/manage-user-variables.md).

![Variables table on a person's Details and Variables tab, with dated amounts](https://mintcdn.com/driven-a7b16d8c/EfofHHnWRF2nRMlf/images/user-variables.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=EfofHHnWRF2nRMlf\&q=85\&s=2d7da907c9aa2adaade77665b3d8c259)

## Built-in variables

Every formula editor shows two variables on the **User variables** row:

* **Base Salary**
* **Variable Salary**

They start as ghost chips. A ghost chip means at least one person on the plan has no value yet. Click the chip to fill in values. Once every person on the plan has a value, the chip becomes solid and you can insert it into the formula.

The **+** button opens **Create new user variable**. Name it, for example a car allowance, and enter a value per person.

**Plan Join Date** is stored the same way, but it is a date, and dates cannot be used inside a formula. It still shows on payout breakdowns. Set it when you [add someone to a plan](https://docs.driven.work/users/plan-membership.md).

## Effective dates

Each value has an **Effective from** date. The value applies from that day until the next dated value. Adding a new date does not delete the older one. The history is how you give someone a new salary without losing what they were paid under the old one.

You cannot enter an effective date in the future.

If a formula refers to a variable and no value covers the date Driven looks at, the formula uses zero.

## Which value the calculation uses

Driven picks one dated value. Which one depends on the [calculation method](https://docs.driven.work/compensation-builder/calculation-methods.md):

* **Totals and aggregates.** The value in effect at the **end of the payout period**. A salary that changes on 15 March is used in full for a March payout, because 31 March is after the change.
* **Row-based.** The value in effect on the **date each deal counts**, usually the close date. A deal that closed on 10 March still uses the old salary. A deal that closed on 20 March uses the new one.

**Example.** Alex's base salary is €4,000 from 1 January and €5,000 from 1 April.

A quarterly totals compensation paid in Q2 uses €5,000, because the payout ends on 30 June. A row-based compensation in the same quarter uses €4,000 for deals that count before 1 April and €5,000 for deals that count on or after 1 April.

## Using them in a formula

Click a solid chip to insert the variable. A formula can multiply by it, or use it as a floor:

```
=MAX(Amount * 0.08, Variable Salary / 12)
```

That pays 8% of the deal, but not less than one month of variable salary.

Saving variable values from the builder saves them for the person across the company, not only for this compensation. If the change would move an approved or paid payout, Driven asks you to review a [correction](https://docs.driven.work/compensation-builder/corrections.md) before it saves.


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