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Metrics vs. Measures

In Galdera, your financial data is organized into two distinct types: Measures and Metrics.

A Measure is a raw value that comes directly from your data sources — things like Revenue, Units Sold, or Headcount. Measures are the building blocks of your financial model. They represent real observations from your business.

A Metric is a calculated value derived from one or more Measures (or other Metrics). Examples include Gross Margin (Revenue minus COGS), Revenue per Employee (Revenue divided by Headcount), or Net Revenue Retention. Metrics are defined by formulas and automatically update when their underlying Measures change.

Key distinction for forecasting:

  • You apply overlays directly to Measures to change raw inputs
  • Metrics recalculate automatically based on any upstream changes
  • Understanding this relationship helps you target adjustments at the right level

Flows and stocks

Every measure is one of two types, set with the Type toggle on its Targets card:

  • A Flow is an amount per period — Revenue, Capex, Costs. Quarters and years show the sum of their months. This is the default.
  • A Stock is a balance at a point in time — Cash, PP&E, Inventory, Debt. Summing a balance across months is meaningless, so quarters and years show the period-end value instead.

The distinction matters everywhere values roll up in time, and it is what lets balance-sheet lines display and forecast correctly — see Modelling the Three Statements. Dimension breakdowns always sum regardless of type: a total balance is the sum of its slice balances.