---
title: "Lag, period, and multiplier"
description: "Lag, period, and multiplier are a filter's Advanced inputs that shift or scale a metric in units like Months Ago, Reports Ago, Quarters, or Bars."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/screeners/lag-period-and-multiplier"
last_updated: "2026-07-24"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/screeners/lag-period-and-multiplier.md"
---

# Lag, period, and multiplier

Lag, period, and multiplier are the inputs in a [filter](/docs/getting-started/filter)'s **Advanced** panel that shift or scale what a metric reads before it is compared. **Lag** moves the reading back in time, **Period** sets the window it covers, and **Multiplier** scales it. Each input carries a unit that depends on the filter — Months Ago, Reports Ago, Quarters, Days, Bars, or Std Devs — so the same control means "four reports ago" on a fundamental filter and "twenty days" on a technical one. They change only the *reading*, never the [comparison mode](/docs/screeners/comparison-modes) or the operator applied to it.

## What the lag and period units mean

You set the number; the filter decides which unit it counts in.

| Unit | Used on | Means |
|---|---|---|
| Months Ago | fundamental / price-history filters | shift the reading back by that many calendar months |
| Reports Ago | fundamental filters | shift back by that many financial reports (filings) |
| Quarters | fundamental filters | count in three-month reporting quarters |
| Days | technical / price filters | count in trading days |
| Bars | technical filters | count in price bars (data points on the chart) |
| Std Devs | technical filters | scale in standard deviations of the metric |

The **Period** input is separate and sets the length of a windowed metric, in **Months** or **Years**.

## Defaults in Fincanva

- The unit is fixed by the filter — you enter the number, the filter decides whether it counts in reports, months, days, bars, or standard deviations.
- Lag is optional; leaving it at zero compares the metric at its latest reading.
- Period sets a window length (in Months or Years) for metrics that summarise a span rather than a single point.

## Worked example

A revenue filter in [**vs Lagged Self**](/docs/screeners/comparison-modes) mode uses **Reports Ago** as its lag unit. Set the lag to 4 and the filter reads each company's revenue from four financial reports back — for a company reporting quarterly, roughly a year earlier — and compares it to the latest revenue. "Reports Ago" counts filings, not calendar time, so a company that files quarterly and one that files half-yearly are shifted by different spans for the same lag of 4.