Function points are a unit measure for software much like an hour is to measuring time, miles are to measuring distance or Celsius is to measuring temperature. Function Points are an ordinal measure much like other measures such as kilometers, Fahrenheit, hours, so on and so forth.

This approach computes the total function points (FP) value for the project, by totaling the number of external user inputs, inquiries, outputs, and master files, and then applying the following weights: inputs (4), outputs (5), inquiries (4), and master files (10). Each FP contributor can be adjusted within a range of +/-35% for a specific project complexity.