Cost Forecasting Overview

Cost forecasts are used in conjunction with revenue forecasts to achieve an accurate profitability analysis, helping you to make more informed decisions about your business.

Note:

Cost Forecasting is currently available for use in a limited capacity but is not supported by any existing user interfaces. You can, however, use cost forecast and cost forecast type records in your own custom reports, if required.

Cost Forecasting enables you to:

• Obtain details of profit margins for a more complete overview of the financials on an opportunity or project
• Control project budgets more accurately

When a forecast is generated, the cost is linked with any related revenue to calculate a margin for the given time period. For projects, related revenue forecasts are those in the same time period, with the same project and milestone, if applicable. For opportunities, related revenue forecasts are those in the same period with the same opportunity.

When enabled, Cost Forecasting runs automatically after Revenue Forecasting. You cannot run Cost Forecasting by itself. For more information, see Enabling Cost Forecasting.

You can view cost forecast records by adding the Cost Forecasts related list to your Project or Opportunity page layout.

For information on how the cost forecast calculations work, see Deliverable Recognition Method for Cost Forecasting and Equal Split Recognition Method for Cost Forecasting.

For general background information, such as custom objects used, required permissions, exchange rates, and rounding of values, see Forecasting Basics.