Configuring Forecast Calculations

Note:

Before starting to configure the settings for your forecast calculations, ensure that Enhanced Services Forecasting has been set up as described in "Getting Started with Enhanced Services Forecasting", available from the FinancialForce Community.

To configure the settings for the forecast calculations you want to run:

1. Select the Forecast Setup tab.

2. On the forecast category line you want to configure, such as Expected, enter the multiplier you want the forecast calculation to apply for each forecast factor. For example, if you enter "0.00", the corresponding forecast factor will be omitted completely; "0.50" includes half the amount; "1.00" includes the total amount; and "1.25" includes 25% more than the total amount.

   Notes:

   You must complete all the multiplier fields for at least one forecast category.
   Multipliers of "1.0" are already entered for the Expected forecast category by default.
   If you do not want to generate forecast calculations for a category, enter "0.00" in the multiplier fields.
   

3. From the Default Opportunity Curve and Default Project Curve fields, select the forecast curves you want the forecast calculation to use when no curve is defined on an individual opportunity or project. If you have not created default project and opportunity forecast curves yet, click Create Curve. For more information on forecast curves, see Managing Curves for Forecast Calculations.

   Warning:

   You must specify the default curves you want forecast calculations to use when no curve is defined on an individual opportunity or project. If you do not, the calculations will fail.

4. Specify how you want the forecast calculation to work for opportunities that contain both services and non-services products:
• If you select Opportunity Product, the calculation looks at services product lines on Opportunity Products. It means only opportunity product lines with “IsServicesProductLine” checked are included.
• If you select Product, the calculation looks at lines that have a related services product on an Opportunity. It means only product lines with “IsServicesProduct” checked on the product itself are included.

  If there are no lines on an opportunity, the forecast calculation looks at the “Is Services Opportunity” checkbox on the opportunity itself. For more detailed information on how the forecast calculation works for opportunities, see Opportunities.

5. Specify the object you want the curve to be applied from for opportunities:
• If you select Product, the curves specified on the products linked to an opportunity are used. If no products are linked, the curve specified on the opportunity is used.
• If you select Opportunity, the curve specified on the opportunity is used.
6. Click Save. When you save forecast setup details, the previous forecast setup is automatically archived and the latest details are used for all subsequent forecast calculations, including scheduled ones. This means only one set of forecast setup details is active at any time.
7. [Optional] Click Schedule Forecast to create a schedule for your forecast calculations. See Scheduling Forecast Calculations for more information.

Warning:

It is best practice in managing projects to always create a budget at the start of a project. If your business doesn’t follow this practice, it is recommended to always enter "0.00" for Unscheduled Backlog. If you do not, the forecast calculation generates a negative value, which offsets the total forecast amount calculated and gives a misleading overall result.

Forecast setup details are stored in the Forecast Setup and Forecast Setup Category objects. For more information, see:

• Forecast Setup Fields
• Forecast Setup Category Fields

Configuring Forecast Batch Settings

The Forecast Batch Settings custom setting allows you to define how forecast calculations are run in a batch process, including forecast batch size, maximum queue size and user notifications.

For further information, see Forecast Batch Settings.