Set up the forecast display settings on the Account Forecasting page in Setup. You can define the start period, forecast frequency, and the display duration for rolling forecasts. The forecast display rolls over and adds another period every month or quarter, depending on the selected forecast frequency. This rolling forecast capability ensures that you forecast as many months ahead as in the display duration.
Required Editions
There’s a newer version of forecasting available called Advanced Account Forecasting. To learn about how the features are different, review this comparison. For new implementations, use Advanced Account Forecasting. For existing implementations, plan your migration.
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To modify forecast settings: | Customize Application |
- From Setup, enter Manufacturing in the Quick Find box, and then select Account Forecasting.
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Define the following:
- Forecast Frequency: Select monthly or quarterly.
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Start Period: This field derives the start period for generating forecasts. Enter the
number of periods before the current period to arrive at the start period. For example, if
the current period is August 2020 and you enter the 6 periods ago as the start period, you
generate forecasts starting from February 2020. To start from the current period, enter
0.
Tip If you want to compare quantity and revenue forecasts, it’s helpful to generate forecasts for previous periods. Your account managers can gain insights into product performance for past, present, and future periods. - Display Duration: Select the total number of periods for generating forecasts. For example, if the start period is February 2020 and the display duration is 8 periods, you generate forecasts from February 2020 to September 2020.
The forecast display rolls over and adds another period every month or quarter, depending on the selected forecast frequency. For example, let’s assume that the forecast frequency is monthly and the display duration is from February 2020 to September 2020. At the end of February 2020, you get a forecast for March 2020 to October 2020.
Warning- You can have a display duration of up to 36 periods. Adding more than 36 periods can result in performance issues.
- If you modify the forecast display settings, all active forecast records expire, and the regenerated records replace them. If regeneration fails, account owners receive a notification.
- Account forecasts are regenerated when you change the generation and display settings. If you regenerate account forecasts, the forecast data for manually added products and any adjustments are lost. To ensure that the forecast data for manually added products is included, create an opportunity, order, or sales agreement for those products. Alternatively, manually add the products and adjustments again.
Before saving your settings, use the Account Forecast Formula Builder to create formulas for all periods. You can create different formulas to calculate quantity and revenue. If the display duration is 8 months, you can create up to 8 formulas.