---
schema_version: "1"
id: 903ea19e7e04fbd1af5316c0aca2cae11ea95087a862aa24214523c4b8885a23
title: Managing External Data to Include in Pipeline Forecasts
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sales/264-0-0/forecasts3_custom_columns_your_data_manage.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.forecasts3_custom_columns_your_data_manage.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 12e89260d3775ce26bb5dc7bead9f7640924a96ec4b961dc5742985f12637364
description: Add external data, such as stretch quota or internal booking target to Salesforce so forecast managers have all the information they need when reviewing their sales projections. The data you add can be added as a column in the forecast summary and can be unique to each forecast type.
products:
  - Sales Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Managing External Data to Include in Pipeline Forecasts

Add external data, such as stretch quota or internal booking target to Salesforce so forecast managers have all the information they need when reviewing their sales projections. The data you add can be added as a column in the forecast summary and can be unique to each forecast type.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, and <strong>Unlimited</strong> Editions with Sales</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Data Access and Availability

The data in a custom column is stored in custom number and custom currency fields added to the Forecasting Custom Data object. Users with access to import data and who have the Manage Forecasts Custom Data permission can load and manage data to those custom fields for themselves and their subordinates in the forecast hierarchy.

Users who also have the View All Forecasts permission can manage data for all users in the forecast hierarchy.

## Data Preparation

Import data to the custom fields in the Forecasting Custom Data object using Data Loader. If you need more flexibility than what Data Loader provides, use Enterprise API. To use either method, ensure that API access is enabled and prepare a .csv file that contains these columns.

- User ID
- Forecast Type ID
- Period Start Date (yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sssZ; for example, 2012–03–01T08:00:00.00Z)
- A column each for the data you want to load

If you use territory forecasts, include a Territory ID column. If you use product family forecasts, include a Product Family column.

To help organize the .csv file, you can also include columns for Forecast Owner Name and Forecast Type Name, but those columns aren’t required. Here’s an example .csv file setup, with Stretch Quota as the reference data to load.

      
| Forecast User Name | Forecast Owner User ID | Forecast Type Name | Forecast Type ID | Product Family | Stretch Quota | Period Start Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kevin Bailey | 00599000000Hofh | OpportunityLineItemRevenue | 0DbD00000001eQ9KAI | Hardware | 20,000 | 2023–03–01 |
| Kevin Bailey | 00599000000Hofh | OpportunityLineItemRevenue | 0DbD00000001eQ9KAI | Software | 35,000 | 2023–04–01 |

## Data Mapping

When you complete the import, map the columns in your .csv file to the ForecastingCustomData object as shown in this table.

 
| Column Headers in CSV File | Forecasting Fields |
| --- | --- |
| User ID | ForecastingOwnerID |
| Forecast Type ID | ForecastingTypeID |
| Period Start Date | StartDate |
| Product Family (needed only when the forecast data source is Product Families) | ProductFamily |
| Territory ID (needed only for territory forecast types) | ForecastingTypeID |
| Reference data columns | The name of your custom number or currency field in the Forecasting Custom Data object |

#### See Also

- [Create Custom Columns](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.adding_fields.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Data Loader](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=xcloud.data_loader_about.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [_SOAP API Developer Guide_: Data Loading and Integration](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.api.meta/api/sforce_api_guidelines_dataloading.htm)