FORECASTS: ASSESSING YOUR POSITION
Abstract
A forecast is your best estimate of the revenue you can generate in a fiscal quarter. With Salesforce, forecasting is intuitive and accurate.
This tip sheet applies to Forecasts (Classic) only.
Forecasting Categories and Relationships
Each opportunity is forecast with one of the following Forecast Categories:
How are Opportunities
Counted in a Forecast?
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Each opportunity has a
Forecast Category that determines its contribution to the forecast.
An opportunity’s Close
Date determines its forecast month. The opportunity Amount is added to a forecast (not the
Expected Amount).
Updating the opportunity
Stage updates the Forecast
Category.
Administrators correlate the opportunity Stage picklist with default Forecast
Categories.
Creating a Forecast
What Gets Recalculated?
When you click Recalculate, your forecast numbers are recalculated based on:
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The Amount value of the opportunities in each
Forecast Category,
Any Forecast Category changes you have made to your opportunities, and
If you are a manager, any changes your team has made to their forecasts.
When you create a forecast, your opportunities automatically roll into that forecast.
1. Select Forecast from the Create New drop-down list in the sidebar.
2. Choose the year and quarter for the forecast, and then click Next. The fiscal year is based on your organization’s Fiscal Year setting.
3. Enter your quota for each of the months in the quarter.
4. Verify, and adjust if necessary, the Forecast Category for the opportunities within the forecast.
If you change any of the Forecast Category values, be sure to Recalculate before you continue.
5. If necessary, adjust the estimates for the Commit Amount and Best Case Amount for each month in the quarter. Managers’ estimates include the amount of revenue they and their entire team can
