Using Forecasts

This chapter provides an overview of forecast functionality in PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales and discusses how to:

Select a forecast.
Add and adjust forecasts.
Generate forecasts automatically.
Manage forecasts.
Inactivate and lock forecasts.
Archive and restore forecasts.

Understanding Forecast Functionality in PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales

PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales offers forecast functionality for two groups of users:

Sales representatives can add a new forecast or adjust their own forecasts using the Search My Forecasts component.
Sales managers can roll up, adjust, and analyze forecasts using the Search Rollup Forecasts component.

These two components use a similar interface to select a forecast.

Typically, sales managers ask sales representatives to create and adjust forecasts by a certain date. When the sales representatives are comfortable with their forecast numbers, they submit their forecasts. Alternatively, sales managers might ask sales representatives to update their opportunities, for example, by the last day of each month, and then use autoforecasting to build forecasts directly from the opportunities. In either case, the sales managers can roll up forecasts for all their sales representatives and analyze the forecast for a territory. The forecasts that roll up under a manager depend on the structure of the territory tree.

Selecting a Forecast

This section discusses how to view forecast lists.

Pages Used to Select a Forecast

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Search for an Existing Forecast	RSF_FCAST_SEARCH	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts	View a list of revenue or shadow forecasts. You can select a forecast to view it in more detail.
Search for an Existing Forecast	RSF_FCAST_R_SEARCH	Sales, Search My Forecasts	View a list of revenue forecasts, shadow forecasts, and empty forecasts. You can select a forecast to view it in more detail, or you can select an empty forecast for use in generating a new revenue forecast.

Viewing Forecast Lists

Access the Search for an Existing Forecast page.

Entering Search Parameters

Select filter options in the Show in Results group box. When you click Search, the system lists the search results at the top of the page.

Category	Select Revenue Forecast or Shadow Forecast.
My Forecasts	Select any My Forecasts option to search for generated forecasts that contain forecast data for a sales user. These forecasts have an entry in the Date Created column.
New Forecasts	Select any New Forecasts option to search for forecasts that are empty or do not have data for a sales user. Use these empty forecasts to generate a new forecast.

Note. The search results list does not separate the generated forecasts and the new forecasts. If you select options to display both types of forecasts, you can click the Date Created link to sort the empty forecasts from those that have data.

Viewing Generated Forecasts

Forecast Name	Click to access the Forecast page to either view data for a generated forecast or enter data to generate a new forecast. If your access profile permits you to adjust forecasts and you have not submitted the forecast, you can also edit forecast data.
Time Frame, Begin Date, End Date, and Expected Date	Displays values from the corresponding generated forecast or new forecast template.
Date Created	Identifies the date when the forecast was generated. New forecasts that have not yet been generated and have no data do not have forecast dates.
Submit	When selected, indicates that the forecast was submitted to a manager and its detail is not editable.

Selecting a New Forecast

Select the type of forecast to create from the items that begin with the words New Forecast in the Show in Results group box.

Note. When you search for new forecasts, the system displays combinations of forecast names and time frames. If you have defined a forecast name but the system does not display it, check the expected start date and status of the forecast name.

See Defining Forecast Names.

Adding and Adjusting Forecasts

This section discusses how to:

Add and adjust sales forecasts.
Calculate forecast subtotals.
Generate forecast charts.

Pages Used to Add and Adjust Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Forecast	RSF_FCAST_ENTER	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select a forecast.	Adjust a sales forecast that is based on an individual sales representative's revenue allocations for working opportunities.
Forecast - Subtotals	RSF_FCAST_SUMMARY	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select a forecast, and then select the Subtotals tab.	Calculate and view the subtotals of a revenue forecast.
Forecast - Chart	RSF_FCAST_CHART	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select a forecast, and then select the Chart tab.	Generate a chart of the revenue forecast.

Adding and Adjusting Sales Forecasts

Access the Forecast - Forecast page.

This page displays the selected sales users' opportunities that have forecasted dates within the specified time frame and a status of either Open or Closed - Won. Forecasts do not include opportunities with the status Closed - Lost or Inactive.

You can view forecast data on each of the tabs on this page.

Edit Data and Display Only	Click the Edit Data button to access edit mode and then enter and modify data. After you access edit mode, the system renames the button Display Only. You can return to display-only mode by clicking this button. The Edit Data button is enabled only if your access profile permits you to edit forecasts.
Reforecast	Click to regenerate the forecast. This action eliminates all modifications and adjustments, and reruns the forecast based on current opportunity data. You cannot reforecast or make changes to a forecast once it is submitted.
Submit and Submit All	Select to submit the forecast when you save the page. Submitting a forecast makes it available to managers. Managers can view all forecasts, submitted or not, if the sales access profile is set to permit viewing unsubmitted forecasts. You cannot make changes to a forecast once it is submitted. Note. The Submit All check box appears only if your user profile permits you to submit multiple forecasts.
Local Revenue	Enter the amount of revenue that is anticipated from the sale.
From Currency Code	Enter the sales user's currency code.
Forecast Type	Select a user-defined forecast type. See Defining Forecast Types.
Estimated Close Date	Enter the forecast estimated date that the sale will occur.
Confidence % (confidence percentage)	Enter a whole number that specifies the probability that the forecast will become an actual sale.
Adjust	Click to add a row and make adjustments to the sales user's forecast data. Adjustments affect the totals and are directly associated with the sales representative who makes the adjustment.

Calculating Forecast Subtotals

Access the Forecast - Subtotals page.

View Currency

Select the currency in which to express the forecast amounts. The default is the sales user's default currency.

Group By and Then By

You can use subtotals to generate and view a forecast's subsets. For example, suppose that the overall forecast is for November 2004 and you want to know the confidence levels that make up the forecast and you want to know those levels by region. In that case, you would select Confidence % in the Group By field and Region in the Then By field.

Note. You must enter a value in the Group By field to use subtotals.

Select

Select the check box next to each item that you want to group into a separate subtotal. The sum for the selected items appears as the selected total, and the sum of items that are not selected is the unselected total.

For example, if 10 rows appear and you select this check box for the first, third, and fifth rows, then the selected total is the sum of the first, third, and fifth rows. The unselected total is the sum of the seven rows that you did not select.

Generating Forecast Charts

Access the Forecast - Chart page.

View Currency

If you specified the currency on the Subtotals page, the system carries it over to here. If you did not, specify it here.

Group By and Then By

If you specified subtotals on the Subtotals page, the system carries them over to here. If you did not, specify them here.

Note. You must have a value in the Group By field to generate a chart.

Chart Type

Specify the type of chart to generate. Values include Bar Chart, Horizontal Bar Chart, Horizontal Stacked Bar Chart, and Stacked Bar Chart.

Chart Size

Specify the size of the chart.

Generating Forecasts Automatically

This section discusses how to automatically generate forecasts.

Page Used to Automatically Generate Revenue or Shadow Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Auto Generate Forecasts	RSF_FCAST_RUN	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Sales, Forecast, Auto Generate Revenue Forecast Set Up CRM, Product Related, Sales, Forecast, Auto Generate Shadow Forecast	Run the Auto Generate Forecast Application Engine process (RSF_FCST) to generate revenue or shadow forecasts for direct reports or for all people who are visible to you on the territory tree.

Automatically Generating Forecasts

Access the Auto Generate Forecasts page.

Forecast Name

Enter the forecast to generate. You define forecasts on the Forecast Names setup page.

See Defining Forecast Names.

Time Frame

Enter the time frame from which to pull data for forecasting. Define forecast time frames on the Time Frames page.

See Defining Holiday Schedules, Time Frames, and Sales Quota Rollups.

Auto Forecast Scope

Select the data to forecast. Values are My Sales Reps (my sales representatives) and All Sales Reps (all sales representatives). Typically, sales managers can select My Sales Reps to automatically generate forecasts for sales representatives for whom they have visibility. However, only sales or forecast administrators can select All Sales Reps to automatically generate forecasts for the entire sales organization.

Submit All

Select to submit all of the automatically generated forecasts to manager visibility, in which case the sales representative cannot modify the forecasts.

When cleared, the forecasts remain unsubmitted and available for editing, adjusting, and reforecasting.

After running the autogenerate process, select the autogenerated forecasts on the Forecast page in the Search Rollup Forecasts component to review and adjust them. Autogenerated forecasts are useful for determining sales representatives' revenue activities at a given time. However, autogenerated forecasts might not represent a true picture of a reporting period unless you are sure that sales representatives updated their opportunities and revenue projections before you ran the process.

Note. You can also autogenerate forecasts from the Forecast page in the Search Rollup Forecasts component by clicking the Auto Forecast button there. When using the button on the Forecast page, the system lists the autogenerated forecasts on that page, where you can view and adjust them.

Managing Forecasts

This section discusses how to:

Select the forecast action.
Roll up and analyze forecasts.
Analyze forecast subtotals.
View details of all forecasts.

Note. Usually, access to the Search Rollup Forecasts component is limited to managers. Depending on access profile limitations, you may not be able to view these menu options and page fields. The views available to a manager depend on the setting of the CORE_RSF_FCAST_SIMPLE functional option.

Pages Used to Manage Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Forecast	RSF_FCAST_REVIEW	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select Manager Review as the forecast view.	Manage and review forecasts.
Forecast	RSF_FCAST_ALLS	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select Combined Forecasts as the forecast view.	Edit and review forecast details.
Forecast	RSF_FCAST_SUMMARY	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select Subtotals as the forecast view.	Analyze forecast subtotals.
Select Columns to Display	RSF_FCAST_FILTER	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select Subtotals as the forecast view. Select Set Filters.	Select filters for data to display for the subtotals view.
Forecast	RSF_FCAST_CHART	Sales, Search Rollup Forecasts Select Chart as the forecast view.	Display summary data on a chart.

Selecting the Forecast Action

Access the Forecast page.

Forecast View	Select a view for the page. Values are Charts, Combined Forecasts, Interactive Reports, Manager Review, and Subtotals. See Understanding Sales Interactive Reports.
View as	Enter a sales user for the forecast view.
Forecast of	Select either Forecast or Shadow.
View Currency	Select the currency in which to express the forecast amounts. The default is the sales user's default currency.

Rolling Up and Analyzing Forecasts

Access the Forecast page.

Select Manager Review as the forecast view.

Note. The system displays forecast amounts in the default currency of the sales user who accesses the forecast, not in the default currencies of the sales users whose forecasts are listed.

Expand All / Collapse All	Click this link to display forecast details and view or adjust data for all sales users who are listed on the page. If the details are displayed, click this link to hide forecast details for all sales users. Note. You can display or hide the details for an individual sales user by clicking the triangle next to the user.
Submit	Click this button for each forecast that you want to submit. After you have submitted the forecast for a sales user, the Submit button becomes unavailable and changes to Submitted. A submitted forecast cannot be edited.
Revenue	Enter the amount of revenue that is anticipated from the sale.
Currency	Enter the currency code.
Forecast of	Select a user-defined forecast type. See Defining Forecast Types.
Forecast Date	Enter the estimated date that the sale will occur.
Conf % (confidence percentage)	Enter a whole number which specifies the probability that the forecast will became an actual sale.
Adjust <sales user>	Click this button to add a row and make adjustments to a particular sales user's forecast data if it has not previously been submitted.
Auto Forecast	Click to generate a forecast for each direct report who has opportunity activity but does not already have a forecast listed. You cannot automatically generate the same forecast for an individual more than once.
Submit All	Click to submit all forecasts. You cannot edit forecasts after they have been submitted.
Manager Adjustments	Click this button to add a row and make adjustments to the overall forecast total. The system inserts manager adjustments under the manager's name.

Analyzing Forecast Subtotals

Access the Forecast page.

Select Subtotals as the forecast view.

Group By and Then By	You can use subtotals to generate and view a forecast's subsets. For example, suppose that the overall forecast is for November 2004 and you want to know the confidence levels that make up the forecast and you want to know those levels by region. In that case, you would select Confidence % in the Group By field and Region in the Then By field. Note. You must enter a value in the Group By field to use subtotals.
Calculate Totals	After you have selected the subtotal groupings, click this button to calculate the subtotals for the groupings.
Set Filters	Click this link to access the Select Columns to Display page, where you can filter the data to be displayed.
Select	Select the check box next to each item that you want to group into a separate subtotal. The sum for the selected items appears as the selected total, and the sum of items that are not selected is the unselected total. For example, suppose that 10 rows appear and you select this check box for the first, third, and fifth rows. The selected total is the sum of the first, third, and fifth rows, and the unselected total is the sum of the seven rows that you did not select.

Filtering Data

Access the Select Columns to Display page.

After you select values to use as filters for the data displayed for the subtotals view, click the Filter button to filter the data. You can choose to use other available filters by clicking the Personalize Filters link.

Viewing Details of All Forecasts

Access the Forecast page.

Select Combined Forecasts as the forecast view.

This view enables the manager to see information for all the sales users' opportunities. The manager can sort the data to view, for example, the opportunities with the highest revenue. Also, the manager can click the Download button to download the opportunities to a spreadsheet.

Inactivating and Locking Forecasts

This section discusses how to inactivate and lock sales forecasts.

Page Used to Inactivate and Lock Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Maintain Forecast	RSF_FCAST_MAINT	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Sales, Forecast, Lock Forecast	Inactivate and lock sales forecasts.

Inactivating and Locking Sales Forecasts

Access the Maintain Forecast page.

Warning! You cannot unlock a forecast once it is locked.

Status

Select Inactive to inactivate the forecast. You can only access an inactive forecast on the Maintain Forecast page. You cannot view or modify an inactive forecast or include it in a forecast summary, rollup, or report.

You can reactivate a forecast at any time.

Forecast Locked

Select Yes to lock the forecast. On a locked forecast, you cannot:

Edit
Adjust rows
Autoforecast
Reforecast

A locked forecast remains visible unless you inactivate it. You cannot derive forecast summaries, rollups, reports, or other objects from locked forecasts.

Locked forecasts are permanently unavailable for editing. When you lock a forecast, you freeze the currency conversion rates for that forecast.

Archiving and Restoring Forecasts

This section discusses how to archive and restore forecasts.

Pages Used to Archive and Restore Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Archive Forecast	RSF_FCAST_ARCH	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Sales, Forecast, Archive Forecast	Archive a forecast.
Unarchive Forecast	RSF_FCAST_UNARCH	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Sales, Forecast, Unarchive Forecast	Restore an archived forecast.

Archiving and Restoring a Forecast

Access the Archive Forecast page.

To increase system performance, you can periodically archive forecasts. Archiving maintains forecasts in duplicate sets of forecast data tables, enabling the system to access current forecasts faster than it can if all forecasts remain in the original table. You can restore a forecast after it is archived.

Archive	Click to archive the forecast. You can only access an archived forecast on the Unarchive Forecast page. You cannot view or modify an archived forecast or include it in a forecast summary, rollup, or report. When you archive a forecast, you move it from the original tables (the tables where you create and edit forecasts) to the archiving tables. The system is able to process unarchived forecasts faster from these tables. All archived forecasts have a status of Inactive.
Archived Date	Displays the date when you click Archive to archive the forecast.
Archived By	Displays the name of the logged-in user when you click Archive to archive the forecast.
Archived Sales User Count	Displays the total number of sales users that included in the sales forecast.
Archived Detail Count	Displays the total number of opportunity details in the sales forecast.

View Currency	If you specified the currency on the Subtotals page, the system carries it over to here. If you did not, specify it here.
Group By and Then By	If you specified subtotals on the Subtotals page, the system carries them over to here. If you did not, specify them here. Note. You must have a value in the Group By field to generate a chart.
Chart Type	Specify the type of chart to generate. Values include Bar Chart, Horizontal Bar Chart, Horizontal Stacked Bar Chart, and Stacked Bar Chart.
Chart Size	Specify the size of the chart.

Forecast Name	Enter the forecast to generate. You define forecasts on the Forecast Names setup page. See Defining Forecast Names.
Time Frame	Enter the time frame from which to pull data for forecasting. Define forecast time frames on the Time Frames page. See Defining Holiday Schedules, Time Frames, and Sales Quota Rollups.
Auto Forecast Scope	Select the data to forecast. Values are My Sales Reps (my sales representatives) and All Sales Reps (all sales representatives). Typically, sales managers can select My Sales Reps to automatically generate forecasts for sales representatives for whom they have visibility. However, only sales or forecast administrators can select All Sales Reps to automatically generate forecasts for the entire sales organization.
Submit All	Select to submit all of the automatically generated forecasts to manager visibility, in which case the sales representative cannot modify the forecasts. When cleared, the forecasts remain unsubmitted and available for editing, adjusting, and reforecasting.