You are here:
Salesforce Forecasting Elements
If you’re using forecasting features in Salesforce, learn about the elements that comprise a forecast.
Required Editions
| Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Professional, Performance, and Developer Editions and in Enterprise and Unlimited Editions with Sales |
- Adjustment—An adjustment indicates a judgment
about the final figure a forecast’s opportunities are expected to bring in at the close
of the forecast period. Forecast managers and sales reps can make adjustments. Some
forecast managers adjust their own or a subordinate’s forecast. For example, they know
that certain reps tend to be too optimistic or too conservative when assigning values to
opportunities. If sales reps think that forecasts are understated or overstated, they
can adjust their own forecasts. Forecast managers can adjust forecasts that don’t
include adjustments and forecasts that include adjustments made by someone else on their
opportunity team. An adjustment doesn’t change the underlying gross rollup. It adds a
layer of detail. If multiple forecast types are active, each type maintains separate
adjustments.
To provide additional clarity about the adjusted amount, forecast managers can apply their judgment about whether a direct subordinate’s opportunities are considered in or out of the adjusted forecast total.
Forecast managers can adjust their own Commit and Best Case forecasts and the forecasts of subordinates one level below them in the forecast hierarchy. They can view adjustments that subordinates make at every level below them in the forecast hierarchy. Adjustments made to their subordinates’ forecasts roll up into their own forecasts. Adjustments can include an explanatory note. Adjustment notes don’t appear in reports.
Any Salesforce user with whom a forecast manager has shared forecasts and granted View and Edit access can adjust the shared forecasts.
- Amount Without Adjustments (Report Element)—The sum of a person’s owned revenue opportunities and the person’s subordinates’ opportunities without adjustments. Subordinates include everyone reporting up to a person in the forecast hierarchy.
- Amount Without Manager Adjustments (Report Element)—The forecast number as seen by the forecast owner. This amount is the sum of the owner’s revenue opportunities and the owner’s subordinates’ opportunities. The amount includes adjustments made by the forecast owner on the owner’s or subordinates’ forecasts. The amount doesn’t include adjustments made by forecast managers above the owner in the forecast hierarchy.
- Corporate Currency—The currency in which your corporate headquarters reports revenue and the basis for all currency conversions.
- Custom Calculated Column—A forecast column that has a value based on a formula that your Salesforce admin creates.
- Custom Filter—A rule that defines the conditions for filtering opportunity forecast data. With custom filters, you can include or exclude different types of data in your forecasts. An admin applies custom filters when creating a forecast type.
- Forecast—An expression of expected sales based on
the gross rollup of a set of opportunities. The forecasts on the forecasts page are
totals and subtotals of the opportunities in the four standard forecast categories:
Pipeline, Best Case, Commit, and Closed. Salesforce admins can show a Most Likely
category in Lightning Experience, rename single category rollups, and rename cumulative
category rollups. Depending on how Salesforce is set up, these forecasts can reflect
opportunities from one or multiple forecast categories.
In the forecasts grid, forecasts are organized by forecast rollup, time period, and optionally by product family and territory. Forecasts can include adjustments made by forecast managers to their immediate subordinates’ forecasts and adjustments made by users to their own forecasts.
Users can view forecasts and related opportunities by forecast category for everyone below them in the forecast hierarchy or for just one person. For example, view the July Best Case forecast for sales managers reporting to you, all the sales reps who report to any one of your managers, or just one individual.
- Forecast Amount (Report Element)—The revenue forecast from the forecast manager’s perspective and the sum of the owners’ and subordinates’ opportunities, including all forecast adjustments.
- Forecast Category—The category within the sales cycle to which an opportunity is assigned based on its opportunity stage. The standard forecast categories are Pipeline, Best Case, Commit, Omitted (not included in forecasts), and Closed. Salesforce admins can show a Most Likely category in Lightning Experience, rename single category rollups, and rename cumulative category rollups.
- Forecast Currency—A company’s corporate currency or each forecast owner’s personal currency.
- Forecast Date Range—The date range that a user shows in their forecasts. Depending on the settings the Salesforce admin selects, the range can include months or quarters.
- Forecast Date Type—The type of date that forecasts are based on: close date, product date, or schedule date.
- Forecast Display Currency—The currency that a user selects in which to show forecasts. Users make the section directly from the forecasts page. The selection must be one of your company’s enabled currencies.
- Forecast Hierarchy—A nested, expandable list of forecast users or territories that determine how forecasts roll up within a company and who can view and adjust them. The role-based forecast hierarchy is based on the user role hierarchy and specifies which users are forecast managers. The territory-based forecast hierarchy is based on the territory hierarchy and shows which territories have forecast managers assigned. When forecasting is enabled, a forecast hierarchy is generated based on the role hierarchy, but Salesforce admins can add or remove managers, sales reps, or other users. To make territory forecasts available to users, admins assign forecast managers to territories in the territory hierarchy.
- Forecast Owner—A forecast user who owns opportunities or is a forecast manager in the forecast hierarchy. Forecast managers can have their own opportunities.
- Forecast Quantity (Report Element)—The quantity forecast from the forecast manager’s perspective and the sum of the owner’s and subordinates’ opportunities, including all forecast adjustments.
- Forecast Sharing—Forecast managers can share their forecasts page with any Salesforce user at their company. When sharing, managers specify whether coworkers can adjust their forecasts or only view them.
- Forecast Type—Forecasts are configured to use specific types of data from standard opportunity fields, opportunity products, opportunity splits, overlay splits, territories, product schedules, or custom currency, number, and date fields. Quantity measure isn’t available for splits forecast types. Up to four forecast types can be active at a time. For details about what data each forecast type is based on, see Pipeline Forecast Types.
- Forecasted Amount—The Forecasted Amount column in the opportunity list shows the actual values that contribute to the forecast amounts, not the overall opportunity totals. The Forecasted Amount applies to splits and product family forecast types, and for product and schedule date forecasts,
- Forecasts Grid—The top portion of the forecasts page. The opportunities list at the bottom of the forecasts page corresponds dynamically with selections on the forecasts grid.
- Gross Rollup—An expression of expected sales based on the gross value of a set of opportunities. A forecast always includes a gross rollup and can also include adjustments.
- Manager Judgment —An indication at the opportunity level about whether an opportunity is in or out of the forecast.
- Opportunities—The sales and pending deals that a sales team wants to track.
- Opportunity Product—A line item in an opportunity’s Products related list. Product date forecasts are based on the product’s Date field and its Total Price, Quantity, or custom measure field.
- Opportunity Splits—Sharing credit across an opportunity team. If your company forecasts on opportunity splits, users can see the split information on the forecasts page.
- Opportunity Stage—The current stage of an opportunity, such as Prospect or Proposal. Opportunity stage values correlate with forecast category values to determine how the opportunity contributes to a forecast.
- Owner Only Amount (Report Element)—The sum of a person’s revenue opportunities without adjustments.
- Owner Only Quantity (Report Element)—The sum of a person’s quantity opportunities without adjustments.
- Personal Currency—A user’s own display currency that’s different from the corporate currency. This currency must be an active currency in Salesforce.
- Product Family—A way to categorize your company’s products. For example, if a company sells hardware and software, the Salesforce admin creates two product families: Hardware and Software.
- Product Schedule—The payment and delivery cycles for products that are paid for or delivered over time. Schedule date forecasts are based on a schedule’s Date field and its Revenue, Quantity, or custom measure field.
- Quantity Without Adjustments (Report Element)—The sum of a person’s owned quantity opportunities and the person’s subordinates’ opportunities without adjustments. Subordinates include everyone reporting up to a person in the forecast hierarchy.
- Quantity Without Manager Adjustments (Report Element)—The forecast number as seen by the forecast owner. This number is the sum of the owner’s quantity opportunities and subordinates’ opportunities, including adjustments made on the subordinates’ forecasts. It doesn’t include adjustments made by forecast managers above the owner in the forecast hierarchy.
- Quota—The monthly or quarterly sales goal that’s assigned to a user or territory. A manager’s quota equals the sales that the manager and team are expected to generate together. The quota rollup is done manually by users and managers. Quotas can use revenue, quantity, or custom measure data. If multiple forecast types are active, each type maintains separate quota information. Each territory quota is associated with a territory and a user.
- Revenue—The total expected revenue from the opportunities in a given category.
- Subordinate—A forecast user or territory below another forecast user or territory in the forecast hierarchy. Users can view all their subordinates’ forecasts. If adjustments are enabled, users can view all their subordinates’ adjustment information and adjust the forecasts of subordinates one level below them in the hierarchy. Forecasts and adjustments roll up into the forecasts on the forecasts page.
Did this article solve your issue?
Let us know so we can improve!
