Forecast provides sales teams with a high-level overview of boards on both an individual and team basis. This article goes into more detail about navigating the boards page in Forecast, creating boards, and configuring different board settings.
To configure general information about board, follow these steps:
Under General settings, click General.
Under Board details, enter the board name.
(Optional) Enter a short description that provides context for the board.
Under CRM deal fields, select the preferred deals fields to be tracked and used for analytics:
User field: Select Deal owner.
Date field: Select Close date or Created date.
Amount field: Select Deal size or Probability.
Configure board columns
To configure board columns, follow these steps:
Under General settings, click Board Columns. You will be directed to the board columns page where you can configure the forecast board columns that appear on the board.
At the top of the left board column panel, click the plus icon to add a column.
Select the type of column and follow the instructions to configure its details:
Add more columns as needed for the forecast board.
To rearrange column order, click the six dots icon to the left of a column and drag it up or down to the preferred order.
To keep a column from appearing on the board, click the more icon to the right of a column and select Hide.
To permanently remove a column, click the more icon to the right of a column and select Delete.
Configure forecast commitment column
To configure a forecast commitment column, follow these steps:
Under Column name, enter the column name.
(Optional) Under Description, enter a short description that provides context for what it shows.
Under Amount type, select from the following goal types to display in the column:
Currency
Unit
Under Add related calculation, select a calculation to add to the column to support the number you submit:
(Optional) Under Apply filter, click Add condition then configure the fields of the condition for the calculation. Note: A calculation can have multiple conditions.
Under Apply offset, select from the following offset period:
None
One month
One quarter
Half a year
One year
(Optional) Under Additional calculation, add more calculations and associated condition filters as needed.
Under Customize display, view how a board cell under the column will appear.
Select from the following options how to display the last commitment change:
Arrow
Delta
Percentage
Click the Show progress toggle to enable or disable displaying it in the cell. If enabled, select the type of progress to display:
To goal: Select the goal to track for progress.
To calculation: Select the calculation to track for progress.
Click the Auto-calculate toggle to enable or disable automatic gradual calculation of the outcome as the quarter progresses.
Configure calculation column
To configure a calculation column, follow these steps:
Under Column name, enter the column name.
(Optional) Under Description, enter a short description that provides context for what it shows.
Under Primary calculation, select the main calculation for the column.
(Optional) Under Apply filter, click Add condition then configure the fields of the condition for the calculation. Note: A calculation can have multiple conditions.
Under Apply offset, select from the following offset period:
None
One month
One quarter
Half a year
One year
(Optional) Under Additional calculation, add more calculations and associated condition filters as needed.
Under Customize display, view how a board cell under the column will appear.
Click the Show progress toggle to enable or disable displaying it in the cell. If enabled, select the type of progress to display:
To goal: Select the goal to track for progress.
To calculation: Select the calculation to track for progress.
Configure goal column
To configure a goal column, follow these steps:
Under Column name, enter the column name.
(Optional) Under Description, enter a short description that provides context for what it shows.
Under Goal display, select a goal to display in the column.
Under Customize display, view how a board cell under the column will appear.
Configure period
To configure board coverage period, follow these steps:
Under General settings, click Period.
Select the board's forecast period:
Monthly and quarterly
Monthly
Quarterly
Configure cadence
To configure board forecast cadence, follow these steps:
Under General settings, click Cadence.
Select the day of the week and the time of the day (in hour increments) when your team submits forecasts.
Select or deselect the Send a reminder when forecasts are due checkbox based on your notification preference.
If reminder is enabled, select the preferred channel for receiving the reminder:
Zoom Team Chat
Email
Configure company snapshot
Under General settings, click Company snapshot.
Select the day of the week and the time of the day (in hour increments) when your organization locks in its weekly forecast. Note: This company snapshot setting affects all forecast boards.
Configure deal analytics
Under Deal-related settings, click Deal analytics. You will be directed to the deal analytics page where you can configure how analytics gain insight from pipeline trends and forecast movement.
Under Closed-won deals, click Add condition then configure the fields of the condition for the deal. Note: A closed-won deal can have multiple conditions.
Click Set goal.
Select a goal from the dropdown that determines the board's analytics and the scope of its forecast reminders and automatic submissions.
Click Define forecast categories. The analytics page will display all forecast categories, including the following pre-existing categories:
To create a duplicate forecast board, follow these steps:
In the top-right corner, click the more icon then Manage boards. The forecast board page will appear.
Scroll down the list or enter the board name in the search field to filter the list.
To the right of the board, click the more icon then Duplicate. The board creation window will appear populated with the details from the duplicated board.
then Add board.
to add a column.
to the left of a column and drag it up or down to the preferred order.
to change the category name.