Revenue Forecasts: Manage
Viewing And Editing A Revenue Forecast | Editing Lines | Resources
The Revenue Forecast screen allows you to edit some of the data and also allows for different sorting/grouping of the data. Changes can be made and saved prior to sending the Forecast to Account Managers for review, update and approval. The data in the Revenue Forecast can be grouped by Type (as seen here), Client, Account Manager or Office. Additionally, the financial data can be displayed by Gross, Net or Profit dollars. Other options on this screen are the standard options in the grid to add, delete, approve print, collapse or expand groups. Use the pencil icon to edit a specific line. If data has been changed for any line item, select that line then click "Regenerate Items" and Save the changes. The Notify Account Manager will send selected lines to Account Managers identified on a transaction that their review and approval is required. Once the Revenue Forecast lines have been updated/approved, the Create Budget button will allow you to create a Financial Budget.
NOTE: If using Multi-Currency, all projects in a Foreign Currency will be revalued to the Home Currency. There is an option to filter based on a foreign currency. At that time, the forecast will only display those foreign currency projects and the amounts will be displayed in that currency.
Viewing And Editing A Revenue Forecast
Menu>Accounting>Today Accounting > Views > Revenue Forecasts
Forecasted amounts are placed into monthly buckets based on the selected date range. Any amounts that fall before or after this date range will be in the Prior and Next 12 Months columns.
NOTE: The Revenue Forecast will include Non-billable projects. It will only include costs, however, no revenue (gross). The costs would still need to be a component in the Forecast since the costs would still apply.
Total column = Prior column + All Month columns. Prior column = Any money outside the time-frame of the report data.
To edit the details of the Forecast, click the 
.
Name: Update the Forecast Name
Spread Expenses: Change how the expenses are spread. NOTE: Once Exclude Expenses is selected, the Expense amounts are removed from the Forecast and cannot be added back.
Group By: Allows the Forecast to Group by Type, by Account Manager, by Office or by Client.
The forecast amounts can be viewed based on Gross, Net and Profit.
The forecast amounts can be viewed based on Gross, Net and Profit.
Total column = Prior column + All Month columns. Prior column = Any money outside the time-frame of the report data.
- Gross is the billable gross amount in the Current Total Budget. Gross Expenses are determined based upon the Include/Exclude option selected.
- Net is the Net costs in the Current Total Budget. The Net Labor is based only upon the Hourly Cost listed in the Services, not from the Employee’s Hourly Cost. The Net Expense is the Net cost within the expense line of the Budget and will be based upon the Include/Exclude option selected.
- Profit is Gross amount - Net amount
Net Labor costs are derived from the Estimate and the Hourly Cost field within the Services. This is generally a blended cost.
Editing Lines
The line details can be edited by selecting that line and clicking Notify, Mark as Sent or Mark as Reviewed. In addition, the selected line can be deleted from the forecast.
Notify: Account Managers
This will send out an email to all Account Managers associated with the Project or Campaign included in the forecast. They will be allowed to review/update the included line items (i.e. Budgets).
Security Rights will limit users to only be allowed to edit lines that are assigned to them as the Account Manager of the Project.
In reviewing their projects within the forecast, if the Account Manager updates the Budget information, the forecast will need to be updated. At this time, the Forecast will display "YES" in the Regenerate? field. When the Account Manager has completed their review, they will select the lines and click "Mark as Reviewed".
The Finance person will review the forecast to determine if the Forecast needs to be Updated by reviewing the Regenerate column. If the Regenerate = Yes in any of the projects, then the Finance person will need to update the forecast to reflect the changes made by the Account Manager in the budget. Click on the More > Update Forecast.
Mark as Sent
If the selected lines in the Forecast are sent to the Account Manager for review, the forecast will display the Status = Sent. Otherwise, the status = Not Sent. The Finance Manager can also manually update the status = Sent by selecting the line and clicking Mark As Sent.
Mark as Reviewed
When the Account Manager reviews the Forecast that was sent to them and reviews it, the System will mark the line as Reviewed = Yes. Otherwise, the field is set to No. The Finance Manager can also manually select the line and Mark as Reviewed, the Reviewed column will update to Yes.
Delete
Select the line; then select Delete to remove the Opportunity/Project/Campaign/Invoice/Retainer from the forecast. If the line is deleted in error, the line can be re-added through the Find New Items.
You can also edit the existing lines by clicking on the edit icon for that line. Then depending on what type of item (Opportunity/Project/Campaign/Invoice/Retainer) it is, you will then be shown one of the following screens. Here you can modify the amounts to fall more in line with expectations.
OPPORTUNITY / PROJECT/ CAMPAIGN EDIT
If you click on the Opportunity / Project / Campaign / Invoice Number or Retainer, the opportunity, project, campaign, invoice or retainer will open. If you click on the pencil edit, then the corresponding detail panels will display.
NOTE: Changes to the Opportunity Owner are for this Forecast only. If a permanent change is required, it must be made on the Opportunity itself.
NOTE: Click on the Estimate Number and the Project Estimate will open.
NOTE: Click on the Estimate Number and the Campaign Estimate will open.
INVOICE EDIT
NOTE: The Edit Invoice allows you to view the details of the invoice, but does not allow any edits.
RETAINER EDIT
NOTE: The Edit Retainer allows you to edit the details of the Retainer.
More Options
Update Forecast
This button will pull any changed budget data for the line items. However, if you want to pull all current data (that is not listed in the current forecast worksheet) it may be best to create a brand new forecast worksheet to pull all data.
Net Labor costs are derived from the Estimate and the Hourly Cost field within the Services. This is generally a blended cost. When a forecast is opened, the system will review each line for any changes made to the Project estimate or Retainer/Opportunity forecast detail. If a change is found, the Regenerate will set that Line to YES and an Update Forecast is needed. Once the Update Forecast is complete, this column will be reset to NO.
Create Budget
This allows you to create a Financial Budget based upon the information contained in the forecast. If the forecast contains any Opportunity data, the GL Tracking Options: Revenue Forecast Tracking must be set up in your System Setup. This will designate the Sales and Expense accounts for the Opportunity amounts within the Financial budget.
Add Adjustment
This allows you to add additional amounts based on Items/Services to the existing forecast and will be added according to the options, timeframe and probability percentage selected.
When the Forecast is Grouped by Type, the new Adjustment amounts will display under the type = Misc. Items.
Find New Items
This option will search for any new Opportunities/Projects/Campaigns/Retainers or Invoices not previously included based on the search criteria.
Detail Grid Settings
This allows you to edit some of the columns displayed within the forecast and the order of those columns.
Viewing Multi Currency In A Revenue Forecast
If Multi Currency is enabled, then the Revenue Forecast can be viewed in the Home currency or in the currency of the project/transaction.
When the Currency filter = All, then all amounts are defaulted to displayed in the Home Currency.
NOTE: Any Foreign currency amounts are revalued based on the date of the Forecast and the currency rate for that date. To view the currency rate, click into any monthly forecasted amount.
When the Currency is set to any currency other than ALL, then the revenue forecast will only display those opportunities / projects / campaigns / invoices and retainers for that currency. The amounts displayed will be in that foreign currency.
