Forecasting: User Guide

Forecasting allows planning potential future work based on the sales pipeline.

Forecasting goes beyond basic resource management by anticipating future workloads based on your organization's sales pipeline. It allows your team to be prepared for various scenarios and mitigate resource risks, ensuring that you’re always ready for future project demands.

In this article, we summarize key end user functionality related to forecasting. 

About Forecasting

A common use case for TaskRay is to manage the post-sale process, such as to assist customers with implementation. In a typical configuration, Opportunities are used to track details of potential sales. Once the Opportunities are marked as Closed Won, TaskRay is used to manage related post-sale processes for customers. With forecasting, it becomes possible to have insight into potential post-sale work even before Opportunities are closed, allowing for proactive planning and identifying potential resourcing needs.

TaskRay leverages the Opportunity framework for forecasting. As an Opportunity moves through the stages, a Forecast TaskRay Project can be created and updated throughout the cycle to reflect potential resourcing needs. That said, the details of any sale could change throughout an Opportunity's lifecycle, which could influence the specifics of the related post-sale process. TaskRay Forecasting allows refreshing forecast projects throughout the Opportunity lifecycle to accurately provide visibility into potential resourcing needs once the Opportunity is marked as Closed Won.

Forecasting Workflow

Forecast Project Creation

Typically, Forecast Projects are automatically created in the early stages of the Opportunity lifecycle.

Forecast Project Refresh

As the details of the sale change on an Opportunity, it is possible to refresh the related Forecast Project for a more accurate representation of the potential post-sale process. During the refresh, the previous version of the Forecast Project is deleted and a new one is created based on the current details of the Opportunity.

1. Navigate to an Opportunity on which you would like to refresh the Forecast Project.
2. In the Opportunity header, click on the Refresh TaskRay Forecast Project button.
    
   
   Not seeing the button? Reach out to your internal Admin and refer to the Refresh Forecast Project Flow article for information on how to get it added to the layout.
3. Click through the steps on the screen that appears.
   

Forecasting Throughout the Opportunity Lifecycle

As the Opportunity moves through the sales cycle, you have the ability to proactively plan potential resourcing needs using Forecast Projects. TaskRay provides the following for this purpose:

• Resource Analytics: This dashboard is specific to TaskRay Resource Management. Here, you can view historical resourcing data, as well as forecast data. 
• Resource Planner: The Resource Planner allows viewing and managing actual and projected team member capacity.
  
  Note: If using the Resource Planner to plan projected (forecast) work for team members, note that these assignments will be reset if the Forecast Project is refreshed. That said, if assignments are made on a Forecast Project on an Opportunity that is nearing the end of the cycle and then marked as Closed Won, the Forecast Project will be transformed into an actual Project (without a refresh), and the projected assignments will carry over. Therefore, as a best practice, only manage assignments on Forecast Projects toward the end of the Opportunity cycle (when there is more certainty on the specifics of the potential post-sale process).

Forecast Project on Opportunity Close

As an Opportunity reaches the end of its cycle, there are two main potential outcomes. The first (and preferred!) is that the Opportunity gets marked as Closed Won, which means that the sale went through and the project to manage the post-sale process can be kicked off. The other is that the Opportunity gets marked as Closed Lost, meaning that the sale did not go through. Depending on the outcome, the related Forecast Project will either be transformed into an actual Project to manage the post-sale process or it will get archived.

Opportunity Outcome: Closed Won

If an Opportunity is marked as Closed Won, the related Forecast Project will be transformed into an actual Project to manage the related post-sale process. Typically, this happens automatically once the Stage of the Opportunity is updated accordingly.

1. Navigate to an Opportunity that needs to be closed.
2. Using either the Opportunity Path or the Stage field, update the Opportunity Stage to Closed Won.

This will transform the related Forecast Project into an actual project to manage the post-sale process. From here, you can start delegating work to team members, such as using the Resource Planner, and begin managing the post-sale process for the customer.

Opportunity Outcome: Closed Lost

If the sale does not go through, the Opportunity typically gets marked as Closed Lost. In that case, the related Forecast Project is archived for historical reference.

1. Navigate to an Opportunity that needs to be closed.
2. Using either the Opportunity Path or the Stage field, update the Opportunity Stage to Closed Lost.